‘They Lurk’ – Ronald Malfi (Titan Books)

I’d never read anything by Ronald Malfi and payday had just happened so it was but the work of a minute, or two, to hop onto Amazon and have me a copy of ‘They Lurk’. Why ‘They Lurk’? Easy ;o) I thought a collection of novellas would give me a broader picture of what Malfi writes about, ‘After the Fade’ already looked like the kind of thing that I’d be into (and it was, but more on that in a moment…) and I was keen to see what the other novellas delivered.

The original plan then was to dip into ‘They Lurk’ as and when I needed to something short to read, probably on the bus to and from work. As it turned out though, the commute took longer than expected and by the time I got to lunch, I was enjoying ‘They Lurk’ so much that it was very easy to just keep reading. I ended up polishing the whole thing off yesterday and it was time very much well spent.

I’ll take a quick look at each novella, in a little more detail, but as a whole, ‘They Lurk’ was a very good read and I’ve already got ‘Ghostwritten’ on my Amazon wishlist, just waiting for the next payday to come before I have a copy of that too. Malfi is just brilliant at getting you to think that not a lot is happening in each of the novellas but once you get to the finale, he loves to pull the curtain back (as it were) and it’s then that you realise that so much was happening, the whole time, and in plain sight too. That’s what will stay with me, that and the feeling of creeping dread as my brain slowly caught up (look, it was a Tuesday…) with the plot.

Some stories had a greater impact than others but that is the nature of the game with collections; your mileage will inevitably vary. As a whole though, ‘They Lurk’ is a gloriously unsettling read and all too easy to finish off in a couple of sittings.

Now, lets take a look at each of the novellas. Quick thoughts though, I’ve got a monster of a day ahead of me…

‘Skullbelly’

Private detective John Jeffers is hired after three teenagers disappear in a forest and in the process learns of a terrible secret.

I love a good detective story almost as much as I love tales of monsters in the woods and with ‘Skullbelly’, Malfi delivers an unsettling read where even though you know what’s in the woods, Jeffers doesn’t and that’s the hook that draws you in. There are little clues to find (does Skullbelly like to scratch up cars? I think he does…) and these all draw out the tension. The way it’s released though comes right out of left field and makes the ending all the more memorable. (And watch out for a Skullbelly reference in one of the other novellas).

‘The Separation’

Is Marcus’ old friend Charlie suffering from a nervous breakdown, or are otherworldly forces at work…?

An early contender for ‘favourite novella’ purely because of how Malfi hides everything in plain sight and then hits us with a powerful ending that left me thinking, ‘damn, now it all makes sense…’ And it’s so understated.

And that ending… I felt exactly the same as Marcus, Jerry and Demitris felt, watching Charlie come out of the bedroom. It still creeps me out.

‘The Stranger’

David finds a stranger sitting behind the wheel of his car. The doors are locked and there’s a gun on the dashboard. And then the insanity started…

Sometimes weird shit just happens and all you can do is just go where it takes you. I wasn’t sure about the ending (I need to read it again to get my head round it) but what happens to the stranger, in the car, has to be seen to be believed and is worth the price of entry on it’s own. And that’s all I can say.

‘After the Fade’

A girl walked into a small Annapolis tavern, collapsed and died. Something had latched itself to the base of her skull. And it didn’t arrive along.

‘After the Fade’ is slightly different from the rest of the novellas in that Malfi doesn’t hide any clues to the ending, not this time. You just have to deal with it when the time comes and it feels all the more like a surprise for it. Before that though, we’ve got a pub under siege and a group of people who aren’t best equipped to deal with it; a classic combination that Malfi puts to good use.

‘Fierce’

After a car accident in a nightmarish snowstorm, a teenage daughter and her Mum encounter gruesome madness.

And what a tale to sign off with. What I really enjoyed here is that every time you think you have a handle on the plot, Malfi goes and ups the ante, taking Connie to places you would never have thought at the beginning of ‘Fierce’. This novella races along and I’m glad that I went along for the ride. It’s grotesque, brutal and all the more fun for it.