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A review by tbr_the_unconquered
Black Evening by David Morrell
4.0
The more I think of it, the more I find that fear is an emotional manifestation that will take us to uncharted territories of our psyche. It is a fear of failure that motivates a lot of people to pass examinations and sports matches, a fear for life itself drives a soldier in a battle and so on. David Morrell's book has a foreword in which he recounts a conversation with author Philip Klass who gave Morrell the inspiration to dig deeper into himself and understand his fears which could then help him in his writing process. Klass defines fear quite well when he says Your true fear is like a ferret darting within the tunnels of your psyche, despearate not to be discovered. Morrell explores a great many aspects of fear in this collection of 15 short stories.
The book is also the evolution of the writer in Morrell. The first story in the collection is dated from 1972 and the last one from 1992 and with each story, I could sense a maturing of the author's craft and method. The first three stories are very short and feel more like tentative footfalls before the author stands up straight and claims his place in the world. My acquaintance with Morrell has been through First Blood and Testament, both of which were action thrillers but here his exploration is into the genre of horror and he is quite adept at it. My favorites from this collection are :
1. The Beautiful Uncut Hair Of Graves
2. The Shrine
3. Orange Is for Anguish, Blue for Insanity
These three also hold some personal meaning for the author for he wrote these at a time when his 15-year old son was diagnosed with a terminal cancer. He lost his son in that battle and these stories were written during and after that period of intense mental agony. Grief to the point of insanity stands out in these tales and it is written rather poignantly.
Other than the first three or four weak tales, the others in this collection are all solid. A good collection and an author who I have come to enjoy much of late.
The book is also the evolution of the writer in Morrell. The first story in the collection is dated from 1972 and the last one from 1992 and with each story, I could sense a maturing of the author's craft and method. The first three stories are very short and feel more like tentative footfalls before the author stands up straight and claims his place in the world. My acquaintance with Morrell has been through First Blood and Testament, both of which were action thrillers but here his exploration is into the genre of horror and he is quite adept at it. My favorites from this collection are :
1. The Beautiful Uncut Hair Of Graves
2. The Shrine
3. Orange Is for Anguish, Blue for Insanity
These three also hold some personal meaning for the author for he wrote these at a time when his 15-year old son was diagnosed with a terminal cancer. He lost his son in that battle and these stories were written during and after that period of intense mental agony. Grief to the point of insanity stands out in these tales and it is written rather poignantly.
Other than the first three or four weak tales, the others in this collection are all solid. A good collection and an author who I have come to enjoy much of late.