Goblin by Josh Malerman
I could be remembering this wrong but when I interviewed Josh last year for the Postcards podcast he said this book was some of his earliest attempts at writing and that makes a certain sense. We can debate if this is a novel or a collection of stories but I think the answer is yes. You and I (reader) are going to revisit this point after we talk more about this book. It was first published as a limited-edition expensive hardcover. I have no idea how different the edits are between the editions. It is exciting that Malerman has become bankable enough for Del Rey to shell out the funds to re-issue these small press books. I am sure this, in the long run, benefits This is Horror and Earthling so I am excited about that.
If this was early Malerman I am impressed with how confident and assured the writing is. I can see why JM and his team would wait to publish this one. It is not as commercial as the Bird Box books, the hooks are not as surface as Inspection and require a certain amount of patience from the reader. I scanned quickly a few GoodReads reviews and it is clearly some readers wanted less of a slow burn.
Here is the concept six tales set in the midwestern take on the haunted village, a motif we have come to associate with King’s Castle Rock or Lovecraft’s Dunwich. Goblin Michigan reminds me more of Charles L. Grant’s Oxrun Station novels and stories that ran from the 70s and 80s. These were atmospheric and moody horror novels that played with character and vibe. I have no idea if the Grant novels were an influence but they are a spiritual cousin to Goblin at the least. My memory could be wrong but I believe Grant did a collection of Oxrun Station stories called the Orchard.
The setting of Goblin a town cursed with abnormally high rainfall and haunted by secrets seems to be created as Malerman’s go-to creepy small town. I mean horror writers need one of these right? King uses Castle Rock and Derry like a pair of crutches but that is not the case with Goblin. A town that has not really appeared else in the Malerverse, yet.
None the less the six stories here are subtle gothic fare, if you are coming for the post-apocalyptic action of Bird Box make sure you don’t sleep on the equally good maybe better sequel Malorie. In that book, Malerman showed his chops for using plot, setting, and character to create terror. Goblin however is VIBE with all-caps, bold, and underlined to make a point.
It is funny because the wrap-around story presents some of the best setup and pay-off in the book. Enough happens that you forget about the deliver-man with the weird instructions, by the time the epilogue came around I have a pleasant “Oh yeah,” and enjoyed that moment. Of the six Novellas, I liked the back half a little better. The last two “A Mix up at the Zoo,” and “The Hedges” were my favorites.
Kamp is the strongest of the first half, the story of a man who is scared of ghosts to the point that his biggest fear is being scared to death. This story plays horror tropes like a rhythm guitar player plays a solid power cord. It is a comforting feeling for this reader. I can relax a little knowing the storytelling is in good hands.
The only novella that lost me was “Happy Birthday Hunter,” which just made the animal rights guy in me a little uncomfortable, and that might not affect you. I couldn’t relate to the character but for the same reasons, moments of the Zoo novella hit my sweet spot.
This story of employees at the Goblin Zoo had several powerful moments of character. It is the story of a tour guide and a zookeeper who confront the nature of their jobs, the zoo, and the idea of cages. This is done through a carefully crafted three-way parallel between the man picking up the trash, one who gives a tour, and a female gorilla who is the star of the zoo.
“One night at closing time in his second week at his second week on the job, a possible explanation popped up, unasked for.
They know I’m not where I am supposed to be. Up here- he tapped his head – I’m caged too.”
Every reader brings their personal feelings to the mind-meld of a novel. This reader was hit hard by the power of empathy shown in this story for the gorilla Eula. Her cage has a sign ENTER IF YOU DARE! IT’S GOBLIN’S GREAT GORILLA. Dirk the zookeeper turned tour guide is so affected by her captivity and the shame of it he can’t speak or do his job. This was the most powerful and emotionally rich moment of the book for me. Dirk’s awareness that Eula was not just an animal but a woman was powerful.
“Her literal captivity was hard enough for him. But consider the woman inside the Gorilla, with no notion to break free, was enough to keep Dirk silent for the duration of the tour’s stay at her post.”
Powerful stuff.
All things being equal and divorced from my personal ethics the most effective horror story in the collection is the closer The Hedges. This one is perfect as is but I felt like it could have sustained a short novel in the 150 to 170 pages range. The story of Wayne a widow who plants the hedge maze (seen on the cover of this edition) to honor his dead wife. I understand why this is the cover story, Margot the young child on the cover goes to the police and tells them unlike basically everyone else she has solved the maze. She is telling them because she found something you will want to see.”
I love this setup. The narrative flips from Wayne’s backstory to Margot telling her story, Malerman breaking the rules a bit by letting Margot unfold this story in her own words. The back and forth is very well done with the alternating chapters ending on notes that will keep you turning pages.
Consider the transition between chapters six and seven of this tale. Six ends with Molly Wayne’s wife dying…
“Molly would die, six years later in her sleep, and Wayne devastated and very close to being destroyed, intended to keep his vows.
He’d start by planting her a bush.”
Seven starts with Margot wanting to call her mom, her mom is on her way, but the cops are desperate to get the end of her story and the short chapter ends with her teasing that she cracked the code of the Hedges. We cut back to Wayne building the hedges. This structure helps build the story to the point I don’t want to spoil. Excellent storytelling.
The ending wrap around ties it all together. I believe this book is both a novel and a short story collection. Yes in a way it is both. The rules that define what a book are made-up bullshit anyway. A novel follows a character through a story and in this case, the character at the heart of this narrative is the town of Goblin.
I whole heartily recommend this novel for Malerman and horror completionists. This is not the book to begin a journey with this author. Not for any weakness on this book just based on the strength of his other releases. Birdbox and Inspection are great openers. I have yet to read a Malerman that didn’t show storytelling and prose chops. Goblin is subtle quiet horror but if that is your bag then take a trip to Goblin Michigan.
My first interview with Josh, Goblin focused episode coming soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment