Lost in the Dark and Other Excursions

The 13 chilling stories in Bram Stoker Award winner Langan’s masterful sixth collection (after 2022’s Corpsemouth and Other Autobiographies) exemplify literate horror. Langan has a gift for putting fresh spins on familiar tropes through formal innovation, as showcased in the brilliant title tale, which exposes the truth behind a cult favorite horror movie through its 10th anniversary Blu-Ray’s special features. In a conversation between the film’s cast and crew, director Sarah Fiore comments that the movie, about what befell a film crew upon entering “an abandoned mine in search of a mysterious woman who disappeared there decades ago,” began as a documentary. This revelation sparks a new investigation into how much of the film should be taken as true. Another standout, “My Father, Dr. Frankenstein,” is presented as the endnotes for a review of a book of the same title. The notes gradually disclose a horrific series of experiments, ostensibly aimed at insuring the survival of humanity after catastrophic climate change. Langan sweats the details, making suspending disbelief effortless, and populates his nail-biting plots with three-dimensional characters. This is an author at the height of his powers. (Aug.)