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A review by zoe_e_w
Autumn in the Abyss by John Claude Smith
3.0
I should preface the review by saying that I had decided a few years back not to review short story collections because I'm not all that fair to the format. I'd changed my mind by reading some flash fiction collections, and I found certain books that I enjoyed quite a bit. But I can't say I enjoyed much of this collection, and I admit my issues with it are more about my biases than anything wrong with the writing.
I did enjoy the first story in the collection, which bears the same name as the book. But the reason why Autumn In the Abyss worked for me is in its length, being a novelette that builds on a mystery slowly to reveal the fate of a poet who went missing in the sixties, Henry Coronado. The narrator is an agoraphobic shut-in who has become obsessed with solving this mystery, which is surrounded by names of many writers from the same era. This is another reason why the story works for me, because it wraps itself in history in such a way that I can almost imagine that this is something that really happened. It wasn't until close to the reveal that I guessed the ending, and by then, I was so invested in the story that I didn't mind finding out why Henry vanished, and why his works slipped so rapidly out of the public eye. There's also some interesting concepts about the power and purpose of words that tickles at my brain with possible inspiration for stories, and so yes, I really did enjoy this story. If I were giving a score based on this one story alone, Autumn In the Abyss would be a 5 star book.
Then comes Broken Teacup, and I didn't like it at all. It's fairly short, and the plot follows men who make snuff porn films. This is the kind of horror story where one should hate the characters and root for the monster which we know is coming for them. But this kind of story rarely has the right impact on me. I think it's because on any given day, I see similar real news stories about the worst humanity has to offer, and there's no shock value in seeing these kinds of people starring as the main characters. Similarly, I feel no satisfaction at these characters meeting their demise. To truly horrify me, you have to give me someone to feel invested in, and to feel afraid for in the face of danger. That doesn't have to be a good person, either. It just has to be someone compelling enough to make me see the threat through their eyes. But Broken Teacup doesn't give me any time to understand the characters. It's too short to allow for emotional investment of any kind. There's these guys, and they torture and kill women for custom porn videos. Then they meet a monster, and that's the end of the story. This really doesn't work for me.
The third story, La mia immortalita, starts off with steps in the right direction by introducing me to an artist who is desperate to create a work of art that will gain him a place in history. This is something I can understand, wanting to achieve fame powerful enough to ensure that the world will not forget him after he's gone. But shortly after weakly building this connection to me, the character reveals a nasty side that almost matches the empty callousness of the snuff pornographers from the previous story. His evil side is barely revealed when the monster appears for another episode of divine justice, and it's as much the brevity of the story as the empty shallowness of the character that keeps me from enjoying it.
The fourth story, Becoming Human tries to shift gears, following a detective mentally broken and scarred after solving the case the defined his career. Here, while it's possible to feel something for Detective Roberto Vera, the story of the psychopath he tracked and arrested feels pretty far-fetched, and the story of Vera hunting down a copycat killer and making a shocking discovery is just as out there. Which I don't suppose I would have minded if the whole thing didn't feel so rushed. The story ends in such a way that Roberto has closure and possible redemption, but I can't say I felt anything more for him than I did for the doomed snuff crew. Which is a shame, because I suspect in a longer story, I might feel more invested in a mentally broken but basically good character like Roberto.
Last in the collection is Where the Light Won't Find You, and it diverts the most wildly from the others in the story while still sharing certain themes and characters. In this story, Derek Jenner is a guy who's just had a fight with his girlfriend and decides to go to the movies to give her time to calm down. Once at the movie theater, he sees a movie title ominously flickering and asks about it, only to be told it is sold out...in a theater that's mostly empty. He buys a ticket to another movie, and then goes to the movie anyway, where he sees something he was not meant to. It's just as brief as the four previous stories, but where this one helps build some investment, and thus a real sense of horror, is that Derek is an okay guy. He's not beating his girlfriend, they just had an argument and he already feels bad about it. Who hasn't been there before? So when there's a threat to his safety, it's easier to feel worried for him, and to want him to escape.
I kind of wish the other stories had been bumpered with more offerings like this one as a way to balance out all the shallow cruelty. But even then, I don't think I would feel anything for the second and third stories. They're sliver thin slices of nastiness where cosmic justice steps in to "redress the balance," or Karma taking on a monstrous physical form. The same theme is present in the final tale, but it's the act of changing focus to a more relatable character that helped give me a genuine scare.
So that's two stories out of five that I enjoyed, two that I felt nothing for, and one that I wanted to feel something if only the antagonist hadn't broken my ability to suspend disbelief. I feel I should say that all are written well, artfully, even. This is consistent with the previous short stories I've read from Smith, but those single stories, found in various online publications, were longer and allowed more time to the development of their characters and themes. So I feel like what's missing here in two of the three tales is time to develop any feelings for the characters, even if the intended emotion that should be invoked is revulsion.
