Richmond Macabre: Nightmares From The River City, edited by Beth Brown & Phil Ford
(Iron Cauldron Books)
This brand new collection of 15 dark, spooky short stories set in Richmond, Virginia has come along at the perfect time of year, that’s for sure. Reading this book late at night as the first chill of fall crept into the air was enough to send shivers down my spine on multiple occasions. The horror within this volume tends towards the subtle, with understated spookiness rather than outright horror and gore winning the day more often than not. Nonetheless, it’s got quite a few shocks to the system to offer.
Richmond Macabre: Nightmares From The River City, edited by Beth Brown & Phil Ford
(Iron Cauldron Books)
This brand new collection of 15 dark, spooky short stories set in Richmond, Virginia has come along at the perfect time of year, that’s for sure. Reading this book late at night as the first chill of fall crept into the air was enough to send shivers down my spine on multiple occasions. The horror within this volume tends towards the subtle, with understated spookiness rather than outright horror and gore winning the day more often than not. Nonetheless, it’s got quite a few shocks to the system to offer.
I was surprised to find that one of the most interesting pieces of writing within was not even one of the short stories, but rather the introduction, penned by Harry Kollatz Jr. This historian tells of a previous business he owned, in which he tracked the ownership history of old Richmond houses for curious current owners. He was amazed and at times frustrated by the frequency with which he received questions about unexplained sounds and spectral presences within these ancient homes. His experiences with this business over the course of several years led him to believe that Richmond truly is a haunted town, and his explanation of this phenomenon is the perfect way to lead into the 15 pieces of fiction that follow. The common thread running through all of them is that they are set in Richmond, and while some reach back to times long gone for their subject matter, some of the most frightening stories within are the ones set in modern times.
One story that will resonate for many in our troubled economic times is Melissa Scott Sinclair’s “Everything Must Go,” a tale of a forlorn ghost doomed to haunt the halls of the office complex in which he dropped dead–even after the company for which he worked goes out of business. In editor Phil Ford’s story, “231 Creeper,” a woman who visits Hollywood Cemetery has a frightening vision that seems to stay with her as she roams around town. This story has somewhat of an ethereal, hallucinatory feel, but its climax is viscerally terrifying nonetheless. In “The Rememberist,” perhaps the best read in this entire collection, Michael Gray Baughan reaches back to the Civil War era for the dark, supernatural experience of a wartime journalist who encounters a magician performing seemingly impossible feats involving mutilation of his own body. Baughan’s formal yet engaging writing style does an excellent job of summoning a bygone era, while Phil Budahn’s evocative noir storytelling makes it impossible to determine whether “Sig’s Place” is set in modern times or some decades in the past. It’s really not necessary to pin down the exact era, however, for this story’s shocking conclusion to hit home.
Not every story in this collection is entirely enjoyable–for example, I questioned the decision of the editors to begin with Charles Albert’s “Vampire Fiction.” This story begins with a promising premise involving one of the many not-so-young women in our modern society who have become enraptured by the recent literary trend of casting vampires as romantic figures, but doesn’t really do much with it, giving us one-dimensional characters and an ending that one should be able to see coming almost immediately. Likewise, Dale Brumfield’s “The Third Office,” the only truly gross story in the entire book (though don’t get me wrong, several of the others have their moments), which doesn’t really make all that much sense. It’s scary, for the most part, though more in the sense that it evokes revulsion than horror, but a lack of any particular reason for the events that unfold throughout most of its narration makes it hard to understand why any of this is happening.
But a few less-than-perfect stories are little reason to downgrade this collection as a whole, which is very enjoyable overall for fans of truly frightening horror. In fact, since most of the stories within it are more subtly creepy than outright terrifying, I would have no problem recommending this collection to any fans of thrilling fiction. A few of the stories within are eminently skippable, but the vast majority really should not be missed. Brown, Ford, and Iron Cauldron Books have put together a solid anthology here, which is perfect for a haunted town during its spookiest season.
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Richmond Macabre will be available during a special double-header event this Sunday, October 30, at Balliceaux (203 N. Lombardy St.). At 7 PM, Secretly Y’all and Richmond Macabre present the Macabre Masquerade. This event will feature three storytellers sharing true tales of local horror, music by the Zombie String Trio, and readings by their respective authors from three different stories featured in Richmond Macabre. Autographed, limited-edition copies of the book, as well as signed and numbered prints of the book’s cover artwork, by local artist Noah Scalin, will be available for purchase for $20 each. This is a masquerade ball, so dress for the occasion; a prize will be awarded for the best mask of the evening. Admission is $3, with proceeds donated to Books On Wheels. This event will end at 10 PM, but stick around afterwards for PLF’s Speakeasy, the All Hallow’s Eve edition, which will run through midnight and into the early hours of Halloween itself. This free event will feature Party Liberation Front DJs Reinhold and Mr. Jennings, a photo booth by Ian Graham, a Halloween costume contest and a dance contest, as well as special Halloween giveaways and drink specials.
