Unexplained Events and Eerie Tales from MrBallen Presents: The Terror Within

 MrBallen Presents: The Terror Within: The Graphic Stories by MrBallen with artwork by Andrea Mutti

MrBallen Presents: The Terror Within cover

Podcaster MrBallen

Artist Andrea Mutti

Many thanks to Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press and NetGalley for sharing an advanced copy of MrBallen Presents: The Terror Within: The Graphic Stories. MrBallen, a popular true crime podcaster and influencer, has collected some of his favorite, most haunting unexplained mysteries and commissioned his creative team to retell these chilling stories in graphic novel form. Although MrBallen has selected the tales for this anthology, he acknowledges the team including his sister, Evan Allen, who writes and edits, along with co-selecting the stories, and Robert Venditti, who revises the podcast scripts into graphic novel formats, as integral to the creation of this collection. In addition, Andrea Mutti contributes through his excellent artwork to capture some of the terrifying and uncanny elements of these stories.

The stories in this collection take place around the world and through different times in the 19^th and 20th centuries. Some of the stories, like the Dyatlov Pass Incident (“Dead Mountain”) and the Magdelena Solis story (“The Cave”) may be familiar, if not infamous, for some readers. Other stories like “The Red Ghost”, “Ape Canyon”, and “Her Face” were familiar to me, but had elements of the uncanny, the unexplained, or happenstance that created ironic twists that helped intrigue me with its events. I appreciated how this collection provides a map and locations for each of the events to indicate where these stories took place. Although not all of the stories were included in this sample, it provided me with enough to pique my interest in these tales of the unexplained. Like MrBallen, I’m also a fan of these kinds of mysteries and unexplained phenomena. MrBallen provides brief commentary at the beginning and end of each story, and most of the stories are told through his 3^rd person narration that observes and describes what happens to those involved in the story. He provides some explanations about the events at the end of some of the stories, but others like “Dead Mountain” and “Ape Canyon” remain somewhat unresolved and mysterious, leaving readers wanting to know more about what exactly happened and what the possible explanations are for these events. Others like “The Cave” and “The Red Ghost” have mostly rational explanations for the events that occurred or at least have some kind of resolution where justice was served. Nevertheless, “The Red Ghost” was particularly haunting and strange as we are never really given an explanation as to why the red ghost initially appeared or what exactly happened to Elizabeth. It was a strange and perplexing tale that’s left me wanting to know more. Thankfully, the team working with MrBallen provides a useful further reading list at the end of the collection to learn more about each of these events.

This was a fun, quick read that has some intriguing investigative tales. The simple narration and commentary in each of the panels helps to focus on the mysterious nature of these events, and pairs well with Mutti’s stark, evocative illustrations and artwork, creating a creepy and uncanny atmosphere, great for the Halloween season. I was also excited to learn that there are other MrBallen graphic novels available that detail other mysteries and unexplained events, so I’ll look forward to checking those out. Recommended!

A Great Book for Summer Vacation- Don't Go There: A Tour of the World's Most Sinister Spots

 Don't Go There: A Tour of the World's Most Sinister Spots by J. W. Ocker

Don't Go There book cover

Traveler and author J. W. Ocker

Many thanks to Quirk Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of J.W Ocker’s latest entry into eerie-themed tourism Don’t Go There: A Tour of the World’s Most Sinister Spots. I’ve previously read Ocker’s The United States of Cryptids, where he explores each state’s unique creature or cryptid, and Cult Following, where details some of the most notorious cults from recent times, and explores the psychology of those who joint the cults. Don’t Go There is like both books in that Ocker explores areas and locations around the world and dives into the history, events, and culture that have created a sense of fear, dread, and curiosity about some of these spaces. Ocker’s writing is more than just informational in that he provides detailed descriptions and narrative like insight into the events that led to these areas becoming cursed or haunted, adapting the history to something more entertaining and engaging, while also keeping a skeptical perspective on the rational explanations behind the mysteries and unexplained phenomena related to these places.

Ocker organizes the areas into different groups: Fearsome Forests, Wretched Waters, Insane Islands, Deadly Deserts, Risky Ruins, and Spooky Snowscapes, and provides a useful list for further reading. I appreciated this organization as he is able to draw some parallels between the environments or conditions that helped lead to these issues. I really appreciated the fact that he’s writing about some of the places that I’ve always wanted to visit, including Centralia, PA, which I’ve been obsessed with since first reading about it more than 20 years ago. This was one of the places that Ocker has actually visited, so it was interesting to read about his own experiences and observations while visiting this town famous for its underground fire that continues to burn. While Centralia has a natural explanation for its infernal reputation, other places remain the subject of public curiosity because of mysterious events tied to their location. These include places like The Pine Barrens in NJ, Skinwalker Rance in Utah, Mount Shasta in CA, and the Bermuda Triangle. Ocker details the legends, myths, and strange events associated with these places, and often offers rational explanations for the events. Other possibly lesser known places are also of interest including Aokigahara, the Bridgewater Triangle, Isla de las Muñecas, and Dudleytown. I loved learning about these places, and since I’ll probably never be able to visit the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, it’s interesting to read more about it and how the nuclear accident has created interesting conditions for new plants and animals to grow, and fueled urban legends and a new kind of tourism industry in exploring this site. I also recently visited Paris and was disappointed to learn that the catacombs were closed when we visited. Not that my family would join me in exploring this underground necropolis, but Ocker’s reporting and descriptive history provides some further insight into how and why these bones were moved underground and arranged in such a manner. It was also fascinating to learn that groups of individuals were using the catacombs for secret parties until they were eventually busted.

