Bob @ Beauty in Ruins
PLEASE NOTE: I'm rarely active here anymore, but please feel free to follow me on Goodreads, where I post regularly.
These are the chronicles of a book addict, a photo junkie, and an aspiring author, rewriting the very fabric of reality one page (and one snapshot) at a time. From the strange to the unusual; the abandoned to the abnormal; the haunted to the historic; the supernatural to the surreal; the forests of dark fantasy, the cemeteries of gothic horror, and the post-apocalyptic ruins of science fiction are the landscapes of my imagination.
Currently reading
Horror Review: Haunted Heads by Gary Canup
Although Haunted Heads has the soul of a goodPsychological Ghost Story, I found its execution a little clumsy and sometimes just too forced.
Gary Canup does a great job of setting up the tale, and really hooks the reader's interest with peek at the climax, before turning the clock back to how it all began. While the old 'let's take a walking tour of the grounds' is often an overused device for establishing setting and backstory, here it works, in part because of the family history and the distinct memories the tour evokes for Tyler.
As characters goes, Tyler and Nattie are an interesting couple, but neither one really stands out as an individual. Tyler certainly had potential, but I don't think we ever get deep enough inside his head to understand him, and his descent into madness is too steep and too hurried to really appreciate. The secondary characters are pretty stock, existing more to bring about a breaking point for Tyler than anything else, but Mona was interesting as somebody who crosses levels of both class and intellect, somewhat bridging the friends.
Unfortunately (and here is where the story gets really clumsy) there's an extended philosophical discussion about religion that really grinds the story to a halt. For what it's worth, I agree with a lot of what's discussed, but even I found it too much, too heavy handed. I know it's meant to cast some light on Tyler's situation, but I don't think it was necessary - we already had a pretty good idea of what Canup was trying to say from the discussions between Tyler and Nattie.
Outside of that philosophical discussion, there is some great dialogue here, some well-written depictions of life on the ranch, and some effective narration around Tyler's madness. Like I said, the opening scene is fantastic - powerful, creepy, and strong enough to suck you in - but the climax doesn't quite live up to it, and the denouement is too emotionally weak to tie it all together.