Varieties Of Spookiness -- Review of Andrew M. Seddon's "What Darkness Remains"

NEW SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY REVIEWS

Reviews Of Recently Published Science Fiction And Fantasy Books

Reviewer: Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258

Blog Address: http://newsciencefictionandfantasyreviews.blogspot.com/

November 13, 2017

               Varieties of Spookiness

A Review of

Andrew M.Seddon What Darkness Remains (Create Space, 2017)

                187 pp   $12.99   ISBN: 9781978164154

Reviewer:  Forrest W. Schultz

     The sub-title of this book is "Thirteen Tales of The Supernatural And Unknown".  I guess that the author decided to have that many stories because of the spookiness often associated with the number "thirteen".  At any rate, if you like such tales, you should check these out.  Hallowe'en was last week, so it is too late to recommend buying this book for Trunk Treating purposes this year, but I do recommend stocking up for next year!

     Because of the variety among these tales it is almost impossible to do justice to them in a short review, so I shall just select one of them -- my favorite -- and tell you about it.  This is one of the most unusual weird stories I have ever read -- it concerns what could be called a demon-possessed piano, whose title is "Sonata For Piano, Four Hands", found on pages 29-38.  One of the pianists describes it as being "malevolent, evil...frighteningly so...something that never should have been written..and must never be played again". (pp. 35, 38)

     A good description of the world view of the author (expressed in these stories) is provided on the back cover by the reviewer Colleen Drippe' in these words:  "the conviction that we live in a well-ordered universe where good triumphs over evil", which is the context in which these stories should be understood. 

     You can visit the author's website at www.andrewmseddon.com.