Gathered here for the first time ever are seventeen short stories, two essays, and a short script by award winning and New York Times bestselling author, Richard Chizmar.Įerie, suspenseful, poignant, the stories in The Long Way Home run the gamut from horror to suspense, crime to dark fantasy, mainstream to mystery. This is a sublime page turner that’s in many ways better than The Long December, and I really don’t think I could offer a higher compliment to The Long Way Home than that. Beautifully written stories that will equally engage you emotionally as they will horrify you. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the essays, but I’m not so sure how many times I’d return to them, but like Chizmar’s previous collection it’s the brilliance of the fiction that has captivated me. The Long Way Home is a multi genre collection that will appeal to anyone looking for well crafted tales featuring decent characterisation. Was it real or all in the main protagonists head? Skilled writing made for an upsetting read. ‘Odd Numbers’ I found this tragic story incredibly unsettling. Here we have a father and son unearthing something incredibly sinister in their backgarden. ‘A Nightmare On Elm Lane’ again showing the authors strengths of creating characters you care for, this tale has a theme recurrent in Chizmar stories (especially in A Long December) where it’s the bad things going on behind closed curtains, that neighbour who may or may not be trustworthy.
THE BOOK A LONG WAY HOME SERIAL
‘Mischief’ and ‘Dirty Coppers’ were both superb, with the former a thoroughly entertaining tale featuring a serial killer to the latter being a pulpy noir tale featuring a sci-fi world that’s a real mish-mash of retro and futuristic, that I’d love to return to. A one hundred word story, no more, no less. A must buy! ‘The Man In The Black Sweater’ is a genius example of Drabble. These two make for such an entertaining read, I’m delighted we will be rejoining these Frank and Ben later in 2019 in a new mini collection. ‘The Witch’ Frank and Ben, my favourites detectives from A Long December return with the same wonderful banter, this time investigating a death at Halloween they also feature in a second short, ‘The Hunch’ where Frank and Ben investigate a missing child. This tale puts you through the emotional wringer. Chizmar skillfully sets this story up to deliver one hell of a gut punch ending, ‘Silent Night’ I loved the imagery of the man in his car overlooking a rain-swept cemetery. ‘The Association’ I thought this was brilliant. Multiple timelines are expertly crafted in a fantastically atmospheric ghost story. ‘Widow’s Point’ I enjoyed this story just as much as when I first read it back in January 2018. The passages with Charlie and his father catching fireflies were gorgeous. This is my favourite story in the collection as Charlie reflects on his past whilst he travels back to his childhood home. ‘The Long Way Home’ cements Chizmar as an author that can write emotional character driven fiction. Saying that, the story was great and I’m looking forward to watching the movie, which is due out here in the UK, Summer 2019. I appreciate this is a personal thing, but I struggled with this. For me, the story doesn’t flow due to all the stage directions. ‘Murder House Script’ An interesting read, but I just can’t get on with the script format. The passage about reflecting on old age whilst sitting on the porch is quite wonderful.
This is a solid short that reads like a fable or dark fairy tale. ‘Roses And Raindrops’ Children are being killed, their deaths coinciding with storms. Avoiding spoilers, but following the barman’s journey from the bar had me smiling like a lunatic, very cleverly set up and had me smiling like a lunatic. ‘The Sculpter’ I loved this crazy descent into madness and murder. I bought the Unsigned Jacketed Hardcover, and it really is a beautiful book, both in quality and looks. Published by PS Publishing, The Long Way Home features seventeen short stories, two essays and the script for Murder House. The bar had been set very high so it was with great excitement I started 2019 with Richard’s brand new collection, The Long Way Home. The Long December was a solid 5 star read that ended up featuring on my ‘ Best of 2017‘ blog post. Back in 2017, I read my first book by Richard Chizmar.
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