FINDING YOURSELF IN THE DARK - CONTD

We move on to April in Steve Duffy's new collection of month-by-month stories from Sarob. It's a chilly April, though, with no real harbingers of spring. 'The Villa Morozov' is set in Russia at the time of the Revolutionary War, when slaughter and disruption was widespread. In the eponymous house in the woods, it seems winter will never end. And the denizens of the villa go about the business of survival in their own distinctive way. This is a very short, chilling tale with a very effective 'monster', a being that endures despite, perhaps even because of, a general onslaught upon more orthodox traditions.

Even further back in time we find 'The Clay Party', a group of pioneers setting out for California in the May of 1846. The story is told from several perspectives - the local newspaper, a search party, a loyal husband's journal, a mother's letter to her daughter. Together they make up a memorable addition to the sub-genre of Western survival horror. In a way it holds up a mirror to the previous tale, offering hope of a sort despite the bloodletting and worse that occurs as the Clay Party departs from the Oregon Trail  along an ill-conceived 'cutout'. 

'No Passage Landward' (from ST 41, Autumn 2019) brings history up to date, so to speak, as the hapless Phoebe explores Anglesey and discovers a grim secret. This is a story that works thanks to the ratchet effect, whereby a character takes a series of small decisions that add up to one big mistake. Strange encounters and a grim medieval legacy contrive to trap Phoebe, despite her good-natured, energetic approach. Far from having a pleasant June excursion, she is forced to see history as something we are all part of, not merely something we can dabble in as a diversion. 

So we reach early summer, without an ice cream or a sandcastle in sight. But the next three stories will, I'm sure, offer entertainments of other kinds. 

(to be continued)