This is a great book for those who are interested in mysterious places. I’m always interested in unexplained phenomena, and Ocker’s book not only provides insightful research into these areas, but also offers rational explanations that allow us to remain skeptical and offer plausible reasons for these irreputable retreats. Although Adam Parata provides great illustrations throughout the book that contribute to its eerie feel, I wish there were some real photographs of these places that were included in the book. Nevertheless, this is a fun and insightful read, especially for getting some travel ideas and possibly ignoring Ocker’s plea to Don’t Go There. Highly recommended!

A Return to the Rosebud Reservation with Wisdom Corner by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

 Wisdom Corner by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

Wisdom Corner book cover

Author David Heska Wanbli Weiden

Many thanks to Ecco, Harper Collins Publishers, and NetGalley for sharing an advanced copy of David Heska Wanbli Weiden’s exciting entry into the Virgil Wounded Horse novels Wisdom Corner. I have been waiting for this book for a while now, and I was very excited to find it on NetGalley. I read Winter Counts, the first entry into vigilante enforcer of the Rosebud Reservation Virgil Wounded Horse, about 5 years ago, not knowing much about the book. Heska Wanbli Weiden has the skill as a writer to craft page turning chapters that are full of action and intrigue while also being able to incorporate history, philosophy, and traditions of Indians, especially of the Sicangu Lakota people who live on the Rosebud Reservation. I was surprised at how gritty and thrilling the book is, yet there are also these incredibly informative and insightful sections where readers can learn about the traditions and history of the Lakota as well as other Indian people that seems to counter many of the stereotypes and misrepresentations that have been perpetuated throughout history and popular culture. Virgil isn’t the typical tough guy whose all action and no thinking. He’s a thoughtful and considerate guy who tries to avoid fighting, but will throw down when necessary. What I really appreciate about Virgil, though, is his continual growth and development, recognizing that he’s not perfect and that he seeks ways to continue to learn more about his identity, his culture, and his people’s history and ways. It’s these thoughtful moments of introspection that border the action in the book creating a wonderful kind of dwelling that as a reader, I found myself eager to revisit.

Wisdom Corner is a welcome return to the Rosebud Reservation with Virgil as our guide, although he notes that there are some issues that continue to plague the Rez like bootlegging liquor, access to healthy foods, which creates a reliance on convenient snacks and unhealthy, processed foods, crime, and the lack of investigative and preventative forces to fight back against crime. Heska Wanbli Weiden includes some great notes at the end of the book declaring that this is a work of fiction that takes place on a real reservation where he attempts to recapture the fond memories he had of growing up on Rosebud. However, he is also able to identify some of the more systemic and structural problems that have plagued Indigenous communities that have some level of independence from the federal government, but also lack any kind of support or resource sharing from the federal government. The limited access to resources, especially when fighting crime, is where Virgil sees an opportunity to use his skills, although he is trying to reform his ways, especially after the end of Winter Counts.

Although I ended up really enjoying this book, it starts somewhat slower, as Virgil spends about the first fifth of the book recapping the events of Winter Counts. Nevertheless, it’s an important reminder since Marie, Virgil’s significant other, ended up killing her father, who was a tribal council member who was dealing drugs on the Rez. Marie has taken over her parents’ home but still lives with Virgil. This plays an important part in Wisdom Corner, and I appreciated how Heska Wanbli Weiden is able to build on this continuity from book to book. Wisdom Corner has a twisty, surprising plot that will leave readers wondering who is behind the violence that is erupting on the rez. Virgil initially believes that the battle is retaliation from a meeting between his friend, Pudge, a bootlegger, and a rival gang from another rez who want to start selling alcohol on Rosebud. Virgil attends the meeting with his friend to maintain the peace, but has to resort to defending Pudge with his fists, as the rival gang becomes too threatening and imposing. In a later episode during his process serving work, Virgil encounters more resistance from a guy and his Aryan Nation buddies, but ultimately defends himself. Yet, Marie, who is now running for tribal council, has repeatedly asked Virgil to stop the violence as her opponent, Mitch Gagnon, will stoop to mudslinging and possibly some other dirty tricks to win the race.

Virgil also leans about a new development taking place in a city nearby where a Native boarding school stood. The developers took over the land and discovered unmarked graves on the site, which has slowed the construction process. Virgil eventually leans that his aunt was one of the children who died there and is likely buried in an unmarked grave there. Heska Wanbli Weiden uses this plot point to further educate readers about the horrors of these boarding schools that took Indigenous children away from their families in order to teach them the ways of white folks, just as the infamous phrase from Richard Henry Platt, who started the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, advocated for white society to “Kill the Indian, save the man.” While this could be a moment for a kind of preachy and pedantic lecture on injustices done to Indigenous people, Heska Wanbli Weiden skillfully incorporates this history and injustice as something that Virgil has a personal connection to and is trying to learn more about. Furthermore, the battle between the developers and the Indigenous community to preserve the remains of the ancestors highlights some of the current battles between commerce and tradition, corporations and collectives, where we see powerful, paid interests often finding ways to defeat these communities. I really appreciated how he integrates these learning moments throughout the book.

