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Lydian Faust

Autor(a) de Forest Underground

2 Works 3 Membros 3 Críticas

Obras por Lydian Faust

Forest Underground (2017) 2 exemplares
Severin 1 exemplar

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This review first appeared on scifiandscary.com, I received a copy of the book to review.

‘Forest Underground’ is the debut novella from Lydian Faust and is published by the Sinister Horror Company, a small UK based indie publisher. It’s very good indeed. In fact it’s the best indie horror I’ve read for some time.
I always worry when I see rave reviews of small press or self-published books. Instinctively, part of my brain wonders if the praise is just down to enthusiasm or hubris on the part of the reviewer. If they’re that good, why haven’t they been picked up by a big publisher? That’s a terrible thing to think, and clearly displays an ignorance of the way that modern publishing has gone. My rational mind knows that my gut reaction is wrong, but it’s there all the same. Maybe you feel the same way, or maybe it’s just me. Either way, believe me when I say that ‘Forest Underground’ is worth your time. It’s not perfect, but it is very, very good and I suspect it marks the entry of a bold new talent on the horror stage.
It’s a hard book to describe, as a simple relaying of the plot doesn’t do it justice. Having finished it I’m left with the feeling that I don’t really know what I just read. That might sound like a bad thing, but it’s anything but. I felt the same way after finishing Samanta Schweblin’s brilliant ‘Fever Dream’ or after watching movies like ‘Mother!’ or ‘Videodrome’. All these pieces of art have a timeless, dreamlike quality that taps into our psyches and needles at our deepest anxieties and fears. Faust’s book does that too, weaving a reinterpretation of Little Red Riding Hood in with a ghost story and a deeply creepy serial killer tale. Those elements might sound at odds with each other, but Faust does a great job of combining them into a coherent, if nightmarish, whole. She packs the book with fantastically dark imagery: cannibalism, self-mutilation, mass graves. The most horrifying scenes are more memorable than you might want them to be.
Central character Luna is deliberately weird and enigmatic, but Faust gives her problems that are recognisable and easy to relate to. Despite the mystery that surrounds Luna, and the fact that I never felt like I truly knew her, I did find myself caring about her. The book centers on a series of Luna’s therapy sessions with her doctor, Alisha Sizemore. As Luna tells the doctor about her past it becomes hard to tell what is reality and what is illusion. There is a Russian doll element that works brilliantly, with the story going in a different direction two thirds of the way through and then again towards the end, before wrapping up in a very satisfying conclusion.
Thematically there is a lot going on here for such a short book. The troubles of female adolescence are explored through both Luna and Alisha’s memories. At times it feels reminiscent of Angela Carter’s retellings of European folk tales. Like Carter, Faust gets to the bloody heart of Little Red Riding Hood. Her take is very different, but equally effective.
Bullying and parental neglect are compellingly and sensitively covered too, without ever overwhelming the story. And throughout it all looms a mistrust of authority and institutions (hospitals and schools in this case), that feels very current.
In the end the much of the book feels like a fresh new fairy tale. Unsettling, bloody, timeless and haunting. I enjoyed every blood-soaked, horrific page.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
whatmeworry | 1 outra crítica | Apr 9, 2022 |
Lydian Faust was able to pull me in through a eerie story line and well developed characters. Even the characters that played small parts in the story were easily portrayed in my mind.

FOREST UNDERGROUND is, in my opinion, a very creepy messed up version of Little Red Riding Hood. Luna who is the central character is being held at a mental hospital, of sorts. She is Dr. Sizemore's very special case. As a reader you follow Luna's sessions with the doctor through Luna's memories to help explain why she ended up there.

As time elapses, you begin to find out some very disturbing things that happened to Luna when she was young that molded her into the person she is today. There are other patients in the building, but they are separated from Luna at all times. Doctor Sizemore seems mainly interested in only Luna, as the doctor has a personal stake in all of what Luna can tell her.

There were times in this book that I found myself with my jaw dropped. By the end you are left to figure out if Luna was more like Little Red Riding Hood (all innocent and young) or was she really the Big Bad Wolf (that you need to watch out for because she is so dangerous).

This short story was a very enjoyable read. I am looking forward to reading other books by Lydian Faust.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
OurWolvesDen | 1 outra crítica | Mar 29, 2020 |
Review in the works
 
Assinalado
OurWolvesDen | Mar 29, 2020 |

Estatísticas

Obras
2
Membros
3
Popularidade
#1,791,150
Avaliação
4.0
Críticas
3
ISBN
1