"Then we should go West." Michael Williams.
- The Blair Witch Project, 1999
Having been on my read list since February, through creating works of my own I have read a number of books in that time. Darkly Wood, by author Max Power, has affected me more than most, and even though I have finished it today, I think I will be thinking about this book for a long, long time.
Darkly Wood has a run time of almost 400 pages, and each page contains magic, mystery, and a dark compelling tale that, like the film I quoted at the top of this review, has no gratuitous scenes and just a few violent segments that are purely in context.
When I was a young kid, I read stories by Ruth Manning-Sanders. She collected many stories, often from the Baltic European states, placing them in book collections like Ghost and Goblins, Witches and Wizards, and so on. Each story was compelling, different, and utterly unforgettable. I still have those books, and many more by Ruth Manning-Sanders, more than 30 years on.
Having completed the book, I scanned through some of the other reviews, and mentions are made to Edgar Allan Poe, and I can understand the comparison.
When the heroine of the story, the plucky and able Daisy May first happens across a book by J S Toner, The Tales of Darkly Wood, and she begins to read the stories contained within, every segment focusses on a single character, and over the next few pages, we are introduced to the character's story, motivations, and back story. Then, as they typically do, their life literally unravels before our eyes. Then the chapter has ended, and we are back with Daisy, who, against her better judgement, seems unable to stay from visiting the Darkly Wood of the title.
I recently read 'Forsaken', a clever story within a story about a writer, and a witch that he would have appeared to have created, now inexplicably able to attack his family in the real world. I never thought, on reading Darkly Wood, that this clever story within a story ultimately brings us, along with Daisy May, to the awful terror that resides within Darkly Wood.
We've all heard those tales. And it was never so expertly summed up than by one uncredited man in The Blair Witch Project when he said "Damn fool kids'll never listen."
Only Daisy May doesn't seek confrontation with the beast. But in line with the boy she cares about, there seems to be only one way to unravel its dark secrets - and enter the cursed place.
The author is from Ireland and the Emerald Isle is famous for its scary places. Indeed, the best horror writers are from Ireland in my view - Bram Stoker, and Sheridan le Fanu to name but two.
In Darkly Wood, each chapter creates a dream like state that really makes you think. I really don't know how the author has created this work - it is a hugely ambitious tale that is woven absolutely superbly.
I was utterly engrossed in the tale, but had to leave it after a few chapters to try and absorb them. On their own, each could have been expanded into a story on their own.
The characters, once introduced, are not ones you will forget. The names are clever - unusual - but very clever, and I could not disagree more with one review that said this story used flowery language. I have read many books that were heading for a strong three or four star rating (or better) only to spoil it with pretentious fluffy words that just killed what could have been a great story.
This story has NONE of that. It's perhaps too clever for anyone who wants blood and guts, endless sex scenes, and a story without a soul. What a soul this book has!
This story is without peer for me. I loved it, absolutely loved it.
