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Martyrs & Monsters

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Martyrs and Monsters by Robert Dunbar
Review by Nickolas Cook
Dark Hart Press
Trade/$17.99


Robert Dunbar is best known for that neo-classic of the late 80s, THE PINES (Leisure), so when he announced its sequel THE SHORE (Leisure) his fans were justifiably excited. With it, he once again proved he is the master of the quiet horror novel.
Now he returns to the horror fold with a superior collection of short stories in MARTYRS AND MONSTERS, proving he also knows how to craft short stories that are as effective as his longer narratives.
There is an old world sense to his writing that few modern horror writers can match- a carefully cadenced phrasing makes the difference in how the story unfolds. It's imbued with a trademark Southern Gothic sensibility that most genre authors are unable to capture. His editing is clean, razored down, for maximum pacing and stylistic impact and plays a large part in how well his storytelling works. MARTYRS AND MONSTERS is filled with hauntingly sensual imagery that touches a primordial fear center not unlike King.
And this is not the first time (and one can guess, not the last time) Dunbar has been compared favorably to King, even to Koontz. And this collection clinches it. He deserves not only the critical comparisons, but also the success his two more well known peers have enjoyed. Every story hooks the reader, pulling him along some rather unsavory paths and realities, spiced with a creeping sense of the dark come home to roost.
One of the best qualities about Dunbar's work (and one that most critics and readers pick up on right away) is that he does not hold with the modern day penchant for torture porn aesthetic and gore described in clinical detail. His violence is implied- forcefully- and tends to disturb on an emotional level that is far more effective than the transient visceral `gross out' scenes we see too much of in what is termed `modern' horror. It haunts more than disgusts, and sticks like cold blood to your soul.
Dunbar's cast of characters come from the disenfranchised populace- minorities and criminals (sometimes both)- struggling to survive in a cold world that has cast them aside because they do not fit. And that is what horror does best: speak for the lost souls of the world. But through his misfit cast he does not strive to denounce the injustice of the universe. Instead, as he does so well in `High Rise', he attempts to find a heroic sense of acceptance of that injustice and its vagaries, the universe's unfeeling machine like quality that digest all equally. Just because the hero doesn't always live, doesn't make him a loser in this game.
Each story is memorably, but a few that will stick with this reviewer for a long time to come (as do the old masters' stories) are:

`Mal de Mer' is disturbing, as if Edith Wharton's supernatural fiction met Lovecraft, creating an unnerving erotic pleasure, maybe one of the best of its kind, and certainly one that deserves nomination for a Stoker.

With `The Folly' Dunbar once again provokes Faulkner's ghost to tell the clever tale of a debauched Southern family (all named for Greek mythical personalities) who discover their own `Jersey Devil' creature living in their swamp. One gets the sense that the author is poking fun at the industry wide perpetuation (a mistaken one, by the way) of his `one hit' success with THE PINES and he does so with tongue in cheek.

`Explanations' is one for the horror fanboys gone wrong, with a `sharp' punch line. If you've ever been to a fanboy convention, then you've no doubt seen hundreds of Jimmys and Wagners plodding from table to table to gush at aging actors whom they cannot differentiate from their characters. And if you've ever wondered what these socially challenged folks live like in the `real' world it ain't pretty...and it smells funky, too!

`Killing Billie's Boys' is a deceptively intense story of urban black magic and betrayal that plays a razor edge of eroticism against our expectations and leaves the reader feeling dirty and excited.

With `Gray Soil' and `Red Soil' he tackles the ever popular zombie sub-genre and makes it his own.

It's safe to say that Robert Dunbar can write anything to which he sets his mind. We are lucky to have such a wordsmith in our midst. Collections like MARTYRS AND MONSTERS don't come along often (buy it now, while you still can, before it becomes an outrageously expensive collector's item). And writers like Robert Dunbar don't materialize in the writing community everyday- certainly not in the horror community. Let us give thanks for his continued attempts to bring professionalism and craft back to an ailing genre, and hope he is more widely published in the future.


--Nickolas Cook

"Martyrs & Monsters" is an eclectic collection boasting a variety of stories sure to satisfy lovers of both horror and literary fiction. These stories run the gamut, from bleak Noir tales, straightforward horror, intriguing takes on the origins of vampires and zombies, even science fiction and a bit of dark fantasy, also. Regardless of the form, Dunbar is a literary craftsman, a stylist, skilled at drawing meaningful characters, building suspense, and painting vivid, striking prose. And of course, it wouldn't be a Dunbar collection without a rendering of the Jersey Devil myth.

Two of the strongest tales in this collection are "Gray Soil" and "Red Soil", for their different takes on the birth of zombies and vampires - especially the implication in "Red Soil" that they share a common, ancestral line. Also, because of Dunbar's consistent literary voice, both tales read like the classic Stoker narrative, rather than just "more zombie and vampire stories". "Getting Wet" and "Are We Dead Yet" garner high marks as well, rendering a bit of "Urban Gothic Noir" flavor - if you will - and especially grabbing is the surprise ending of "Getting Wet".

