If you remember (or reread) my review of Kevin J. Anderson’s Horror & Dark Fantasy short story collection you will know that I dig it when this dude goes dark.
So when I got the chance to take an early look at his newest horror story, this time a full length novel published by Black Stone in conjunction with legendary pulp horror/fantasy magazine Weird Tales, I jumped on board.
But short stories and novels are two completely different states of being, particularly with horror, what works in the short form can feel like an arduous taffy pull when expanded to 300+ pages.
Can KJA sustain the tension or does this one collapse under it’s own wriggly weight?
Given this is a prerelease review, this is an even more appropriate than usual ***SPOILER ALERT***
In the not too distant future, Cammie Skoura is a social awkward astrophysicist specializing in wormhole research who gets the opportunity she’s long dreamt of, funded by an eccentric billionaire, to join the team that gets to study a wormhole upclose and in person with her mentor.
But when the cryopods that helped them make the years long journey to the Nether wormhole fail, killing her teacher & friend, Cammie becomes the lead researcher and soon finds herself in for more than she bargained for when a buggy/elder nightmare is discovered.
This was pitched to me as, potentially, the creepiest, most suspenseful novel KJA has ever written.
I can’t disagree with that at all.
The first hundred pages or so are mostly set up about Cammie, her mentor, and the billionaire who gets the wormhole research project back on it’s feet after the government shut down their own missions, with smaller introductions for the other crew members as well.
In short, this is where you get 99% of your world building.
But the next hundred or so pages are where he breaks out the creepy crazy, but not in an overt or in your face way.
It’s a slow simmering creep that soon becomes far more and much worse as test subjects go insane, environmental troubles begin, and bug like carcasses and, seemingly, their gods and infrastructure are discovered.
I don’t know if the structure I picked up on, of the screws turning roughly every hundred pages, was intended, but it works as a great way to keep you guessing.
In a way it reminds me of Kevin Smith’s Red State, just when you think you have it figured out it takes a hard turn and leaves you trying to get your bearings again.
Basically, you end up stranded in a burnt out neighborhood with rabid animals watching your every move, leaving you feeling unsettled and uncomfortable, waiting for the other shoe to drop and hoping to Bob that none of the dumbasses around you say “could this day get any worse?” causing a terrible thunderstorm break out. *pants uncontrollably*
For me, Anderson is at his best when he’s working with a big cast and they have an investigation in progress, and this delivers on both front.
I found him through his Superman related books like The Last Days Of Krypton, and I really locked in as a fan of his with Dan Shamble, but I think what I really love most is when he takes the gloves off and goes deep into the darkness.
This book, and knowing how familiar he is with the Lovecraftian canon, makes me want to read a hard horror series from him.
Be it zombies, vamps, werewolves, or even an 80s slasher style, I don’t care what it is, I just dig it when he unleashes and want to see more of this from him.
But don’t get it twisted, he does a really good job showing off that darker side in the last 150 pages or so.
Bottomline, this scratches the more serious horror itch I want KJA to scratch a bit more frequently.
He definitely pulls off the sustained tension and delivers on being a damn creepy, not to mention seasonal appropriate, tale.
The dude is nearly 40 years into his career at this point, he knows what the hell he’s doing and he does it goddamn well, all the while paying tribute to the stories that paved the horror path he’s now walking.
It’s a perfect blending of science fiction and horror, and, good news, I believe he’s already hard at work on a sequel so there is more to come.
After the strong foundation laid here, I’m really hoping that one is a bit more batshit crazy from the jump.
Nether Station is available October 29th from Blackstone Publishing.
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Until next time, stay safe out there, gang.
