Review || Something In The Water by Eddie Generous

Kindle Edition, 240 pages

Published May 21st 2019 by Unnerving

From the brutal past in WHITE GHOST FUR, to the painful and troubling present in PROPER FARMER, to the terrifying days that lie ahead in UNEARTHLY SYMPHONY Eddie Generous, author of the monstrous adventure stories Radio Run and Great Big Teeth, and the haunted hotel novel Camp Summit, offers up twisted takes on classic creatures, a demon hiding in a modern subdivision, human monsters destroying the sacred notion of home, a farmhouse with much more awaiting new owners than some dust and cobwebs, and all the terrifying possibilities in between.


Something in the Water is a collection of 13 violent and disturbing tales with its sights set on manufacturing sleepless nights and paranoid days. Binge read all 13 stories...if you dare.

 

Having never read anything by the author before, I didn't know what to expect. Given my love for short story collections, I couldn't resist diving into Something in the Water. With a cover that is beautiful, yet simplistic, it gleefully promised a surreal experience. Knowing that I have a soft spot for monsters, I settled in for a good read. What I wasn't expecting was the range of stories and the emotions accompanying them. This collection of 13 tales by Eddie Generous is both emotional and eerie.

The first story in the book "It's What We'd All Want" was actually my favorite. It takes us to a trio of brothers at their Nanna's funeral. Dressed in their funeral finest and feeling the strain of the from the adults all around them, they escape outside for a bit of freedom. There's an innocence here as they find a dead deer and have a mock memorial, saying all the things that are expected to be said when you've lost a loved one. Then in a strange encounter with an odd woman smelling of the swamp, they are told to kiss their nanna and that under the ground is a lonely place. Of course, none of the adults take their cries that nanna is still in there seriously and in the ground goes nanna.  But not to worry because after all, "dead keeps going on long after burial, dead keeps going on forever."

Some of the stories, like Shades of Summer, ended way too soon leaving me wanting more. Others seemed to almost out stay their welcome, like Proper Farmer, while still entertaining, was probably my least favorite of the bunch. Some are oddly melancholy, while others are more blood and gore tinged. White Dress definitely had me snarling my nose a time or two, yet the same amount of pus and rot in White Ghost Fur left me unaffected. Night of the Lesson left me most startled by the ending, showing that those that love us are monsters capable of betrayal as well. 

I think what I loved about this collection is the gauntlet of emotions. I love when horror has heart (a phrase I find myself using more and more). Don't get me wrong; this collection is hardly bloodless. Eddie Generous' horror is about more than shocking the reader with guts and gore. It's sorrow and loss, love and longing, hope and yes, fear.