Tatum evokes more hideous Phantasms and darkly romantic chimeras in the first seven pages of ‘Only the Dead’ than most horror novelists manage in three hundred pages. Much of the book’s success owes to Tatum’s background.
For those unfamiliar with his canon, Tatum is an actor and literary author (his only previous volume a thin philosophical pamphlet) and, therefore, unbeholden to any single genre. This lack of unyielding fidelity to horror is no doubt responsible for the versatility of his vision and the book’s narrative concerns.
There are snatches of everything from fairy tale and magic realism to hard-boiled noir and meta fiction here, all of it blending together to create an intricately woven tribute to old Hollywoodland and the ancient world on whose bones it was built.
I’ve always loved Tatum the actor, but now (between this savory tome and his thoughtful neo-essay short story collection, Grey Matters), I can say I love Tatum the scribe. This dude loves language and his descriptions are rich enough to make the willfully anti-literate into worshipers of words.
The imagery is relentless, even overwhelming at times, as Tatum introduces us to so many turns of phrase one struggles to keep up. But the chase is worth it, as the reader is rewarded in the same way one is rewarded if they follow along to an intricate musical composition.
The story concerns a young girl made immortal by eldritch circumstance and the monsters she meets throughout the centuries, most especially those in Hollywoodland. It is also a lush and deserving tribute to the golden age of the creature feature, but the story only matters as much as the language that takes us there, and this is one novel that is dexterously assembled from top to bottom.
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An intricately woven tribute to old Hollywood creature features
Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2022
Tatum evokes more hideous Phantasms and darkly romantic chimeras in the first seven pages of ‘Only the Dead’ than most horror novelists manage in three hundred pages. Much of the book’s success owes to Tatum’s background.For those unfamiliar with his canon, Tatum is an actor and literary author (his only previous volume a thin philosophical pamphlet) and, therefore, unbeholden to any single genre. This lack of unyielding fidelity to horror is no doubt responsible for the versatility of his vision and the book’s narrative concerns.There are snatches of everything from fairy tale and magic realism to hard-boiled noir and meta fiction here, all of it blending together to create an intricately woven tribute to old Hollywoodland and the ancient world on whose bones it was built.I’ve always loved Tatum the actor, but now (between this savory tome and his thoughtful neo-essay short story collection, Grey Matters), I can say I love Tatum the scribe. This dude loves language and his descriptions are rich enough to make the willfully anti-literate into worshipers of words.The imagery is relentless, even overwhelming at times, as Tatum introduces us to so many turns of phrase one struggles to keep up. But the chase is worth it, as the reader is rewarded in the same way one is rewarded if they follow along to an intricate musical composition.The story concerns a young girl made immortal by eldritch circumstance and the monsters she meets throughout the centuries, most especially those in Hollywoodland. It is also a lush and deserving tribute to the golden age of the creature feature, but the story only matters as much as the language that takes us there, and this is one novel that is dexterously assembled from top to bottom.
Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2022
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 15, 2022
For those unfamiliar with his canon, Tatum is an actor and literary author (his only previous volume a thin philosophical pamphlet) and, therefore, unbeholden to any single genre. This lack of unyielding fidelity to horror is no doubt responsible for the versatility of his vision and the book’s narrative concerns.
There are snatches of everything from fairy tale and magic realism to hard-boiled noir and meta fiction here, all of it blending together to create an intricately woven tribute to old Hollywoodland and the ancient world on whose bones it was built.
I’ve always loved Tatum the actor, but now (between this savory tome and his thoughtful neo-essay short story collection, Grey Matters), I can say I love Tatum the scribe. This dude loves language and his descriptions are rich enough to make the willfully anti-literate into worshipers of words.
The imagery is relentless, even overwhelming at times, as Tatum introduces us to so many turns of phrase one struggles to keep up. But the chase is worth it, as the reader is rewarded in the same way one is rewarded if they follow along to an intricate musical composition.
The story concerns a young girl made immortal by eldritch circumstance and the monsters she meets throughout the centuries, most especially those in Hollywoodland. It is also a lush and deserving tribute to the golden age of the creature feature, but the story only matters as much as the language that takes us there, and this is one novel that is dexterously assembled from top to bottom.
An intricately woven tribute to old Hollywood creature features
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 15, 2022
Tatum evokes more hideous Phantasms and darkly romantic chimeras in the first seven pages of ‘Only the Dead’ than most horror novelists manage in three hundred pages. Much of the book’s success owes to Tatum’s background.Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 15, 2022
For those unfamiliar with his canon, Tatum is an actor and literary author (his only previous volume a thin philosophical pamphlet) and, therefore, unbeholden to any single genre. This lack of unyielding fidelity to horror is no doubt responsible for the versatility of his vision and the book’s narrative concerns.
There are snatches of everything from fairy tale and magic realism to hard-boiled noir and meta fiction here, all of it blending together to create an intricately woven tribute to old Hollywoodland and the ancient world on whose bones it was built.
I’ve always loved Tatum the actor, but now (between this savory tome and his thoughtful neo-essay short story collection, Grey Matters), I can say I love Tatum the scribe. This dude loves language and his descriptions are rich enough to make the willfully anti-literate into worshipers of words.
The imagery is relentless, even overwhelming at times, as Tatum introduces us to so many turns of phrase one struggles to keep up. But the chase is worth it, as the reader is rewarded in the same way one is rewarded if they follow along to an intricate musical composition.
The story concerns a young girl made immortal by eldritch circumstance and the monsters she meets throughout the centuries, most especially those in Hollywoodland. It is also a lush and deserving tribute to the golden age of the creature feature, but the story only matters as much as the language that takes us there, and this is one novel that is dexterously assembled from top to bottom.
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A good quick read for the summer
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on April 17, 2017
