Author of sci-fi/fantasy, horror and adventure/thriller fiction

KADAVER (2020)

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The Norwegian post-apocalyptic film KADAVER (2020, streaming on Netflix) is visually artistic and powerful, but its story is marred by Hollywood tropes, predictable twists, and the lack of a discernible character arc for the protagonist.

A nuclear disaster has left the world in smoggy ruins, with the survivors in one Norwegian city slowly starving. One day, a herald arrives on the street to announce a play will be staged at a nearby grand hotel. When a family–Jacob, Leonora, and their young daughter–accepts, they find themselves trapped in a horrific game. The guests must don golden masks and are then invited to walk the hotel, seeing vignettes played out for their amusement, which are of course traps. Separated from her family, Leonora must find them–and survive.

It’s a great premise, but its execution turns up a mixed bag. Visually, the film is very strong, almost beautiful in its apocalyptic atmosphere. The acting is solid. Story wise, there’s little else carrying it forward, as the big reveal as to what the ultimate point of the game is is fairly broadcast from the get-go, the game itself doesn’t last long, the film leans heavily on predictable Hollywood survival horror twists and tropes, and Leonora survives more by luck than anything else and doesn’t change or learn anything in the process, resulting in an ending that sort of just ends.

So overall I have a hard time recommending this one, but I certainly appreciate the love that went into putting it together, and for post-apoc fans, there’s much to appreciate.

LOVECRAFT COUNTRY

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I eagerly anticipated LOVECRAFT COUNTRY, HBO’s cosmic horror drama series. Loosely based on the novel by Matt Ruff, it takes us into the Lovecraft mythos through an African-American lens while examining big themes like America’s sad history of deep prejudice. Despite nailing many core elements, the show is so scattered and unfocused that despite the show’s earnest appeal to invest in the characters, I just couldn’t. There’s enough drama and spectacle to make it fun, but it often felt more like work than play.

The show has a fantastic premise, which is a family that practices magic has an African-American branch through bastardy, creating competition for a powerful birthright. Unfortunately, this premise doesn’t crystallize until we’re deep into the show, which kitchen-sinks Lovecraftian elements that are never really scary or do what cosmic horror is supposed to do, which is create a sense of wonder, mystery, and dread. (The girls who appear in a curse are a fantastic exception, they were amazing.) The result feels more like an anthology than a coherent story as long side trips are taken into explorations of prejudice against Blacks, women, homosexuals, and enemies in war, though the overarching narrative does eventually come together nicely at the end, with some brave story choices and satisfying sense of empowerment. The real horror in the show comes from, well, White people, who almost hunt Black people for sport, which can make the show feel exhausting at times but provocatively and ably also show White viewers what it’s like to live day to day as a target of mindless prejudice. There are frequent nonfiction recordings playing over visuals, pithy statements by great thinkers like James Baldwin, that give the show real gravitas early on but later clash as the show barrels ahead into full-on ’50s pulp.

Now to some of the story basics. The setting is fantastic, the horror effects are solid, and the acting is amazing, with the actors pouring every ounce of their hearts and being into their roles. These elements provide a solid bedrock for the series. Unfortunately, despite all that, character motivation and conflict change on a dime episode to episode, making it almost impossible for me to invest in them and care what happened. After a few episodes, the show felt like a hot mess, pulpy and fun at times but with shifting characters and discordant heavy thematic forays toward gravitas. One of the show’s producers is Jordan Peale of US and GET OUT fame, so it’s not surprising the show is a little nuts but sharply provocative, but while the approach works for me in his movies, it doesn’t quite in ten hours of series viewing.

So overall, I liked LOVECRAFT COUNTRY but despite its courage and distinct identity, I didn’t love it. It’s got a lot of great elements but they just didn’t come together right for me until too late, and its focus on pulp over cosmic dread waters down the power of the story.

THE HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR

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Based on Henry James’ novella THE TURN OF THE SCREW, THE HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR (Netflix) brings back most of the cast of the successful HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE for another emotional, creepy ride. The character-driven narrative was a big too slow burn for me, and the gradual collision of its parts didn’t produce as big an explosion as HILL HOUSE achieved (starting with that stupendous episode 6 at the funeral home). Nonetheless, it’s a great ghost story–multilayered, emotionally deep, and very Gothic.

