Read in: May 2022
Edition and format: Crystal Lake Publishing 2022/digital ARC received by the publisher
First published: May 2022
Exactly twenty years after their passing, the dead rise from their graves. There is a brief time window during which they can interact with the living and say their last goodbyes before they begin their (this time) eternal slumber. Each rising is different – a miracle and a mystery that can easily slip into unspeakable terror. Which will it be for young teacher-in-training David Chadwick? David makes his way to the grave of his father, determined to find answers to questions he couldn’t ask while his father was alive.
This is the premise of Richard Farren Barber’s novella Twenty Years Dead. From the opening scene, the pace is set for a gradual, organic reveal of this world where the dead don’t stay dead. Instead of overwhelming you with information, the careful and intelligent worldbuilding slowly sucks you in until you have to remind yourself it’s fiction. Details are disclosed when necessary, through conversations and the characters’ observations of their surroundings. This strategy makes you surrender control to the author for a while, trusting that all will be divulged in due time. The writing is so immersive that you can smell the disturbed soil, see the lights of those keeping vigil, and hear the screams of those rising from the earth…
Most of all, following David’s actions and decisions inevitably leads you to the question: what would you do in his place? What would you want for yourself and for your loved ones? The rising is a cold, hard fact of life (or, rather, death) in the world of the novella; it is presented as a reality that the living cope with in various ways. Precisely this is where the potential for horror and conflict emerges, and it is used masterfully. No opportunity is missed to explore the relationships between the living characters, either, most notably David and his girlfriend Helen. The Family Directors they meet at the graveyard are also truly fascinating and memorable characters, and their profession is a really interesting one to think about.
All of this makes the latest piece of dark fiction from Crystal Lake Publishing – Tales from the Darkest Depths a triumph. Not only has Richard Farren Barber introduced a unique, captivating idea, but he has also executed it with skill and precision. It is an evocative, chilling, absolutely absorbing meditation on family, mortality, and choices.
My Murmuring Pages 