Kealan Patrick Burke has written another humdinger. One of his earlier works, The Turtle Boy, is one of the most creative and original ghost stories I have ever read. The Tent, his latest novella, is a masterful experience in creeping terror.

A family camping trip rapidly descends into a nightmare. A raging thunderstorm destroys the tent of a couple and their son, and they flee the scene only to get lost within minutes. With neither parent noticing, the boy disappears. Their backs are turned from their son while they argue, and when they finally realize the kid is missing, the situation is well past dire.

The Tent is a striking novella on a number of levels. 

First, it works as unnerving horror story. The atmosphere is thick with dread and a barely controlled sense of panic. The parents’ anxiety over a missing child is well described. The fact that the reader is aware that something other-worldly is probably involved adds a hidden layer of intensity. 

Second, Burke is a master of portraying the inner workings of his characters. Much of the narrative is internal: emotional distress, physiological reactions, and trains of thought. Everything rings true, grounding the sequence of events in a believable reality. When the pieces fall into place with the stunning conclusion, the reader is helplessly drawn in for the full impact. Highly recommended.

Worm, a novella by Tim Curran, is a recent release from the dark fiction publisher Darkfuse. Without warning, oozing slime and fetid matter bursts from the ground, and within hours a small Wisconsin town is hip deep in the gruesome sludge. The smell is horrible, but that is not the worst of the town’s problems.

Inside the mud are sightless and segmented worms multiple feet long that have a knack for eating the townspeople. They are capable of moving with lightning speed, snaring their prey without warning. Supposedly, the National Guard is going from neighborhood to neighborhood rescuing the inhabitants, but for the unfortunate folks of Pine Street, the rescuers seem to be starting at the wealthy end of town – and they’re at the opposite end of the SES spectrum. So, they’re on their own.

This is Saturday afternoon creature feature material. There is no character development to speak of (although there is one guy who is stuck for the day with his wife’s annoying, yapping, puff ball of a dog – he adds a little life to the human side of things).

The scene is set quickly. The ground rumbles and the worms appear. People die. Given the pacing, you care little for who lives or dies. But, heck, if you’re reading a horror novel called the Worm, what do you want. Worm action, of course. The worm attacks become increasingly dramatic and gruesome (for instance, besides the ground, the worms come up through the plumbing. Think toilets).

On more than one occasion I realized I was reacting viscerally, squirming and tensing my muscles as I read. I found the writing to be pretty cinematic; I could visualize the characters wading through the ooze, unaware if or when the worms would attack.

Definitely creepy. When you get right down to it, what more can you ask from killer worms? 

Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell is probably one of the most unusual collection of short stories I have ever read. The genre of the collection is difficult to pinpoint, but you have ghostly coming of age tales, Gothic Prairie fiction (I borrowed that from the Amazon review - I'm not sure if that's a genre), historical/political humor, and the cover story involving elderly vampires who learn to curb their blood lust by biting into lemons (while residing in an Italian lemon grove, no less). No stupid and sparkling teenage vampires in the bunch. Two stories, "Proving Up" and
"The Graveless Doll of Eric Mutis" were my favorites, and contained elements of unrelenting creepiness which haunted me long after I finished reading. Ms. Russell's imagination is boundless, and she takes readers to realms they've never been. Perplexing, chilling and bizarre...highly recommended.

When I started my horror novel, Birth Offering, I knew the major character would be a 14 year old. Now, my entire career has been as a psychologist with the past twenty years specializing in pediatric psychology. I convinced myself that I knew a little bit about how kids acted, felt, and thought. However, I was getting rather, well, old, and I needed to brush up on how other authors were writing about kids. I found four recent novels which were excellent reads and contained great adolescent characters:

Skippy Dies by Paul Murray

Black Swan Green by David Mitchell

The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch

The Last Child by John Hart

None of them are horror stories, although the mystery novel, The Last Child, certainly contains elements of horror. Regardless, for anyone interested in well-drawn teenage characters, these novels provide great examples. I recommend them highly.