‘The Hamlet’ – Joanna Corrance (Newcon Press)
We’ve all been there… You order a few Christmas presents, online, and because you’re feeling pleased with yourself for finally getting round to it, you order yourself a little something as well. It would be rude not to, you deserve it ;o) That was me the other day, after finally figuring out some tricky purchases. While I’d been doing that, I’d also been reading through Jim McLeod’s ‘Favourite Horror Books of 2025’ and the inevitable happened. Jim knows his horror and you’d be daft not to listen to his recommendations; that’s how a copy of ‘The Hamlet’ ended up on my doorstep yesterday. I had my daughters over so I wasn’t able to finish ‘The Hamlet’ in one sitting, there was never any doubt that I wouldn’t finish it before the day was out though, thanks Jim ;o)
Screens go blank, radios go silent, and the government advises everyone to stay indoors. The residents of a rural Scottish community abandon their picnics and return home. Everyone can sense that something is wrong, but little do they suspect just how wrong…
We share, piece by piece, the experiences of those who inhabit a very singular rural community when ‘things got strange’…
Regular visitors to the blog will already know that I have a soft spot for the ‘Zombie Apocalypse’ and the exploration of its aftermath. I’m also partial to apocalyptic natural disasters and ‘creature features’ (book and film), just in case you were wondering. Well, it looks like I’ve got another category to add to that list, the ‘Weird Apocalypse’. We’re talking about the kind of apocalypse that you will never see coming, you’re already in the middle of it, and you certainly can’t defend against it as it’s different for everyone. That’s what Joanna Corrance gives us here, a quiet slide into terror with no answers, just a question around how people stand against it, if they can.
From where I was sat, the result was nothing short of enthralling. Corrance presents us with a cast of characters who may not all be pleasant (yes, I’m looking at you in particular Matthew…) but not only demand your attention, they also reward it with their reaction to… Well, we don’t really know until the end (and I won’t spoil it, I really appreciated the tragic note of cosmic horror though) but what we get in the meantime is a quietly terrifying portrayal of how the ‘ordinary’ can suddenly be turned on its head and you’re left with no option but face something bizarre head-on. Some people get what’s coming to them, others don’t but welcome it anyway and at least two people see it as an opportunity to finally take a little control back in their own life. The end result is inevitable but there is such strength shown here that I couldn’t help but be inspired by the likes of Robyn and Beth, adapting to the ‘New Weird’ and using it to realise who they really are. If I ever live through a ‘Weird Apocalypse’, I want to do it like them :o)
And Corrance’s control of the plot, and how all these separate stories overlap, is just masterful, especially when you realise that all of this maybe took place over a day or two (at least by my reckoning, happy to be proved wrong). That’s all I can say really, other than that it’s a real joy to watch what you think are separate elements all come together to form a whole. You never lose sight of the fact that this is happening to a community and as weird as it may be, the whole thing is bringing people even closer together.
I’m so glad I came across ‘The Hamlet’ and decided to give it a go. I’m always the last to arrive at these parties but on the off-chance that I beat you to it, don’t leave it before picking up ‘The Hamlet’, you’re in for a real treat.
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