Shortly after visiting the development site to learn more about where his aunt might be, Virgil learns that his mentor and the respected tribal medicine man, Jerome Iron Shell, was murdered. Jerome was Pudge’s uncle, so Pudge and Virgil immediately suspect the rival 705 Gang. However, they have trouble tracking them down and pinning the murder on them. Through his encounters with other indigenous activists and tribal members, Virgil will work to unravel the mystery of Jerome’s murder. Yet, this will also come at a cost for Virgil. Heska Wanbli Weiden has crafted a compelling and exciting crime thriller that takes readers on the Rez and shares aspects of traditional Lakota life and history. Furthermore, he’s able to critique some of the issues that Indigenous people face through Virgil’s thoughtful asides. I also want to mention that the dialogue in this book is great. Heska Wanbli Weiden has crafted some distinct characters throughout the book, and their varied dialects and slang make them stand out in their differences. I don’t remember the dialogue being like this in Winter Counts, but it was definitely a strong element of Wisdom Corner. However, what I appreciated most about this book beyond being a great crime thriller was that Heska Wanbli Weiden shows the Rosebud Reservation to be a community that is supportive and inclusive, where people know each other, are rooting for one another, and come together when they experience hardship or challenges. Highly recommended! 

Mister Magic: The Graphic Novel- Exploring Nostalgia and Creepypasta

 Mister Magic: The Graphic Novel by Kiersten White; adapted by Scott Peterson; artwork by Veronica Fish and Andy Fish

Mister Magic: The Graphic Novel cover

Author Kiersten White

Graphic novel adaptation by Scott Peterson

Artists Veronica and Andy Fish

Many thanks to Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press and NetGalley for sharing an advanced copy of Kiersten White’s Mister Magic: The Graphic Novel, adapted by Scott Peterson with artwork by Veronica Fish and Andy Fish. I’ve had Mister Magic on my TBR list since it arrived. The novel takes a kind of creepypasta story about a beloved but forgotten and inaccessible children’s television that everyone seems to have fond memories of, but no one can find or recall any episodes. Like other forms of these creepypasta, Mister Magic examines some of the darker sides of childhood and our nostalgia for the good old days that may create some kinds of biases and blind spots in our collective consciousness. This kind of ambiguity and blindness creates a sense of unease as those involved with the show reconnect after 30 years apart and begin to make sense of the purpose of the show, its impact on others, and their own roles and experiences in the show. The concept for the book is fascinating, and I love the way it deals with the ideas of a kind of nostalgia that upon further review, reveals the dark underbelly that we may be repressing or misremembering to enable a sense of calm and ease for the present. It’s a timely theme that we see playing out in schools, universities, and popular media today. However, I found this graphic novel sometimes hard to follow with multiple characters who meet after 30 years apart as well as sudden scene transitions. I’m wondering whether the novel provides more context with chapters and allows us to better understand the internal thoughts and backgrounds of these characters in more depth than the graphic novel allows. Nevertheless, the artwork for this edition is excellent, creating a blend of realism, fantasy, and memory, as well as incorporating popular and online media that details some of the history and fan memories with the show. I loved how there are pages from blogs, reddit, and Wikipedia that detail some of the history and memories people share about the show Mister Magic. It adds a sense of realism, but also creates more of the mysterious and ambiguous nature of the show since no one can really recall what it is about, but everyone seems to have fond and almost codependent feelings about the show. This was definitely one of my favorite aspects of the graphic novel.

The story of Mister Magic picks up in the present when Val is preparing to bury her father, with whom she shared an isolated and suspicious existence in rural America. During the wake for her father, she is visited by some men from her past that she seemingly has no recollection of, yet she feels a sense of familiarity and comfort with them. We learn that they were all on the children’s show Mister Magic thirty years ago. Val has mysteriously disappeared, and as the men share more details, we learn that Val’s father removed her from the show and lied about her mother, who Val is surprised to learn is still alive and living in Utah, where the group plans to head for a show reunion and podcast episode. Although she doesn’t remember much from this period in her life and seems to be suspicious about the outside world, Val decides to join the guys on their trip to the reunion hoping to reconnect with her mother and learn more about her past. She begins to doubt the history that her father has carefully cultivated and questions her own existence. Thus, the journey to Utah is also a quest for Val to learn more about her past, her identity, and her role on the show Mister Magic.

I don’t want to give much more away, but the story is unsettling as we learn more about Mister Magic, the show and the character, and how the show has been a part of American popular culture for nearly 100 years, starting as a radio program and eventually moving to television before some kind of unremembered tragedy forced Val to leave and the show’s removal from the airwaves and any kind of archives. Thus, the show survives solely through memory and word-of-mouth, creating both mystery and misunderstanding about its purpose and place in American childhood. I really liked this aspect of the graphic novel, since I think it takes the concept of nostalgia and memory and offers a kind of critique; the graphic novel also seems to critique the role of children’s shows and how they sometimes are capable of both exploitation of the actors and indoctrination of the audience. There’s an interesting subplot about the community that helped to create Mister Magic, and how they want to return to the idyls of the past when children were more obedient and values were more traditional and conservative. However, with the sudden shifts in narrative and plot lines, I found this aspect of the story a little harder to follow. It seemed that there were other subplots and characters that suddenly appeared and then disappeared for a time, not linking as well as they might in a narrative novel with some chapter headings to indicate whose perspective or story readers are following. Regardless, the story takes the creepypasta concept along with our interest in nostalgia for childhood and creates an uncanny and sense of unease as the characters learn more about the true nature of the show and their roles on it. I appreciated how each of the characters were distinct and had specific roles on the show but also struggled with their adult selves. Their journey, along with Val’s, to Utah for the reunion, podcast, or possibly something else seemed to enable them to not only better understand their past and the traumas their experienced, but also to better come to terms with their adult selves. I thought that this aspect of the story was also interesting and relevant, as this is something that most people experience to varying degrees.

