Customer Reviews

The Dark Country

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"The Dark Country" was Dennis Etchison's first collection of short stories, and originally appeared back in 1982. This reader picked up an out-of-print copy recently, after seeing that it had been included in Jones and Newman's excellent overview volume, "Horror: 100 Best Books." Well, I don't know if I would place it on MY personal top 100 list, but this book certainly is a unique collection of shuddery, gruesome little tales. Readers looking for horror stories depicting monsters, ghosts, demons and other manifestations of the supernatural would be best advised to look elsewhere; the only monsters in this volume are of the human kind, and the only demons are those found in the minds of the assorted oddball characters. These are all very much (post)modernistic stories, and there are no crumbling castles or Carpathian villages to be found. Some of the tales even take place in the not-too-distant future, and have a decidedly sci-fi overtone. Without exception, every story herein is a distinct little gem, but like gems, some of them are flawed.
For me, these flaws take the form of either too much or not enough information. In some of these tales, such as "You Can Go Now," Etchison gives us loads of detail, and at the story's end, it all seemingly doesn't add up to very much. In others, such as "Today's Special," one feels that not enough has been supplied to fully "get" the story. Etchison is a very stylish writer--sometimes almost too stylish--and that flashy style often comes at the expense of clarity. Often, these stories must be reread in order to pick up on hints missed on the first go-round. Or perhaps one will feel compelled to reread lines, just to revel in the frequent beauty of the writing. Etchison certainly does have a handy way with a simile; for instance, when he writes "...the sky...was turning a soft, tropical orange of the kind one expects to see only on foreign postage stamps." Or when he writes "The river smelled like dead stars." Yes, the ol' boy certainly does know how to write descriptive and imaginative prose, and in MOST of the cases here, that prose is in the service of tales that do hit the reader squarely.
One of my favorite tales in the collection is one of the most straightforward: "Daughter of the Golden West." It concerns a bunch of gals who are decidedly, um, man hungry. There is a loosely linked trilogy of tales concerning organ transplants (these are the tales that tend to sci-fi) that are also very well done. Other tales in the book will make readers never look at butcher shops, or salesmen, or clairvoyants, or oral sex, or laugh tracks, or late-night convenience store clerks in quite the same way ever again. For every head scratcher of a story in the book, there are two killers. So yes, the book is a mixed bag of sorts, but even the problematic tales hold one's interest and invite reexamination. After finishing these 16 morbid little stories, I was sorry to see the book end. Etchison's is certainly a unique voice in the horror field, and if other readers have a similar reaction to mine, they will feel compelled to read more of him. This is, as I mentioned up top, an unusual collection, and I do recommend it.

In an era when "horror" has come to mean an endless proliferation of cheap, badly written supermarket paperbacks, Etchison's work is like a glimpse into another realm where "horror" can be synonomous with "literature". These stories display real craft, and feel as if they're actually _about_ something. They're not just about gruesome deaths and perverse cruelty, they're about real people; they sometimes surprise by being about compassion and love. And in place of the simple stomach-churn lesser authors settle for, Etchison wants to disturb you; you may find yourself still getting a chill three days after reading one of these gems.

Etchison is one of the few contemporary writers in this genre who has the potential to stand the test of time.

If it only contained "The Dead Line," this anthology would still be worth five stars. That story is one of my top ten favorite horror shorts of all time. But there are plenty of other great offerings here, including "The Late Shift," and "Daughter of the Golden West." It's true that not every story works as well as "The Dead Line," but Etchison is a writer who is willing to take chances. He doesn't play it safe, and that means that every story is not likely to engage every reader. When the story does engage, however, it hits on all cylinders.

Charles Gramlich

Author of Cold in the Light

A collection of excellent short- (average of 20 pages per story) stories of horror in which the suspense climaxes in the last paragraph. I found out about this writer from the intro in Stephen King's "Danse Macabre." A must for fans of short-length horror.

Etchison gives us a great show with this first collection of his short stories. One complaint I had was that this collection was hyped up way too much, but that is hardly Etchison's fault. The only reason I did not give Etchison five stars is because some of the stories in this collection were just plain bad. The title story, "The Dark Country" and the story, "It Will Be Here Soon" were interesting but not at all worth reading. However there were some true gems that more than made up for these stories. "You Can Go Now" is worth the price of the book and then some. It is a beautifully horrible piece of horror fiction. "You Can Go Now" is a story I have read and reread many times since I picked up this book a few years ago. If you have not read it, please get this book. This story, alone, more than makes up for any misses Etchison has in this collection. But then he gives us other great stories like "We Have All Been Here Before" (which has an amazing twist worthy of O. Henry), "The Late Shift" (you'll never look at the convenient store clerk the same way again), and "The Pitch" (be very careful before you get that slicer dicer and pealer the salesman makes seem so attractive). Etchison gives us a very original brand of fiction, a mix of King here, a dash of Bradbury there, and sprinkled with a bit of Clive Barker ever so subtly. Ever writer of fiction can miss the mark, but few can hit it right on the bullseye. To find a collection like this, it's worth the bad apples you have to go through.

This is, on the whole, good stuff. Etchison definitely has a knack for edgy, urban horror. But it reads like bad Ramsey Campbell too much of the time. If you, like me, have encountered a lot of people who rave about Etchison being God's gift to horror fans, prepare yourself for a disappointment.

I'm short on time but I have to say: Dennis Etchison is a horror writer's horror writer! This is a fine, FINE collection of terrific writing in or out of the horror genre. Get it!

i must say: i really liked his writing style. so i hoped and hoped. but no. the stories here aren't much of stories. seem like confusion on paper. i'm afraid i must demand plots, ideas. i know i'm being unclear, but that's because the author is too. the way he carries out the story, you sometimes wonder what you are reading about

This author has always baffled me!? I just don't understand what he is trying to do, does he write dark psychological horror with some sort of underlying deep message? if so he's not succeeding. I can't stand authors that write cloudy vague(here you figure it out) endings either. His books just aren't scary and I've read many since "The Dark Country" if you have insomnia read this book it put's me to sleep within 10 min. of picking it up, that's hard to do.

can't believe the king of horror would recommend this lame sheet.ooooooooooo i was SO scared ! Don't waste your time or money.