Customer Reviews

Attic Clowns

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Let me say this, Attic Clowns is the fourth book i've read by Jeremy Shipp, and i've loved them all. When reading his works you come to realize that the worlds he creates are ones where 1+1 may equal 619, and C definitely comes before A and B! Horror with soul, horror with a conscience, sentient horror, and Attic Clowns delivers in spades. While all the stories are completely different there is a unifying thread, you guessed it : attics and clowns. Even though I don't have any real fears of either of those I did find myself thoroughly creeped out by all the craziness and downright freakishness of what lurked in these tales. An excellent read by an author who crosses genre lines as easily as crossing the street. My two favorite stories are Dust Bunnies and Blister, while not the scariest of the bunch, I have not read anything as hauntingly beautiful as either of these masterpieces in a very long time! get Attic Clowns and enter the mind of a master!

I supported the production of this book as a Kickstarter project, so I was interested to find out whether I'd actually like the final product. The horror I mostly read is vampire fiction, though I've been expanding my reading in the genre lately.

Attic Clowns is a surprise, in some ways. It starts as very surreal and almost more comic than horrific. As the short stories come along, they remain surreal, but more comes through in the way of themes and ideas. Of course, weird and sometimes evil clowns that live in attics feature strongly, but their role as metaphors for the horrors humans have in their own heads is pretty clear.

I loved that the stories were much more varied and textured than I'd initially expected. Some were funny, some were strangely compassionate, though they were all fairly creepy.

Shipp explores love, loss, grief, resentment, revenge, hope and acceptance throughout the stories.

Particular favourites were The Ascension of Globcow the Footeater, where a demonic imp goes to heaven to find redemption, under the tutelage of a rather pompous angel. Blister is also terrific, dealing as it does with grief.

Attic Clowns is a great little collection, with texture and thoughtfulness as well as a lot of creepy clowns with spiders for eyes.