In "The Folly", Dunbar once again takes readers into the twisted labyrinth of the Jersey Devil myth, but it's a fresh telling, not a rehashing of his novels "The Pines" and "The Shore." Also entertaining is the tale's Southern Gothic flavor, evoking thoughts of Flannery O'Connor and Tom Piccirilli's "A Choir of Ill Children". "High Rise" invokes the tale of the succubus, also with another unexpected, sacrificial ending.

Perhaps the collection's strongest is "Like a Story", simply because it proves Dunbar is more than just a detached stylist, he's a storyteller at heart. Invoking the classic "Stephen King boy's tale" with its authentic voice, "Like a Story" enters the world of two displaced orphans trying desperately to find a place in a world that doesn't want them. There's also an air of terrible discovery and loss of innocence, on par with one of the best Joe Hill shorts, "Van Helsing's Boys" (from "20th Century Ghosts").

Short story collections are always a mixed bag, but in this case the "mixed" refers to variety, not quality. For something different and substantial in short dark fiction, "Martyrs & Monsters" is an excellent choice.

Robert Dunbar is a mid-Atlantic writer with flair for the urban gothic vibe inherent to that region, a part of the country where a creeping unease permeates the shiny East Coast cities and washes out across the suburbs and dwindling rural areas. Mr. Dunbar's work captures that dark undertow, skillfully creating an omnipresent dread in these fourteen stores. This stunning collection opens with "Getting Wet", a bleak tale of a pair of drug-addled wastrels who find a Nietzschean nightmare awaiting them in the dark waters of a blighted nightscape. "Are We Dead Yet?" prequels "Getting Wet", introducing the characters and their horrible predicament. Two more connected stories, "Gray Soil" and "Red Soil", provide graphically horrific, gripping and innovative tales of zombies and vampires. "The Folly" is a starkly rural monster story about the Jersey Devil that echoes the frailty and determination of country folk. "High Rise" follows a boy who is willing to do anything to save his brother from the clutches of a succubus, and "Saturday Night Fights" is a slyly humorous, fast-paced tale of a punk rock band that does battle with a monster to gain freedom from their apartment. Dark forces battle for turf in the mean streets of "Killing Billie's Boys" and, in my favorite tale in this collection, "Like a Story", two orphans make a desperate journey across a blasted urban wasteland to find a place where they'll finally truly belong. MARTYRS & MONSTERS closes with "The Moon (Upside Down)", a deliciously wicked occult story about vacationers who find themselves in the dark, the very darkest dark. Already a contender for a 2009 Bram Stoker Award, MARTYRS & MONSTER is a beautifully wrought collection of wildly original and satisfying horror stories.

Dunbar writes with the soul of a poet and an undertakers sense of horror. This set of short stories is a must for any fan of the genre. Dunbar is one of the greats.

Robert Dunbar's masterful collection will sweep you away and carry you to places high high up in the ether. Martyrs & Monsters is brilliant literary horror at its very best. If you haven't discovered him yet, treat yourself to this extraordinary book of dark tales.

Dunbar never ceases to amaze and he achieves sheer brilliance with this wonderful collection. Each story is disturbing, lucious and evocative, filled with a beauty and terror difficult to find in modern genre fiction. Dunbar is truly a savior of contemporary dark literary fiction. Highly recommended.

If Alfred Hitchcock were alive today and desired to "re-imagine" his 1948 classic "Rope," he'd want Robert Dunbar to write the screenplay. Guaranteed.

Dunbar starts his impressive collection off with "Getting Wet," a moody, tension-filled piece that does indeed measure up to my all time Hitch film, with Dunbar's Con and Tim evoking the controlling Brandon and the nervous, needy Phillip. But this isn't some re-tread of familiar material as, really, the two stories share little in common other than two fascinating lead characters and the realistic and dangerous relationship between them. Quite frankly, if anything, this is "Rope" with crack heads, and is completely and utterly engrossing.

When I finished this first story I knew I was in for a great ride with this collection and I wasn't disappointed. Throughout the book, Dunbar maintains the tension, and creates some really wonderful characters that you want to visit with again. And that's good, because in some cases the characters do come back to haunt you in other stories. Personally, I was happy to see Con and Tim reappear in "Are We Dead Yet?" which gives us even more insight into their characters and relationship. It serves as a prequel of sorts, but stands beautifully on its own.

Dunbar masterfully creates emotional reality just as well as he creates atmosphere, and each character in each story is brimming with emotion. Whether it's a young man who deeply needs to protect his abusive brother in "High Rise," or a Mother who will do anything to protect her children in "Gray Soil," these are very real, human beings (even when they're not) in extraordinary circumstances. In fact, if I could narrow it down to one theme that seems to run through this entire collection it is the overwhelming sense of need that appears to drive each character. There is something that they don't just simply want or desire. There is an insistent need that drills into their bones and it is so palpable that it becomes almost an additional character in each of the stories. This is especially true with the boys in "Like a Story," characters that indelibly etched in my mind. For me, the collection works the best when Dunbar sticks closest the the realistic emotional core of the characters. Lucky for us, he does that consistently.

