Forever & Father and Son

One of the most pleasant discoveries I’ve made is the Dark Voices series from Borderlands Press. It’s a very nice concept, in which you get an attractive chapbook containing one or more of an author’s stories, and included in the package is an audio disc of the author reading the material from the chapbook, with background music and some sound effects. Not every author is a good reader, but those who are seem better equipped than anyone to bring out the emotional resonance in their work. Earlier, I reviewed the classic story The Night They Missed the Horror Show by Joe R. Lansdale, and this time, a double feature of Jack Ketchum’s stories, Forever and Father and Son.

If you are familiar with classic Ketchum work such as The Girl Next Door, you know he is known for his ability to look without flinching at the everyday horrors that threaten us. At times, he does such a good job, it’s difficult to read the story. Few authors can get under your skin like Jack Ketchum, and he demonstrates this in the first story, Forever.

Forever is the story of a good marriage coming to a tragic close. The protagonists have been married for a long and happy time, and now, in their mid-forties, must cope with the wife’s steadily worsening bone cancer. The story follows the steady deterioration of her condition and the death of her husband’s hope. It is all too real, and struck uncomfortably home. After all, I’m probably not going to be menaced in real life by a vampire or a werewolf, but cancer can strike my family or yours. It made me face what I would go through if this happened to my wife, and how lost I’d be. The ending is also a genuine “Oh My God” moment at the end which caught me by complete surprise.

The second story was Father and Son, which was much shorter, and much lighter in tone, despite more grisly subject matter. It is the story of, not surprisingly, a father and son living together after the death of their wives. The elderly, frail father is trapped when his 300-pound son collapses and dies, blocking the door of the bathroom with the father behind it. Although it is definitely horror, there is a somewhat lighter tone to it.

Forever & Father and Son, along with the rest of the Dark Voices series, is highly recommended. You can buy it directly from Borderlands.
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Sticks - Free Download

A lot of people believe “Sticks” by Karl Edward Wagner is the greatest horror story ever written. If you have never read it and want to check it out, or have read it but want it in a new format, the ZBS Foundation is offering the audiobook of this great story as a free download through Halloween. You can access it at their website here. The audiobook is recorded in Kuntskopf binaural sound, which produces a 3D effect for the listener. If you’ve ever heard the excellent adaptation of Stephen King’s “The Mist”, this is the same process. Give it a listen.
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The Night They Missed The Horror Show

I’ve been wrestling for a while with the notion of a list of my favorite short stories, but haven’t gotten anywhere with it because there are just too many from which to choose. If I ever manage to put it together, one story that I know will be near the top is “The Night They Missed the Horror Show” by the legendary Joe R. Lansdale. In addition to being featured in numerous anthologies, it has been issued as a limited edition chapbook by Borderlands Press, as part of their great Dark Voices series, and comes with an audio CD.

The story is pretty simple. Two redneck teens in late-60s Texas, decide not to see “Night of the Living Dead” at the local drive-in – because the lead actor is black. Instead, they go cruising, and make a number of fateful choices. The story is profane, shocking and at times hilarious. If you are easily offended, it probably isn’t right for you.

What makes the new chapbook great is the accompanying CD. On it, you get an audio version of the story, read by Lansdale hisownself. Lansdale’s delivery is perfect, and really brings out the black humor in the piece. The story is accompanied by a few background audio effects, and by a musical score. The only complaint I had about the CD was a few times the music partially drowned out the words. Still, if you are a Lansdale fan (and you should be) or just enjoy a good story, this should be for you. But don’t say I didn’t warn you: the language might curl your hair.

This chapbook is available directly from Borderlands.

More Free Fiction on Audio

Acclaimed author David Niall Wilson (Maelstrom, Ennui & Other Tales of Madness) has joined the ranks of authors who are recording their work and offering it as a free download. The stories are from a series of short stories based on emoticons, believe it or not. Wilson has the first two up for download at his podcast page. Check 'em out.
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