The Bleeding Woods a horror novel by Brittany Amara, published by 47North, Seattle; http://www.apub.com
For those readers who are captivated by or even obsessed with the horror genre, a new writer has come onto the dark and stormy scene. Brittany Amara has written an intriguing first novel, The Bleeding Woods. Ms. Amara is a stylist, both in word and plot twists. Her language pays homage to Poe and Lovecraft (the protagonist’s name is Clara Lovecroft), and her narrator’s voice often scales the heights of old-school Victorian/Edwardian high fantasy phrasing. At first, I questioned some of this but then realized it was part of the overall concept, bringing the classic and the contemporary together. And this added to the mix of subtle but off-beat humor (often with the narrator’s wink to us) that threads throughout the novel. The author then drops us back to earth (and the unearthly) with her 20-something characters exchanging both heartfelt and snarky comments in present-day colloquial banter.
The book plays the horror genre effectively with explosions of imagination, twists, turns and just enough deathly gory visuals to keep the blood-thirsty reader satisfied. And… a few sexual encounters that remain within the bounds of horror sensuality.
I thought the range and the specific voices of the characters was masterfully handled. I always knew who was speaking, and more importantly, why they were saying what they said. The dialogue is concise and advances the story.
The plot works well. There’s character layering, forward moving plot points, reveals and some wonderfully dark secrets that exude page by page. And a breathtaking ending. Just reading the back cover of the book made me want to read more, and all the way to the end.
Here’s is a sample from The Bleeding Woods back cover, so I won’t give too much away:
“Clara Lovecroft didn’t mean to kill her parents. She was fourteen when it happened. “
“Nearly a decade later…Clara joins Jade (her sister), Grayson, their friend and his younger brother Joey for a weekend getaway. The car breaks down stranding them in Blackwood Forest…Here, a strange man waits for Clara… He would die for Clara. In fact, he would kill for her.”
“Blood will spill in Blackstone Forest…”
Humans, half-humans, monsters, mad scientists in underground laboratories and a forest that lives and breaths and can extinguish. It’s all a wonderfully scary ride mixing the old and the new, but at its bottom line The Bleeding Woods is a fine work of literary horror fiction from the pen of Brittany Amara. Be on the lookout for more from her.
Laurence Carr, Lightwoodpress.com
Lightwood 