John Langan is one of the newer batch of horror writers to come on the scene in the last 10 years. Having written a number of short stories, they are collected for the first time and published in book form as Mr. Gaunt and other uneasy encounters. The book features four short stories and a novella. The first two “On Skua Island” and “Mr. Gaunt” were both nominated for an International Horror Guild award. The other short stories included are “Tutorial” and “Episode Seven: Last stand against the pack in the Kingdom of the Purple Flowers”. Finally the novella “Laocoon or the Singularity” wraps up the book.
“On Skua Island” relates the story of a professor on a faculty exchange program with the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. It’s a once in a lifetime chance to wander all over the country and work on his research project concerning the Viking presence in Scotland. The problems start when a man approaches him showing him pictures of a well-preserved column inscribed with runes on a small island. Surprised by the clarity of the runes and sensing a historic find, he overcomes his reluctance at the suspicious “chance” that brought this man to him and lets his desire of discovery take hold. He soon finds himself on the island accompanied by obvious military types and realizes he is being used for cover. That doesn’t keep him from excavating the column under which he discovers the find of a lifetime, a spectacular Viking sword but in a previously unknown style and underneath that the body of a sacrificed woman. Removing the sword causes the hole to immediately fill with water and the next day the body is gone and the real problems begin.
In “Mr. Gaunt” a son going through his father’s effects after his funeral finds a tape filled with his father’s last words and warning. Mr. Gaunt was a character in stories told by his father when he was a child. Unlike other scary stories told to children by parents which end in a scare and laughter, the tales of Mr. Gaunt were told to frighten as much as possible. In his recording the father warns his son about his uncle and the sinister nature of the uncle’s butler, Mr. Gaunt.
“Tutorial” deals with the issues associated with a difficult student. Sean seems to disregard the classics of literature to focus on science fiction and horror. After a few warnings he gets sent to the basement of the Humanities building for help. His stubbornness gets him sent to ever more hard-core tutors deeper and deeper in the bowels of the Humanities building as they strive to teach him to appreciate “real” literature and give up the ridiculousness he seems to want to pursue.
A meteor passing over the Earth has resulted in the death of most of the population. From their corpses beautiful purple flowers bloom. In this post apocalyptic world a pregnant woman and a young man are pursued by a pack of creatures. In “Episode Seven: Last stand against the pack in the kingdom of the purple flowers” these two individuals constantly try to stave of the pack which is doing its best to kill them. Jackie, being pregnant, is reliant on Wayne but a lot has happened since the end of the world and she’s not too sure he is what he says he is.
Finally the book contains a novella entitled “Laocoon of the Singularity”, in which an art professor finds a abandoned sculpture in an alley and takes it home. The sculpture becomes a focus for the professor. It seems to dredge up his memories of failure both in his professional life and with his family. The sculpture becomes more and more a focus of his life seeming to make inroads into his personality and destroying him from within.
As a reviewer this book was definitely a mixed bag for me. I like John Langan as an author and have read other works of his (a upcoming review will feature his novel “House of Windows”). It is easy to see why these two stories, “On Skua Island” and “Mr. Gaunt” were nominated for an International Horror Guild award. Both are tightly written, start off with the most common and benign circumstances and rapidly ratchet up the fear level. In “On Skua Island” the characters start developing a sense of dread and then the final encounter moves with such speed that it seem that not only the protagonist but also the reader is running, desperate to escape. It’s really quite effective. “Mr. Gaunt” also has a similar scene but in this one a child visiting his father’s study abruptly becomes aware of the true nature of Mr. Gaunt. A malevolent entity chasing down a small child is so clearly portrayed that it sets one’s teeth on edge. Both leave a lasting impression on their characters but in very different ways, something I thoroughly enjoyed.
From here however the rest of the stories take a different tack. “Tutorial” is slightly humorous and I would be curious to know if it may have represented Langan’s own experiences in being interested in horror in a University department focused on the masters. Bureaucracies, in general, lend themselves to horror tales even in real life and there was nothing really different about this one except possibly that it took place in a humanities department. “Episode Seven” is definitely a post-apocalyptic tale. My concern with it is not that it isn’t technically horror or the fact that it isn’t well written, it is. My concern is that I really didn’t feel anything for the characters. The action was all taking place off-scene and most of the dialogue was occurring in Jackie’s head and I didn’t find it that interesting.
“Laocoon” is the toughest to really critique. For those that don’t remember their ancient Greek myths, Laocoon was a Trojan priest who warned his fellow Trojans about bringing a giant wooden horse into the city. His warning gave rise to the saying “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts”. In the story the sculpture acts a Trojan horse, pulling down the art professor’s mental defenses and letting the ruin of his personal and professional life flood in. Definitely the trope of a creature devouring one from the inside is not uncommon in horror stories but in this instance it’s an outside object that allows your own consciousness to devour you. The problem is that the story meanders quite a bit and loses some of its urgency and “bite”. A novella may be too long for this story and I feel would have been much more effective if it had been edited down a bit.
This collection of stories definitely has its gems and even the stories I wasn’t exceptionally fond of showed me some of Langan’s capabilities as a writer. I do feel that many readers may have different reactions to the stories than myself but in the end that just emphasizes Langan’s capability of pulling in readers with different viewpoints. It’s a good talent to have. I was impressed enough to not only add this book to my collection but to go and search out his other novel.
© 2016 George Anadiotis
George, you summed up my feelings on this collection quite accurately. The title story and “On Skua Island” are so taut, so suspenseful and so powerful that for me they overwhelmed the other stories. That hasn’t stopped me from buying THE WIDE CARNIVOROUS SKY AND OTHER MONSTROUS GEOGRAPHIES in part because I read some of the stories in anthologies and in part because I really admire what Langan accomplished in the first two stories of his first collection and in his novel, HOUSE OF WINDOWS. I look forward to reading your review of that one.