Customer Reviews

Heretics

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Greg Gifune, Heretics (Delirium Books, 2001)

Unless you're one of a select few horror fans, you've probably not yet heard the name Greg F. Gifune. As it sometimes is in these situations, this is truly a crime. Gifune has been quietly making a name for himself in the horror community for quite a while now, publishing deeply disturbing tales in a myriad of small-press magazines. Heretics is a collection of a select few of these tales (four, actually), with some unreleased (as of 2001, anyway) material to flesh the collection out. Delirium released it to a storm of acclaim back in the day, and it sold out very quickly. (Gifune's new novel, being released by Delirium in July of 2005, has already sold out its limited editions in pre-orders with insane prices; this should give you an idea of the guy's rep in certain circles.) One can only hope that Delirium either brings it back into print with a much wider release and a whole lot of publicity (not to mention really good distribution) or they sell the rights to someone who'd be willing to publish the collection (Leisure comes to mind immediately) who's already got the publicity and distribution channels in place, because Heretics is a fantastic book, and deserves a much wider readership than it presently has.

Make no mistake, Greg Gifune writes the sort of extreme horror one sees from an author like Charlee Jacob (though Gifune never pushes that envelope out to the edge)-- and it wouldn't surprise me one whit to see Gifune's career explode the way Jacob's did a few years back-- but it's extremity wrapped in a cloak of atmosphere. Gifune isn't just going to go for the gut, he's going to disturb you on deeper levels while he's at it. The title story in this collection, a novella-length piece, is an excellent example of how good he is at it, but the real gem here is a shorter piece called "The Snow Angels." In fifteen all-too-short pages, Gifune goes for the extreme, then doubles back and shows how effective the power of suggestion can be. It's a shocking twist on the way things are normally done, or as shocking as anything in the horror biz can be these days, and it's powerfully effective. "The Snow Angels" alone is worth the cost of admission here; the other stories are icing on the cake. But what icing it is. There's not a single dud here; for that matter, there's not even a place where Gifune's mastery slips. While the majority of the horror-reading public is busy being satisfied with the ponderous tomes turned out by Stephen King, Dean Koontz, et al., like clockwork, and the slightly more hip have discovered Leisure's recent catalog of writers, the in crowd are being blown away on a regular basis by two of the best horror short-story writers of the last century; Greg Gifune is one of them. (For the record, the other is a guy named Dale Bailey. You'll be seeing as effusive a review of his book The Resurrection Man's Legacy and Other Stories from my keyboard in the very near future.)

Gets four and a half because of five through no fault of Gifune's; the editor at Delirium seems to have gotten drowsy towards the end of the book, and there are some really odd typos (there's quite a few underlines, of all things, peppered throughout the final story; one every six or seven pages). But make no mistake, this book is the real deal. A shoo-in for my twenty-five best reads of the year list in 2005. **** ½

As Brian Hopkins accurately states in his perceptive introduction, Greg Gifune is somewhat of a throwback to the so-called "old school" of writing, a writer who cares more about craft than attracting attention. As Hopkins notes, some evidence of this lies in the low profile Gifune keeps, but the most direct demonstration is in the quality of Gifune's stories. Featuring seven short stories and a novella, Heretics presents powerful tales about people on the fringes, outsiders who for whatever reason don't fit in the mainstream, however defined. There's "Ushers of Darkness," where Gifune masterfully turns the tables on his readers, "Creep," a tale of revenge that will appeal to anyone ever taunted by the "in crowd" in school, "Snow Angels," where a father's devotion to his daughter leads to murder and other travesties, and "Restoration," in which a cop's tragic failure to learn from his mistakes leads to eternal damnation. Finally, the title story, "Heretics," is an expertly constructed tale of friendship and betrayal, of promises made and implied. The ending literally sent a chill up my spine.

Although not every tale works as well as those mentioned above--I found the short stories "The Uncertainty of Darkness," "Vessel," and "Past Tense" uninspiring and overly familiar--each is well crafted. Each story shows an attention to detail and to character development that pays off for Gifune as he introduces his more outré elements, lending an air of believability and inevitability to the proceedings.

Well I am proud to say that Greg F. Gifune is my Uncle and Godfather. He is not only an awesome guy, but a well established and excellent writer. I have no doubt he will fufill his dreams of becoming HUGE in the horror genre. He is classy, frightening, intelligent and humorous. Heretics was one of the first books of his I read and I could not put it down. This and many others have aspects about them that reach just about everyone in society. If you are up for a thrilling rollercoaster of suspense and horror pick this one up!!!

ALl my love Uncle I am SO proud of you!!

Your "CHICK"!

With this collection, Greg F. Gifune solidifies his reputation as a fine writer of the macabre. He handles his characters with a delicate touch, not passing judgement on any of them and treating them with the utmost care. No matter where these characters stand, you care for them, which makes the horrors worse when they happen (and believe me, they DO happen).

The cornerstone of this book is the novella "Heretics." Blending the past and present together, Gifune creates a tale that is as moving and scary as one can get. Superb work.

Greg Gifune has quietly become one of the best horror writers in the business, and if you haven't had the pleasure of reading any of his vast catalog of novels, novellas, or short stories, you're really missing out on a writer firing on all cylinders. While "Heretics" is one of Gifune's "older" pieces (released in 2001) it is nothing less than riveting.

"Heretics" is essentially proof of the old adage that you can never go home again, especially to the tiny town of Virtue. It's a story of devasting loss and the opportunity for redemption, small-town fears and facing down the people and forces that changed your life forever. The narrative is at times beautiful, at other times violent. The characters of Harry, Rip, and Madeline are so refreshingly real that you'll be forced into reliving parts of your own teenage years, reopening your memory to friends and events long since past.

Gifune packs a ton of vivid descriptions, intriguing dialogue, geniuinely frigtening moments, and well-crafted character development into a hundred and a half pages, with a shocking conclusion that will slap you in the face and walk away before you know what hit you.

Holy cow this was a hard book to find! I was interested in reading this book based on all the great reviews it received on Amazon. My curiosity got the better of me so I had to get it. However, finding a copy of it proved harder than I had anticipated. The book is no longer available on Amazon, so I went to the author's website. I couldn't find anything there on obtaining a copy so I e-mailed Greg F. Gifune and asked him if he had some advice on getting this book. He promptly sent me an e-mail telling me that sometimes the book goes up on e-bay or a few libraries carry it. So I went to the biggest library in Denver thinking for sure they would have it, but alas they did not. They were, however, able to order it from another library. It turns out only two libraries in the world carry this book.

So the book is a series of short stories. Greg is a very talented writer. I have a deep respect for people who can write really gripping short stories. It takes talent to mesh all that detail, suspense, character development, and plot all in a mere fifteen pages; Greg does it beautifully. His short stories are truly chilling to the bone and will stick with you long after you read them. I have to agree with another reviewer in that `Snow Angels' is the best story in the book, though all of the stories are just superb.

I just wish this book weren't so darn hard to get. I know so many people who would just love to read this . I'm sure if we're all patient though, we will be seeing a lot more of Greg F. Gifune. Talent like this does will not stay hidden for long.