Dunbar also gives us some nice moments of dark humor with "The Folly," an out and out laugh from me in "Saturday Night Fights," and anyone who has ever attended a comic book/sci-fi/horror convention will surely see some familiar faces (perhaps even their own?) in "Explanations," which had me smiling all the way through despite the very dark center of it.

What I also appreciate about Dunbar's work is that it is challenging. Dunbar doesn't talk down to his readers, nor is he going to hold their hands through the stories. There may be times when the reader goes "wait, what the hell is going on?" but that has a wonderful effect of keeping the reader slightly off kilter as all the pieces come together in a satisfying conclusion.

The collection ends with "The Moon (Upside Down)," a wonderfully quiet piece of work, that evokes Armistead Maupin's "Tales of the City" had those Barbary Lane characters been infused with a little darkness, a smidge of tarot, and an almost fatalistic outlook on life.

In the end, this collection will challenge you, move you, and make you hold your breath. It's dark fiction, it's horror, it's character study, it's literary fiction. And it's damn good.

Originally posted at Outlaw Reviews where I rated it 9/10 stars.

Rob Dunbar writes horror stories that manage to tap into our most primal fears. He looks into the shadows of life and documents the terrors that hide in our darkest corners. The monsters he writes of in his fiction are for the most part real as well as those that can be imagined. The homeless, prostitutes, the poor, the elderly, and the socially deviant are presented to the reader in all their ragged glory as they do battle against demons either supernatural or physiological. These tales contain some pretty heady stuff; it's not often when you can read horror stories that empty your soul while filling the muscles around your spine with ice.

Now a then an author's work charts a new course in fiction. Robert Dunbar is such an author and his outstanding collection Martyrs & Monsters is that work. Writing with both compassion and objectivity, the author dares broach topics others might find taboo, exposing the common thread of humanity within us all.

The collection includes tales of traditional horror as well, inbuing even well worn legends like vampires and zombies with freshness and insight.

Robert Dunbar's work is powerful and thought provoking, a feast of intellectionl horror for the fan who has gone hungry too long on the stale offerings familiar to the genre.

Martyrs & Monsters is a book whose time has come.

Martyrs & Monsters, by Robert Dunbar, is a motley collection of short stories that address almost all manner of the supernatural and fantastical, from vampires to sea serpents. And, of course, the Jersey Devil is figured in, being a staple figure of curiosity in Dunbar's other works.

I tend to prefer Dunbar in this format, as opposed to a full-blown novel. The stories are the right length, and you feel less like you were caught up in a movie and more as if you are watching an episode of 'The Twilight Zone'. The characters and plots he tackles are well-suited to short story form, and in many ways this collection reminds me of early Stephen King efforts, like Different Seasons.

Because this is a collection, there is a common theme among the stories, primarily one of love and loss, forcing us to re-examine our inborn notions that these creatures of horror are detached, loveless, or incapable of forming bonds among themselves or with humans. Dunbar also discusses some of these mythical creatures as having a common ancestry, specifically in how they are born. It's an interesting take on some familiar creatures we feel we have come to know intimately and repeatedly, and he demonstrates with skill that it's an aspect worthy of investigation.

As a big fan of Flannery O'Connor and of Southern gothic writing style, I enjoyed 'The Folly' immensely. Yes, it's another telling of the Jersey Devil myth he visited twice before in The Pines (reviewed by GUD here) and The Shore (which I have not yet read). However, this has a new flavor. There's a tongue-in-cheek element that wiggles its tongue at you, in both humorous and haunting ways.

Dunbar writes fairly clean prose, but some editing and spelling errors were there when they shouldn't be (just as in The Pines), which is a bit annoying from a reader's standpoint. He seems to enjoy writing the horror genre, but resists the temptation to go too far. He's provocative, but not grotesque. His imagery is vivid and visceral without being off-putting, or noxious. Rather, he tends toward descriptions that involve most of the senses - taste, smell, sound and, lastly, sight, and these attempts are appreciated as they involve the reader in the deepest possible way.

Martyrs & Monsters has a wide variety of characters, from varied backgrounds - minorities, criminals, the alienated, and the misfits. I believe most fans of the horror genre will find a character that they recognize or can identify with. These characters give Dunbar's work some texture, and they tend to resist being 'cookie-cutter' or forgettable types. Their vulnerability and `humanity' give another dimension to this collection.

With 'Gray Soil' and 'Red Soil', Dunbar explores zombies in all their savagery and chilling murderousness. A mother zombie who protects her undead child to death...how twisted is that? It forces us to re-examine what we believe about the undead, and their relationships with each other and with us; we are supremely and alternately shocked and entertained, and strangely touched, but recognize in them elements of what it means to be human, or formerly human.

All in all, this is a very well-done collection. I would recommend Martyrs & Monsters as a good Halloween read, perhaps on a dark, stormy night while the kids are out trick-or-treating.

[Review written by Xysea for GUD Magazine]