Title: Quiet Places: A Novella of Cosmic Folk Horror

Author: Jasper Bark

Release date: September 29th, 2017

I’ve had this novella on my TBR for some time, but seeing the love the fantastic Dave Jeffery has for it, I bumped it up when I had gap arrive between longer reads.

I was really intrigued with the ‘Cosmic-Folk-Horror’ categorization, as that’s not a subgenre we see that often, or if we do, it’s frequently subdued and doesn’t push too far in either direction. So, this one had me excited to dive in and see what nightmares awaited.

What I liked: The story follows Sally, recently having moved to a small town where her boyfriend now lives. He comes from the town’s lineage, his family being paramount to the formation of the town and since then they’ve woven themselves into the fabric of day-to-day life. But now, he is the last in line.

The opening to this story is incredibly unnerving. We arrive to discover every person, except Sally, are essentially automatons – they stand lifeless and Sally moves them, cleans them and cares for them, all in the hopes that what has happened will be undone. It’s from that opening that Bark weaves the Cosmic elements as well as the folklore surrounding Dunballan, this small, odd town.

I really enjoyed the Beast and the role it played, and how Sally struggled with the distance between her and David but also her desire to lessen it. Bark does a great job of making them both enticing characters but also frustrating characters.

What I didn’t like: A lot of the folklore is learned through these old journals that Sally discovers and reads and, while I enjoyed learning about this folklore, I wasn’t so sure that the journals would’ve contained that much depth and detail, especially considering the time they were supposedly written in. 

Why you should buy this: Bark has written a very fast-paced story that asks the reader to suspend reality in the best way possible. The setting is great and the events surrounding the Beast and the bushes was fantastic. This one hits a lot of high notes and I think those seeking the ‘Cosmic-Folk-Horror’ subgenre will be very happy!

4/5