Absinthe & Arsenic: A Penny Dreadful Review
On a dark
and stormy night, I picked up a fantastic anthology of short stories by horror
writer Raven Dane. On that dark and stormy night, I did not sleep. Part of that
was Ms. Dane’s mastery of the eerie and gothic, and part of that was the fact
that I simply enjoyed the book too much to put it down. I highly recommend Absinthe & Arsenic from Telos
publishing.
There is
some glorious horror in this book. The stories will stick with you. I will
never look at fog in the same way after reading “Annie By Gaslight.” The title
image comes from the surreal “A Taste Of Almonds,” wherein absinthe fuels a
descent into murder and madness.
Not every
story is doom and gloom. “An Inspector Falls” is a bit of silliness involving a
theory, a bloody death, and a cat. Many stories have happy resolutions. “The
Chill” has a sweet ending that will make you weep, and is one of the most
evocative in tone and texture.
Each story
leaves a vivid impression on the psyche. The reader can see the eerie marsh
ghosts; can taste the desperation in the stifling air of the zombie-besieged
farmstead. I truly love Raven Dane’s vivid settings.
I give this
sampler of gothic nibbles four gears out of five. Well-executed, spooky, and
captivating, it is perfect for that time when you don’t want to pick up a new
novel, but you do want to read some good horror. Best of all, the anti-hero of
one of Raven Dane’s novel series, Cyrus Darian, appears in several of these stories!
He is always a joy to read about. I definitely recommend that you scare up a
copy of Absinthe & Arsenic for
your collection.
Your Correspondent From The Bookstore,
Penny J. Merriweather
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