While the artwork is excellent and the story has good moments, Mister Magic: The Graphic Novel can be a little challenging to follow since the story relies on various characters piecing together their pasts to understand the present. Although parts of the story are slowly revealed, I found it sometimes difficult to follow. I loved the online pages, emails, Wikipedia and reddit pages, but I wondered if having more traditional chapter breaks that might also include some omniscient narrating to provide more setting and context might have helped to clarify my own understanding. Regardless, this was a fun and interesting read, and if anything, it made me want to read the novel even more. Recommended!

 

 

Exploring Unexplained Phenomena in High Strangeness

 High Strangeness by Daniel Noah, Christopher Condon, Zac Thompson, Christopher Cantwell, Cecil Castellucci, and Christian Ward with various artists. 

High Strangeness Deluxe Edition cover

Many thanks to Oni Press and NetGalley for sharing an advanced copy of High Strangeness Deluxe Edition. I was intrigued by the cover and title, which featured a kind of mysterious element with a little bit of sinister mixed in- and this edition does not disappoint. This unique collection features several stories bound by the mysteries of the unexplained. Furthermore, each story contains both a comic depiction and an essay that provides some background, history, and personal connections with the unexplained phenomenon. I read the comics first, but I really appreciated the essays that follow since they provide a unique insight into how the writers experienced these phenomena, as well as some history about the phenomena. The comics and essays/articles work well together, but it’s also important to note how the comics share connective threads not only through the theme of unexplained phenomena, but it was really cool to see the artists incorporate some shared visual themes and motifs throughout the comics that are eventually explained in the essays.

I really appreciated the unique approach that this collection takes in exploring the unexplained phenomena across different eras. The first one explores UFOs from 1967, and follows an investigative journalist, Jack Kean, who is based on John Keel, the journalist who wrote the Mothman Prophecies and investigated UFOs. In terms of both story and art, this was probably my favorite comic in the collection. It uses a fake UFO sighting and the disappearance of the person who faked the sighting to create questions and skepticism around what is known and what is hidden with UFOs. The story has a great twist and reminds me of X-Files, as Kean becomes haunted by the possibility of UFOs.

 

Book 2 takes place in 1975 and investigates Sasquatch/Bigfoot. I also really enjoyed this one. The story is interesting, and the artwork is also compelling, especially around sightings of Sasquatch. Furthermore, reading the essay helped me understand the artwork and various evidence that some believers cite as evidence for the existence of Sasquatch. The story takes a surprising turn and calls into question whether Sasquatch is a monster type cryptid or something else that many may not have considered. It tells the story of an inmate named Ellwood who ended up escaping from a prison transfer during a snowstorm with help from a sasquatch. He ends up in a nearby town, squatting in a cabin and building a new life for himself. However, he remains haunted by the encounter with the sasquatch, and as the birth of his first child nears, he heeds the call of the sasquatch (a wood knock, glowing eyes, and a stick structure in the woods. Elwood leaves the confines of his cabin during a storm to investigate these mysterious signs and see if the Sasquatch is lurking for him. This is also the story where some of the visual themes and repeated symbols appear (hello mantis). I really loved the essay as well that provided more background information about wild men and sasquatch myths around the world. In particular, it was exciting to learn about the author’s personal experience in the woods of Pennsylvania. I wasn’t even aware that PA had any kind of sasquatch legends. I really appreciated how both the essay and comic provide background information into these signs of sasquatch and possibly present sasquatch as a beneficial caretaker of the wild.

Book 3 takes place in 1983 and deals with synchronicity. It’s an interesting story about the chance encounters that occur in a father and daughter’s relationship and lives. The artwork for the story is great, and the author of the related essay presents some interesting and meaningful incidents of synchronicity in her own life. The comic story explores how meaningful events can occur on similar dates, and how these events can sometimes influence future events. It’s a touching story, but not as mysterious or phenomenal as the others. Reading the essay gave me a deeper appreciation of the story, but it also demonstrates something the author mentioned about meaning being inherently personal, which is harder to explain to readers. The essay does a good job noting how specific coincidences are connected and add meaning, helping to shape the author’s future decisions about love, work, and life. The comic presents some of this as well, but there are some other events occurring that make the story a little harder to follow than some of the others in this collection.

Book 4 takes place in 2001 and deals with out of body experiences (OBE). The artwork for the comic is well done and engaging, and the essay does well explaining these phenomena, using some personal experiences. The story for the comic is ok. I initially found the main character Adeline a little annoying at first. She seems to rely on coin flips to make decisions, often abandoning responsibilities because a coin told her to. Yet, the ending of the story is interesting, and it seems like she gains significant insight from her OBEs, learning how to access the astral plane and gain some additional information about events in her life. Like Book 3, I felt like the essay was more helpful I explaining the phenomenon of OBEs, but I really enjoyed the artwork in this section.