The story focuses on Dani, an American plagued by guilt living in the UK, where she applies for and gains a job as a governess for two precocious but troubled children, Miles and Flora, whose parents died a year earlier. The staff–the kind-hearted housekeeper, humorous cook, and brassy gardener–welcome her, as do the children, though the kids appear to have a secret. The secret, of course, has to do with a haunting…

Despite taking a bit too long to build tension, this was very enjoyable fare. As with HILL HOUSE, we get frequent digressions in various episodes to examine past events and how they affected each of the major characters. As with HILL HOUSE, sometimes the ghosts are psychological–the “Ghost” in the character arc portrayed as a recurring, haunting mental image–and sometimes the ghosts ar all too real. This is clearly a story about people that happens to have ghosts in it, not the other way around. All the characters are likeable or at least sympathetic. There are thankfully fewer jump scares than HILL HOUSE, as I’m not a big fan of the device, but when they come, they’re much more powerful, particularly when the main ghost is revealed. On a final note, I particularly enjoyed how a same-gender romance was portrayed. It feels completely organic–the people involved displayed real chemistry that starts the first time they meet–and is the best portrayal I’ve seen.

Overall, I’m thankful for this series, which reminds us that in a genre crammed with torture, shock, and jump scares, there are great literary horror watches that focus on character and theme.

UTOPIA

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Adapted by Gillian Flynn for American audiences from a 2013 British series, UTOPIA (Amazon Prime) is a compelling and surprisingly dark story about a group of comic book nerds who get up in a conspiracy to change the world. I liked it, though I found it uneven.

The story begins with comic book nerds finding out that UTOPIA, the sequel to their favorite graphic novel, DYSTOPIA, has been discovered and is for sale. They aren’t just fans of the comic but conspiracy theorists who believe hidden messages in it predicted every major disease outbreak, raising the question as to whether these diseases were natural or bio-engineered. Unfortunately, mysterious forces are in play that want to prevent anybody from seeing the comic and will do anything to stop it while finding its real-life star, Jessica Hyde.

It’s just my kind of thing, and I went into it expecting it to be the next STRANGER THINGS, but the story quickly takes a very dark righthand turn into torture and frequent murder and stays there. In the American version, for example, a character is created only to be killed for shock value and to show how ruthless another character is, a creative decision by Flynn that comes across ham-handed and disrupts the chemistry. (A cute meta reference to herself comes across the same way.) People are regularly tortured in this show for revenge or information, and even while they’re giving it, the torture keeps coming. That aspect just didn’t quite work for me and makes the resulting story uneven, plus it makes a key character who often does it (and constantly casually threatens it) unlikeable when we’re supposed to be rooting for her.

When you find out what the conspiracy is, it’s actually nothing we haven’t seen before, but it’s done extremely well. When the villain reveals the entire plan, many viewers will be like, oh, um, that’s not exactly a bad idea. The bad guys are like a cult designed to produce a certain change in the world, but by the end they’re not necessarily the bad guys, they’re simply the antagonist with an opposing goal, the mark of a good story.

The ending sets up a season 2, though I’m not sure the story needs it. I’m curious how the British version ended and will try to find it. On a final note, John Cusak and Rainn Wilson are in the show, and they’re fantastic in their roles.

Booklist Reviews THE CHILDREN OF RED PEAK

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“An emotionally devastating, ultimately hopeful horror story about trauma, the power of love, and the unexplainable forces that surround us,” writes Booklist, the publication of the American Library Association, in its review of The Children of Red Peak, coming from Redhook (Hachette) in November 2020.

Stoker-nominated DiLouie (One of Us, 2018) returns with a heart-wrenching, thought-provoking, terrifying tale about the meaning of life. In 2005, members of a religious cult committed suicide on top of Red Peak. Five children survived, but when the authorities rescued them, there were no bodies anywhere. Now, as the 15th anniversary approaches, one survivor commits suicide, forcing the others—and their psychological wounds—back together. Told from the alternating perspectives of three survivors, both in the present and in flashbacks to their time with “The Family,” the book illustrates the same events from different angles without sacrificing a compelling pace that builds relentlessly until each narrator is forced to confront their trauma in a beautiful and terrifying climax. Utilizing true crime tropes and the supernatural intrigue that surrounds the mountain itself, DiLouie creates more than a typical cult thriller. This is an emotionally devastating, ultimately hopeful horror story about trauma, the power of love, and the unexplainable forces that surround us. A great choice for fans of Stephen Graham Jones’ The Only Good Indians (2020), Paul Tremblay’s Disappearance at Devil’s Rock (2016), or Alma Katsu’s The Hunger (2018).