As a whole I give Autumn In the Abyss 3 stars, and I admit my problems with the some of the stories lies more in their brevity than in their tone. I'm sure this will have more appeal to fans of gritty horror, but aside from the first and last story, the lack of space to roam and explore leaves me wanting more.
I did enjoy the first story in the collection, which bears the same name as the book. But the reason why Autumn In the Abyss worked for me is in its length, being a novelette that builds on a mystery slowly to reveal the fate of a poet who went missing in the sixties, Henry Coronado. The narrator is an agoraphobic shut-in who has become obsessed with solving this mystery, which is surrounded by names of many writers from the same era. This is another reason why the story works for me, because it wraps itself in history in such a way that I can almost imagine that this is something that really happened. It wasn't until close to the reveal that I guessed the ending, and by then, I was so invested in the story that I didn't mind finding out why Henry vanished, and why his works slipped so rapidly out of the public eye. There's also some interesting concepts about the power and purpose of words that tickles at my brain with possible inspiration for stories, and so yes, I really did enjoy this story. If I were giving a score based on this one story alone, Autumn In the Abyss would be a 5 star book.
Then comes Broken Teacup, and I didn't like it at all. It's fairly short, and the plot follows men who make snuff porn films. This is the kind of horror story where one should hate the characters and root for the monster which we know is coming for them. But this kind of story rarely has the right impact on me. I think it's because on any given day, I see similar real news stories about the worst humanity has to offer, and there's no shock value in seeing these kinds of people starring as the main characters. Similarly, I feel no satisfaction at these characters meeting their demise. To truly horrify me, you have to give me someone to feel invested in, and to feel afraid for in the face of danger. That doesn't have to be a good person, either. It just has to be someone compelling enough to make me see the threat through their eyes. But Broken Teacup doesn't give me any time to understand the characters. It's too short to allow for emotional investment of any kind. There's these guys, and they torture and kill women for custom porn videos. Then they meet a monster, and that's the end of the story. This really doesn't work for me.
The third story, La mia immortalita, starts off with steps in the right direction by introducing me to an artist who is desperate to create a work of art that will gain him a place in history. This is something I can understand, wanting to achieve fame powerful enough to ensure that the world will not forget him after he's gone. But shortly after weakly building this connection to me, the character reveals a nasty side that almost matches the empty callousness of the snuff pornographers from the previous story. His evil side is barely revealed when the monster appears for another episode of divine justice, and it's as much the brevity of the story as the empty shallowness of the character that keeps me from enjoying it.
The fourth story, Becoming Human tries to shift gears, following a detective mentally broken and scarred after solving the case the defined his career. Here, while it's possible to feel something for Detective Roberto Vera, the story of the psychopath he tracked and arrested feels pretty far-fetched, and the story of Vera hunting down a copycat killer and making a shocking discovery is just as out there. Which I don't suppose I would have minded if the whole thing didn't feel so rushed. The story ends in such a way that Roberto has closure and possible redemption, but I can't say I felt anything more for him than I did for the doomed snuff crew. Which is a shame, because I suspect in a longer story, I might feel more invested in a mentally broken but basically good character like Roberto.
Last in the collection is Where the Light Won't Find You, and it diverts the most wildly from the others in the story while still sharing certain themes and characters. In this story, Derek Jenner is a guy who's just had a fight with his girlfriend and decides to go to the movies to give her time to calm down. Once at the movie theater, he sees a movie title ominously flickering and asks about it, only to be told it is sold out...in a theater that's mostly empty. He buys a ticket to another movie, and then goes to the movie anyway, where he sees something he was not meant to. It's just as brief as the four previous stories, but where this one helps build some investment, and thus a real sense of horror, is that Derek is an okay guy. He's not beating his girlfriend, they just had an argument and he already feels bad about it. Who hasn't been there before? So when there's a threat to his safety, it's easier to feel worried for him, and to want him to escape.
I kind of wish the other stories had been bumpered with more offerings like this one as a way to balance out all the shallow cruelty. But even then, I don't think I would feel anything for the second and third stories. They're sliver thin slices of nastiness where cosmic justice steps in to "redress the balance," or Karma taking on a monstrous physical form. The same theme is present in the final tale, but it's the act of changing focus to a more relatable character that helped give me a genuine scare.
So that's two stories out of five that I enjoyed, two that I felt nothing for, and one that I wanted to feel something if only the antagonist hadn't broken my ability to suspend disbelief. I feel I should say that all are written well, artfully, even. This is consistent with the previous short stories I've read from Smith, but those single stories, found in various online publications, were longer and allowed more time to the development of their characters and themes. So I feel like what's missing here in two of the three tales is time to develop any feelings for the characters, even if the intended emotion that should be invoked is revulsion.
As a whole I give Autumn In the Abyss 3 stars, and I admit my problems with the some of the stories lies more in their brevity than in their tone. I'm sure this will have more appeal to fans of gritty horror, but aside from the first and last story, the lack of space to roam and explore leaves me wanting more.