Book 5 is titled “Infinity” and takes place in the future. It’s a wild ride that provides some essential information about how these phenomena are connected. The artwork for this section is also incredible, and varies from many of the other comics in this collection. It’s a surreal exploration of meaning and myth to better understand how these unexplained phenomena can impact our lives. I also appreciated the last essay from Daniel Noah that explains how he moved from skeptic to believer based on his experiences in the Stanley Hotel. The essay also explores the connective tissue among the various phenomena and how the visual themes and symbols are related in the various stories. It’s a clever and creative way to synthesize these stories and note how much wonder is in the world when we leave open these doors of explanation, even if it’s just a crack.

Overall this was an interesting collection that was fun to read. I love these books that explore mysterious and unexplained phenomena, so this was fun to read. I typically lean more towards the scary, monster type stories like the first two, but I also found the last two stories that explore synchronicity and out of body experiences to be also interesting and somewhat emotional in a heartfelt way. The artwork for this collection is phenomenal, and the essays that conclude this deluxe edition provide further exploration and background information about these mysterious events and phenomena. Although I read the comics first and the essays last, I wondered how reading the essays first might impact my understanding of the comics and these phenomena. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way to approach this- just two different paths that lead to potentially similar outcomes. Nevertheless, this is a fun and very different read than what I was expecting. Highly recommended, especially if you like learning about unexplained phenomena.

 

Exploring and Overcoming Past Trauma in Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker

 Japanese Gothic: A Gothic, Dual-Time Novel of Ghosts, Hauntings, and Redemption by Kylie Lee Baker

Japanese Gothic book cover

Author Kylie Lee Baker

Many thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing, Hanover Square Press, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of Kylie Lee Baker’s latest book Japanese Gothic. Gothic literature has been around since the 18^th century, and is largely characterized by a dark and dreary mood and environment, and often involves hauntings, tragedies, and horror. Furthermore, architecture and buildings, including the surrounding environments like nature, forests, beaches, and gardens can all play an important, if not sinister role in the plots of gothic literature. Kylie Lee Baker’s latest novel emphasizes the dark and dreary elements of gothic, with the occasional blood-soaked violence and gore that was a part of her last book, Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng. I was really impressed with Bat Eater, finding it surprisingly dark and gory, yet also offering a sense of hope and a way to deal with the anger and frustration of racism and discrimination. I thought that maybe Baker had traded the rambling noise and squalid urban decay of NYC for the quieter, if not more ominous trappings of the ghostly countryside of Japan. Although Japanese Gothic is tonally different from Bat Eater, there are still many similarities, including protagonists haunted and traumatized by their past losses, a connection with spirits, and Baker’s unrelenting pursuit of some of the goriest descriptions of violence (and I say this as a commendation). I was cringing at the blood-soaked ending of the book. Like Bat Eater, this book is also a wild ride, with many unexpected stops along the way; however, there are also more moments of quiet introspection, as the main character, Lee Turner, is kind of an introverted loner, whose dependence on medications keeps him in a perpetual state of haze and fog. Part of this dependency, we learn, is from his mother’s mysterious disappearance on a holiday in Cambodia when Lee was 12.

Lee struggles to make sense of his mother’s disappearance and his father’s muted response to this. Lee retains some strange memories from this trip, recalling a voice from a suitcase, which leads him to conclude that his mother was inside and possibly abducted by human traffickers. The police and Lee’s father come to a different conclusion, assuming that Lee’s mother drowned while out swimming. Neither option offers much solace to Lee, who internalizes the absence and tries to please his father by being an ideal son. Lee eventually ends up at NYU, while his father, a professor of Japanese, ends up living in Japan after dating a series of Japanese women. The story starts when Lee absconds to his father’s house, thinking he has fled the murder of his roommate James, but unsure of what he did with the body. Lee decides that fleeing to Japan to stay with his distant father and his girlfriend Hina will allow him to escape responsibility and try to make sense of his messy life.

Baker alternates chapters with the story of Sen Iwasaki, a daughter of a samurai who lived in the house Lee’s father now occupies, nearly 150 years before. Sen’s father was a prominent samurai for the Shimazu Clan, but by 1877, samurais have basically been eradicated, and Sen’s family struggles to find work and food to survive. We gradually learn about Sen’s struggles to connect with her father, whose battle against the empire led him to return a defeated and somewhat darker individual. Nevertheless, he continues to train Sen since his sons are too young and weak to train. He sees something in Sen, despite belittling her and sowing doubt about her instincts to kill. We also learn about the tragedy of the house, as this once proud family is reduced to eating porridge and hunting small animals while awaiting for reprisals from their enemies. It’s a stark life that both contrasts and mirrors Lee’s life in the present in some ways. Both characters deal with distant or lost parents for whom they grieve, and both Sen and Lee try to accommodate their living parents and connect with them in ways that seem futile. The book is divided into 4 sections, and each section ends with a short excerpt from a fairy tale about a fisherman who helps an injured turtle return to the see. The turtle turns out to be the daughter of the Emperor of the Sea, and as a result of the fisherman’s kindness, the fisherman is rewarded. It’s a little unclear why this story is at the end of each section, but the ending of the book ties these three stories together.

