‘The Colonel’s Monograph’ – Graham McNeill (Black Library)


Page Count: 88 Pages

I hate saying this, because it’s only Tuesday dammit, but this week is already looking like it’s going to be another tough one so I’ve got a funny feeling you’ll be seeing mostly short stories here over the next few days. Maybe a couple of comic books as well. I’ll try and pick some good ones ;o)

Today then, lets go to the darkest corners of a grimdark universe that’s already dark enough as it is; what with the constant warfare and all. I used to wonder whether, given the nature of the setting, a ‘Warhammer Horror’ line was over-egging the pudding but I’ve been proved wrong on a number of occasions now. That’ll teach me… I’m used to the line turning out some decent stories so it was no surprise then that ‘The Colonel’s Monograph’ was another one ;o)

When invited to catalogue the antiquarian book collection of the late Colonel Grayloc – a celebrated hero of the Imperium – former archivist Teresina Sullo is swift to accept. Grieving for her dead husband, she sees an opportunity for distraction and respite from her lonely days as a widow. But something forbidding lurks in the mist-shrouded marshes of Vansen Falls, casting a shadow over Grayloc Manor and veiling the land with ill intent. A missing piece of the colonel’s collection holds the answer to this darkness: a monograph rumoured to contain a detailed account of the infamous ‘Dawn of the Dark Suns’. Obsessed with seeking out this singular tome, Teresina delves deeper and deeper into the mystery at the heart of manor, little realising the true evil which resides there...

You can find ‘The Colonel’s Monograph’ as an e-novella but I came across it in my copy of ‘The Harrowed Paths’, a ‘Warhammer Horror’ anthology.

I’ll be honest, ‘The Colonel’s Monograph’ gave itself away a little too early for my taste with a random encounter that was clearly anything but. If you know the setting then you know that certain things herald, well… certain darker things that can’t be hidden in plain sight. That’s what happened here for me and that was a bit of a shame.

It wasn’t a deal breaker though, not at all, as there is so much else going on in ‘The Colonel’s Monograph’ that I was more than happy to forgive an ‘early reveal’.

In ‘The Colonel’s Monograph’, Graham McNeill combines all the classic tropes of ‘Haunted House’ tales and ‘Body Horror’ to give us a tale that broods all menacingly and then leaps into relentless jump-scares at all the right moments. Grayloc Manor is so full of secrets that it cannot help but loom over the plot in just the right way to unsettle this reader; especially with all the foreboding dreams that Teresina Sullo has. And if that wasn’t enough, there’s a killer servitor on the loose (those things freak me out anyway, McNeill takes that fear to a whole new level here though) and if that wasn’t enough… The town of Vansen Falls may as well be called Innsmouth, it really is that mind of place. Add in a library that has more questions than answers and ‘The Colonel’s Monograph’ is a thoroughly readable piece.

McNeill gives us a ‘Gothic, haunted house’ tale that for me, could have been timed a little better but is really all about the journey rather than the destination, Don’t get me wrong, the open ended finale is a bit of a treat but watching McNeill build up to it is the real joy here. Another story that has been sat on my shelf for far too long. I’m glad I finally got round to reading it.

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