FINDING YOURSELF IN THE DARK - Concluded

The last three stories in Steve Duffy's new collection from Sarob cover the last three months of the year. 'The Ice Beneath Us' was not first published in ST, but I had the pleasure of reading it early because it was inspired by an episode of Frasier. If you know the series, it's the ice-fishing one with the cabin on the frozen lake. Suffice to say that this take on that chilly notion does not end with a heartwarming moment. Blood-chilling, yes. It is, I think, the best modern takes on a legend that (not to give too much away) inspired one of the true classics of the genre.

'The Purple-Tinted Window' appeared in ST. On re-reading it remains an economical and moving account of someone faced with impossible choices. A young woman is possessed by a paranormal 'gift' that is of no value. All it does is point the way to her fate at the hands of a brute who wields near absolute power. She becomes an internet bride via the Filipina Dreamgirl agency and leaves her homeland for a cold, unwelcoming realm. There is a lyrical beauty about the writing that gives it the quality of a folk tale. And we all know how those generally turn out.

Finally, there's 'The God Storage Options', the kind of story that Duffy has made his own - what might be termed grotty horror. It takes as its theme the fact that many normal people in our malfunctioning 'society' end up in bloody awful places feeling miserable and lonely. Sometimes they escape. Sometimes not. Its main character is stuck in a converted old factory on an industrial estate over Christmas 1999. Things do not improve from this start. The ending is, once more, a variation on a classic theme and a damn good example of how to do it right. 

The notes by the author are, of course, informative and witty. I learned a few things from them, and I'd already discussed most of the stories with Steve Duffy. This is a fine book, by a first-rate author. It is also an object lesson in putting the hours in, refining each sentence until it works, respecting your reader enough to present him with nothing but good prose. It should take pride of place on the shelf of anyone who values the ghost story, the weird tale, Gothic horror, and good fiction in general.