Both Lee and Sen are haunted by those they lost. In addition to her father returning as a shamed warrior, Sen has also lost a sister, and her spirit haunts Sen. Lee is also haunted by the loss of his mother, but his senses are also highly attuned to others. He can hear their heartbeats and know when others are lying due to their posture or movements. These kinds of perceptions make Lee keenly aware of others’ emotions but also seem to provide a kind of fixation that slowly drives him mad (almost like a Poe narrator). One night, Lee hears and feels a heartbeat while lying in bed. He gets up and listens to the room, eventually discovering a doorway in the closet. Likewise, Sen lies awake in her room, communicating with her dead sister, when she eventually is led to the doorway, allowing Lee and Sen to transcend time and meet through this portal.

At first skeptical and defensive against one another, the two must learn to make sense of their newfound connection, and we see how each of them faces challenges in their own worlds, trying to navigate the destruction of each of their own broken families. I was particularly interested in Sen’s challenges as a daughter in a patriarchal society that favors sons, and how she repeatedly receives messages that women cannot be samurais. Nevertheless, she continues to train, fight, and push against these ideas, proving to her father and others that women can be just as fierce warriors. Likewise, Lee must challenge his father’s perceptions about his lack of masculinity, while also challenging his dad’s fetishization of Japanese women. In their work together and trying to understand what brought them together, Lee and Sen form an unlikely bond of shared trauma and doubt. I appreciated how Lee uses technology like the internet to find out about Sen’s history and death, and while Sen thinks Lee might be a demon, he proves his knowledge by predicting a fire that will occur in the town on a specific date. Baker creates an interesting pair whose differences complement one another. However, I really appreciated how the characters and their dialogue all seemed so unique and different. While Lee doesn’t say a whole lot, readers witness his thinking move from the kind of addled-hazy thoughts of someone addicted to allergy medicine to the kind of paranoid and anxious thoughts of someone struggling with withdrawal and trauma. Sen, on the other hand, is much prone to fighting, and readers witness her training springing to action as she is pushed by doubts about Lee’s intentions and the modern world. Baker has created an interesting dynamic that stretches belief, but also keeps readers engaged and makes it work.

There’s a lot to like about this book, especially if you liked Bat Eater. It doesn’t have quite the kinetic energy of that book’s urban setting, yet the rural Japanese setting creates an equally ominous and unsettling mood, especially with the sword ferns in the garden that sway and scratch the house, threatening to poke and stab, as if wielded by some psychotic samurai. Similarly, Baker’s writing is more descriptive and poetic in this book. I kept highlighting these passages that either described Lee’s anxious inner thoughts or reflected them in the environment. For example, from the first chapter “But Lee hadn’t wanted to know the taste of James’s blood, hadn’t wanted to hold this awful feeling inside him, like the collapse of an entire star system inside his rib cage. Lee was full of dead stars and empty universes now.” Or later on in the book “He liked how small the ocean made him feel, like it could devour him and all his problems in a single gulp. Nothing mattered in the face of the endless churning sea. It was important, all-consuming, all-devouring. It might have been beautiful, but Lee had never been good at discerning beauty.” There is darkness in this story, but it’s also brilliantly projected onto the environment and setting, and Baker really captures the characters’ inner turmoil through these descriptions and metaphors.

While I enjoyed the atmospheric and moody nature of the book, and Baker’s ability to distill emotional turmoil either with great analogies or through the surrounding environment, the story is complicated and at times a little hard to follow. There are some loose ends that don’t get completely tied up until the ending, which I won’t reveal. Furthermore, I grew a little frustrated with Lee and his downtrodden nature, but I can see how Baker made him really depressed and traumatized by the loss of his mother, so he also becomes a sympathetic figure. The book also has a lot of incluing and indirect exposition, where we are left to draw conclusions about Lee’s background based on his spotty and naïve memory. And although the premise of this kind of secret portal that allows the characters to meet across time is somewhat unbelievable, I actually enjoyed this element of the story. It reminded me of another Japanese writer who often writes about loss and different dimensions- Haruki Murakami. Although this is like if Murakami was paired up with Stephen King and writing more of a gothic horror novel rather than more of a fantasy sci-fi story about identity. Japanese Gothic’s focus on the gothic elements along with some Japanese mythology and ghost stories creates a compelling atmosphere that engaged me and kept me turning pages, wanting to find out more. I also appreciated the dueling narratives where one chapter focused on Lee and another focused on Sen. It was interesting to see how their stories mirrored and converged. Although it’s not the same as Bat Eater, Japanese Gothic has a lot to offer, especially if you enjoy ghost stories, folk horror, and characters who are prone to hallucinations and fugue states. I’m really excited for Kylie Lee Baker’s next book, as she crafted another complex ghost story about the past that still addresses relevant and current issues in society. Her descriptions, especially the characters’ turbulent emotional states, stand out, but her descriptions of the gore and violence in the book are visceral and left me cringing at the end. Highly recommended!

Japanese Murder Mystery Guilt by Keigo Higashino

 Guilt: A Mystery by Keigo Higashino; 

translated by Giles Murray

Guilt book cover

Mystery Master Keigo Higashino

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for sharing an advanced copy of Keigo Higashino’s latest mystery novel, Guilt. I was excited to read this book because I’ve generally enjoyed Higashino’s books, and this is the first book that features Detective Godai, a police detective in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. Higashino is well known for his other mysteries featuring “Detective” Galileo and Detective Kaga, two distinct characters who have their own logic and methods for solving murders. Detective Godai doesn’t have quite the same presence or investigative skills that Galileo or Kaga have, but this was a solid mystery story that left me wondering about the killer and their motivation.

