Book Review: On the Night Border by James Chambers

On the Night Border by James Chambers

Paperback, 218 pages

Published September 2019 by Raw Dog Screaming Press

One of the books I most looked forward to this last year was this collection of short stories by James Chambers. I first met James at the 2011 Borderlands boot camp for writers in Maryland. There were many great writers many of them with great published works but James was the one whose work most impressed me then and continues to amaze me. The man has gone on to win a Stoker award and been mentioned in Ellen Datlow's respected year's best horror list so he doesn't me to validate his amazing work.

Let me start by saying this book is a short story collection that doesn't sell as well as novels in general. I am not sure why I have to convince people to take that extra step and read a collection but this is a good one to read. On the Night Border is a great sampler of Chambers's strengths as a writer. That is what you hope for when you read a collection.

In different stories, Chambers plays with different narrative styles and tones. Some are more tricky than others like the second person narrative that is hiding the fact that it is really a first-person all along. Chambers is very inventive about how he reveals plot and character. One thing you know reading his work is that he knows the genre and takes seriously the tiny details that make horror stories tick. He builds tension and suspense with deliberate choices that require skill and attention to detail. I think that is one reason his fellow writers will really love this book.

Nine of the fifteen stories had lives in various anthologies and magazines and yet they work together as they were planned to piece together. Several stories have Lovecraft and mythos vibe if that is what you're into that. The best examples are the opening story that mixes Jack Kerouac and Lovecraft and the Dagon story Odd Quahogs.

My favorites in the collection were Lost Daughters and Mnemoncide. That said all the stories worked for me on some level those two were just my favorites. Lost Daughters has the feel of a horror classic with a great opening section that sets the creepiest tone of the whole book. The story goes on to deliver. Mnemoncide is the second-person story and the most experimental piece in the book. I liked Chambers going weird and would really enjoy reading him stretch those muscles more.

There are very few negatives for me, in fact it is pretty nitpicking but probably the only thing I didn't like was the modern setting of the Kolchak the Night Stalker story. Either he is super old in the story or he was moved into a time where he would make references to the internet and Donald Trump. I think Kolchak should stay in the 70's. My opinion.

On the Night Border is a top-notch collection by an underrated author. I say that knowing he has already won awards for his writing. The best thing I can say about James Chambers the story-teller is that every word on every page is engineered for effect and you are in great hands.