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briannafenty's review
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
spenkevich's review against another edition
3.0
Horror and coming-of-age stories work quite well together, probing our fears of growing up or growing out into a wider world full of danger and death and the strength it takes to overcome it all. It’s a staple of the genre, and one Stephen Graham Jones is exceptionally good at. Though while we tend to always focus on the transformation from childhood to adult, there is less attention on the transition between young adulthood towards an acceptance of advanced aging and maturity. Jones short story The Night Cyclist (you can read the entire story here) is a sort of coming-of-middle-aged horror, finding our narrator in a place in life where many would start sniffing around to detect a mid-life crisis while he himself is sniffing around a crime scene and stumbling into a quiet and violent horror. A chef getting of in his years, he has recently separated from a four year relationship being caught in an act of infidelity and finds his only solace on the wheels of his bike. It’s his way of staying active, his way of getting to and from work, but also it recaptures his youth and years of bike racing. What begins as a chance encounter with the horrors of the night becomes—on the surface—a violent and action packed story of monsters and murder but beneath it all is a very tender meditation on trying to age with grace and grappling with vanishing youth.
‘Coming home at two in the morning, Velcroed into my old racing shoes that have the clips worn down to nubs—dull little nubs my pedals know like a ball knows its socket—I could pretend that life had never ended. That I was still me. That I hadn’t run Doreen off on purpose. That I wouldn’t run the next Doreen off just the same.’
If we have a character struggling to accept his aging, what better foil than a vampire who drains the life of others to maintain life eternal and strength unlimited. Sure it is all a bit cheesy—a midnight bike race against a mysterious figure who is mysteriously fast and potentially leaving behind a trail of bodies in a biker vs. driver war of attrition that has now tipped into violence—but Jones has a almost preternatural ability to make something corny come across as really charming and warm even if it is a horror story. I like to refer to him as my comfort-read horror, its really the best way to describe his work.
‘Some people hold on to that with video games, some with books about space, some with basketball or tennis, if their knees hold together.
For me it was a bike. For me it was this.’
What really worked here is the way a big part of the character's coming-of-age history, his cycling, was also so critical to his mid-life mental stability. It's something that struck me as true and made me think about how my teenage experience with being a top cross country runner was so much of my personal coming-of-age story and how running is still very important to me now. It's where I can clear my head (i get my best thinking done while running), feel good about myself, just relax in that odd way a good exercise can be comforting. I don't run competitively anymore, much like he no longer races bikes, but I loved the scene when he is chasing down the midnight biker and its all coming flooding back to him because on some good trail runs I feel that too. The way you can suddenly feeling like your mind is a dashboard of meters and switches where you adjust your controls, shut off the alarms signaling tiredness and put more pressure on speed. Jones captures this effectively.
This one isn’t his strongest, but there is still such a literary quality and quiet depth of emotional thought that brings it alive. If Jones isn’t a cyclist he sure did some great research because I believed it all (though have no knowledge of any of that but sure, I was in). I also really enjoy how much love he shows for his characters, and his home of Denver, which just makes his stories so infectious and lovely. But also super violent. Happy spooky season!
3.5/5
‘Some people hold on to that with video games, some with books about space, some with basketball or tennis, if their knees hold together.
For me it was a bike. For me it was this.’
‘Coming home at two in the morning, Velcroed into my old racing shoes that have the clips worn down to nubs—dull little nubs my pedals know like a ball knows its socket—I could pretend that life had never ended. That I was still me. That I hadn’t run Doreen off on purpose. That I wouldn’t run the next Doreen off just the same.’
If we have a character struggling to accept his aging, what better foil than a vampire who drains the life of others to maintain life eternal and strength unlimited. Sure it is all a bit cheesy—a midnight bike race against a mysterious figure who is mysteriously fast and potentially leaving behind a trail of bodies in a biker vs. driver war of attrition that has now tipped into violence—but Jones has a almost preternatural ability to make something corny come across as really charming and warm even if it is a horror story. I like to refer to him as my comfort-read horror, its really the best way to describe his work.
‘Some people hold on to that with video games, some with books about space, some with basketball or tennis, if their knees hold together.
For me it was a bike. For me it was this.’
What really worked here is the way a big part of the character's coming-of-age history, his cycling, was also so critical to his mid-life mental stability. It's something that struck me as true and made me think about how my teenage experience with being a top cross country runner was so much of my personal coming-of-age story and how running is still very important to me now. It's where I can clear my head (i get my best thinking done while running), feel good about myself, just relax in that odd way a good exercise can be comforting. I don't run competitively anymore, much like he no longer races bikes, but I loved the scene when he is chasing down the midnight biker and its all coming flooding back to him because on some good trail runs I feel that too. The way you can suddenly feeling like your mind is a dashboard of meters and switches where you adjust your controls, shut off the alarms signaling tiredness and put more pressure on speed. Jones captures this effectively.
This one isn’t his strongest, but there is still such a literary quality and quiet depth of emotional thought that brings it alive. If Jones isn’t a cyclist he sure did some great research because I believed it all (though have no knowledge of any of that but sure, I was in). I also really enjoy how much love he shows for his characters, and his home of Denver, which just makes his stories so infectious and lovely. But also super violent. Happy spooky season!
3.5/5
‘Some people hold on to that with video games, some with books about space, some with basketball or tennis, if their knees hold together.
For me it was a bike. For me it was this.’
theatretenor's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars rounded up. Fun novelette, I liked the take on vampires. But wasn’t anything that was super exciting for me either.
ihateprozac's review against another edition
4.0
This was a fun, spooky novella following a cyclist and some unexplained grisly murders. It’s intriguing and unsettling, and is somehow both satisfying and unsatisfying in the way it all comes full circle in the end. I can’t say I would’ve ever thought to mash cycling and horror together, but Stephen Graham Jones managed to do it!
Admittedly the cycling jargon was a little hard to follow - I used to ride but am fuzzy on the terminology - and it’s difficult to understand the topography of some of the scenes. Be prepared to use your imagination there.
Admittedly the cycling jargon was a little hard to follow - I used to ride but am fuzzy on the terminology - and it’s difficult to understand the topography of some of the scenes. Be prepared to use your imagination there.
himynameismichael923's review against another edition
4.0
Super short Vampire story, that has a couple of stand out moments. This moves quickly and is mostly no plot just vibes. SHJ shows he’s great in short form and long form story telling. If you have 45 minutes to kill, this is a great way to spend it.
telltalepage's review against another edition
3.0
Spooky, strange, a little hard to follow in some of the action places.
luce_777's review
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0