Godai is called in to investigate the murder of Kensuke Shiraishi, a lawyer that everyone seems to agree was a good guy. While Godai and his partner Nakamachi initially think Shiraishi might have been killed by a disgruntled client, they can’t find any evidence of disgruntled clients. Shiraishi actually checked in on some of his clients to make sure everything was going ok for them prior to his death. Their investigation eventually leads them to Tatsuo Kuraki, an older widower who met with Shiraishi regarding questions about estate law and wills. After some investigation, Kuraki eventually confesses to the murder of Shiraishi as well as the 1984 murder of Shozo Haitani, a financial schemer who entangled Kuraki in paying for medical expenses and transportation after hitting Haitani while he was riding a bike. Although Kuraki was one of the individuals who discovered Haitani’s body, he had an alibi, which led the police to arrest Junji Fukuma, an innocent electronics store owner, whose false arrest eventually led to his suicide while in custody. Kuraki has lived with this guilt for years, and eventually befriended Fukuma’s wife and daughter, although they did not know his identity. He was planning to leave his inheritance to the Asabas (Fukuma’s widow and daughter), but under Japanese law, Kuraki’s son was legally entitled to at least half of the inheritance if he wished to contest the will. This is why Kuraki sought the advice of the lawyer Shiraishi. However, after Shiraishi learned more about the situation and the murder, he apparently encouraged Kuraki to confess to the 1984 murder, even though the statute of limitations had expired. Fearing for his freedom and feeling threatened, Kuraki met with Shiraishi, but killed him because of Shiraishi’s attempts to get him to confess. Although surprised at his confession, the police checked his story and were amazed at Kuraki’s knowledge of the specific details that were not released to the public. Furthermore, they were even more surprised to learn about the older murder. Although the motive seemed somewhat specious, they seemed happy to have a suspect under arrest and in custody.

Although the investigation seems wrapped up, others involved with both the victim and the accused were not satisfied. Shiraishi’s daughter Mirei questions Kuraki’s account, contesting that her father would not have pushed Kuraki to confess. Rather, she recognized that his work as a lawyer would have encouraged Kuraki to maintain his innocence. Likewise, Kuraki’s son, Kazuma, also questions his father’s involvement in both murders, noting that his father was not a killer and seemed incapable of murder, especially as an elderly widower. Will the specter of false accusations and arrests impact this investigation? Will the police and public’s desire for identifying the murderer drive Detectives Godai and Nakamachi to further investigate this strange case where murders were committed nearly 40 years apart? Or will they quickly accept Kuraki’s confession? I was surprised how involved I became with this case, especially after Kuraki confesses so early on in the book. However, it’s Mirei and Kazuma’s insistence that the police misread their fathers’ intentions and actions that kept me reading. In fact, I was also surprised that while this is billed as a Detective Godai mystery, it’s Mirei and Kazuma who do most of the investigation and its their work that leads to challenges to Kuraki’s narrative. The short chapters that focus on different characters give readers varied perspectives from which to observe these crimes and their implications for both victims and the families of the accused. In fact, it seems like that was an underlying message for this story, examining how society, in particular Japanese society, will often castigate the family of an accused murderer, and these families often suffer as much as the victims when they often have no involvement and are also grappling with the implications of the crime. Kazuma ends up having to take a leave from work because of the negative attention his father’s case might have on the firm. He wears a disguise out. Likewise, when Fukuma is accused and eventually dies in police custody, his case is never resolved, and despite no conviction, he is guilty in the court of public opinion, which limits opportunities for his widow and daughter, who not only have to grow up without a husband and father, but also have to grow and live under the shadow of being a murderer’s relative. Higashino seems to be raising questions about this kind of treatment and harsh speculation, looking at how murder implicates all, and often the accused’s families become victims as well.

The book was an interesting read, and since this was originally published in Japan, there are many significant cultural practices that might seem different or out of place in American society. The guilt of family members is one. I also at times found Kazuma, the accused’s son, to be frustrating at times. He is easily duped by a reporter, and possibly because of cultural practice, welcomes the reporter in, feeling bad that he might turn down his interview requests. Similarly, Kazuma feels bad about the negative attention his father’s case brings to his advertising firm, questioning whether he should quit or not. However, readers should keep in mind the context of the novel. Nevertheless, I was really surprised that Kazuma consented to the interview, especially with his concern about publicity for the case and how it would affect his boss and co-workers. Maybe he was trying to create some positive publicity, but it ended up backfiring. There are also some interesting arguments about the statute of limitations for crimes like murder as well as what constitutes guilt and restitution. Kuraki’s lawyer is always looking for angles with which he can show his client demonstrating a level of care or remorse about his crimes. There’s a close scrutiny of the crime scene and the behaviors of the accused, and I enjoyed this level of analysis on these details. Overall, this was an interesting and surprising mystery. If you’ve ever read Higashino’s other mysteries, this is among some of the best, however, the detectives don’t engage with the case in the same way that Detective Galileo or Kaga do. Additionally, the story is complex, involving 2 murders that are nearly 40 years apart, and there are many culturally relevant details that might not be familiar to American readers. However, Guilt is an enjoyable mystery which I gladly recommend. 

