Grotesquerie

The 16 dark tales in this collection from Gavin (Sylvan Dread) are distinctive and macabre but inconsistent. The strongest—including “Neithernor,” in which a man stumbles upon his cousin’s uncanny art show at a strange gallery; “Scold’s Bridle: A Cruelty,” about a mask used as a torture device; and “Three Knocks on a Buried Door,” about a man who discovers an elaborate residence occupied by a mysterious being just beneath his apartment building—are richly articulated nightmares that will delight horror fans. Weaker stories, among them “Banishment” and “Fragile Masks,” suffer from hollow dialogue and unremarkable conclusions. Gavin’s ornate prose varies from artful to cumbersome and awkward (“To suggest that any sort of foreshadowing had taken place during that soporific feast day would be prevarication of the highest order”) and may put off the casual reader. But the heady, transportive atmosphere of many of these stories somewhat makes up for the flaws and will put readers in mind of both classic weird fiction and the supernatural mysteries of the 1970s. Dedicated weird fiction readers will find this worth a look. (Sept.)