Nowhere Burning A Dark Tale of Family, Friendship, and Survival by Catriona Ward

 Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward

Nowhere Burning book cover

Author and master storyteller Catriona Ward

Big thanks to Tor Publishing and NetGalley for sharing an advanced copy of Catriona Ward’s dazzling new novel Nowhere Burning. I previously read and was stunned by Sundial, and last year, I read the Shivers Collection, in which her story “Night and Day in Misery” stood out to me as the best story in the collection. I had high expectations for this book, and Ward does not disappoint. Nowhere Burning is a compelling and propulsive novel that deals with families, friendships, and fidelity. In fact, there were elements of the story that reminded me of some of the best parts of Sundial. Needless to say, as one of the best horror and thriller writers I’ve read in the past few years, Ward has created a dark story about death and rebirth that also features a clan of rejected kids who make their own society in the mountains in the abandoned estate of an alleged serial killer who died years earlier in an attack on one of his houseguests that resulted in a massive fire. The killer, Leif Winham, is an actor and star whose loneliness and need for attention lead him to keep his houseguests indefinitely and subject them to gruesome experiments. Leif’s story is one of the three different timelines we see in the story. While we don’t learn a lot about Leif, we encounter him through his hiring of Adam, a handyman whom is hired to build a hidden staircase in Leif’s estate, Nowhere. Through this part of the narrative, we learn about how Nowhere came to be, and we understand the ruins of Nowhere in which the current group, the Children of Nowhere, live. Riley and her half-brother Oliver, were living with Cousin, an abusive family member who doesn’t allow Oliver to attend school and subjects him to harsh physical labor. After a mysterious visit from a floating child named Noon who Riley isn’t even sure if she is real or a hallucination, Riley makes a plan to visit Noon’s group, the Children of Nowhere, in the mountains. Noon provides Riley with vague directions through the park, and Riley makes a plan to escape Cousin’s abuses and join the Children of Nowhere. There’s another story line with Marc and Kimble, true crime documentarians, who are interested in the story of the Nowhere Children, and want to visit the ruins of Nowhere for their next documentary. These story lines converge in an exciting and surprising ending. 

Much like Sundial, I couldn’t put this book down once it started. It’s an exciting story of survival amidst trauma and tragedy, and the kind of terror that groups can inflict on outsiders when they experience external and existential threats to their survival. In a lot of ways, the setting of Nowhere Burning, an abandoned estate that initially had grand intentions as a kind of refuge for Leif Winham, literally a kind of nowhere where Winham wished to escape, but also to inflict pain and torture on those he felt where either taking from him or planning to leave him. Like the home in Sundial, Nowhere operates both in the past and the present, and despite its decay it remains a site of life and activity for the runaways that populate Nowhere. I also liked how both novels examine revisiting the sites of past traumas and tragedies. Although Riley and Oliver don’t experience trauma at the original Nowhere estate, their lives as orphans whose mother tragically passed away and whose lives were neglected and abused at Cousin’s house reflect the same kind of harsh existence that some of the characters in Sundial experienced. In fact, both stories look at the impact of a childhood lost to violence and misguided parenting. It’s interesting that the children of Nowhere seek out abusive and neglectful parents in the town and try to either punish these parents or bring their children to Nowhere to live a more idyllic, yet challenging existence, relying on nature, hunting, and farming to survive. I love how both novels challenge the idea of families, calling into question whether parents and other authority figures really know best for how to raise and care for children. 

Furthermore, both Sundial and Nowhere Burning feature an incredibly eerie setting that takes place in ruins. While the novel is being compared to Lord of the Flies, I also think there’s something Dickensian about Nowhere. It reminded me a little of Miss Havisham’s house, and how the children are both afraid of the house, yet seek to maintain it, not really cleaning the ruins, but keeping the decay and filth, maybe as a reminder, but also as a way of their hope that Leif Winham will eventually return. I loved the eerie and haunting, tragic mood of this story, much like the other texts of Ward’s I’ve read. Also like the other texts from Ward I’ve read, there’s quite a few twists and surprises that these characters encounter. While I was able to pick up on one surprising reveal, I didn’t anticipate the ending. Once I hit the halfway part of this book, I couldn’t put it down, and I found the story to be really propulsive and moving. I especially loved the connection that Riley has with her brother Oliver, and how Riley tries to navigate the challenges of belonging to a new group after leaving Cousin’s abusive home. 

Nowhere Burning is an amazing story that includes a strange and famous serial killer, as well as a kind of strange cult of kids who worship him in his abandoned estate. There are traces of folk horror, cult horror, and true crime in this story, but it is also a story about family and bonds, and how even among tragedy and trauma, those bonds that we forge with our family can be important. Riley is a great main character whose resilience and fortitude enable her to navigate challenging situations. I also loved the different children of Nowhere. A group of kids eking out living amidst the ruins of a once great estate was fascinating. There are elements of folk tales and other stories like Peter Pan in this story, but it is a much darker take. The only thing I wished there was more of was the connection the children have to Leif Winham. I don’t remember a clear explanation about how or why they came to appreciate him. There’s also some ambiguity about how the children of Nowhere eventually came to be. We know that there was a power struggle, and Noon and her group eventually won out, but I wondered if there was more to that story than Ward included here. Nevertheless, this was a great book that I couldn’t put down once I really got into the story. Highly recommended!