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dantastic's review
4.0
Decades ago, the people of Bay's End burned the town founder and his wife after she was accused of being a witch. When the pastor kills his family and them himself with a shotgun, things appear to be coming full circle...
I first encountered Edward Lorn on Booklikes. He's one of those insidious types that never pushes his books on you. Anyway, a little while ago, he asked if I wanted to take a look at Everything is Horrible Now. Of course I did! I read the first 20% during a rare lunch break where people left me alone and I was starving for more!
"Everything is Horrible Now" is repeated throughout the story, first by Pastor George before he blows his brains all over his front porch in front of Wesley Haversham, then by others. It's partly small town horror, shades of early Stephen King when no one was safe, part cosmic horror. Hell, most forms of horror appear between the two covers at some point.
There are several viewpoint characters: Sheriff Hap Carrigan, the lawnman that resembles Lou Ford of The Killer Inside Me more than the heroes of most detective stories, Wesley Haversham, the farm boy who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, Kirby Johnson, the homosexual boy sent to Humble Hill to be "cured," and Pete Blackwood, an imaginative boy living with his hyper-religious grandmother Beulah. Beulah's also a viewpoint character, as is Gertie Fulgore, a woman from a family stricken with a blood curse that used to worship The Bastard.
I feel like I was missing a few things by not reading every Edward Lorn book in existence but I caught references to all of his books I've read up to this point. Easy E does a great job of juxtaposing cosmic horror with the everyday small town horrors of racism, fear, and ignorance. There is some extremely creep shit going on here, like the Coat Men, the people working at Humble Hill, and whatever the fuck the kid in the eyepatch is doing. The book feels like a Laird Barron book at times, what with the cosmic horror and talk about the nature of time and such.
There's a lot of small press horror out there and a lot of it is mediocre to average. What sets Ed apart from a lot of horror is his characters. They all rang true for me, from Hap's inner demons to the friendship between Pete and Wesley. He nicely captures what it was like to be an eleven year old boy. It also helps that Ed knows how to put the words in the right order. "Like an asshole full of concertina wire" was one of the early lines that jumped out at me and there were a hundred others.
Everything is Horrible Now turned out to be quite a wild ride with a lot of crazy bumps in the road. 4.5 out of 5 stars.
I first encountered Edward Lorn on Booklikes. He's one of those insidious types that never pushes his books on you. Anyway, a little while ago, he asked if I wanted to take a look at Everything is Horrible Now. Of course I did! I read the first 20% during a rare lunch break where people left me alone and I was starving for more!
"Everything is Horrible Now" is repeated throughout the story, first by Pastor George before he blows his brains all over his front porch in front of Wesley Haversham, then by others. It's partly small town horror, shades of early Stephen King when no one was safe, part cosmic horror. Hell, most forms of horror appear between the two covers at some point.
There are several viewpoint characters: Sheriff Hap Carrigan, the lawnman that resembles Lou Ford of The Killer Inside Me more than the heroes of most detective stories, Wesley Haversham, the farm boy who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, Kirby Johnson, the homosexual boy sent to Humble Hill to be "cured," and Pete Blackwood, an imaginative boy living with his hyper-religious grandmother Beulah. Beulah's also a viewpoint character, as is Gertie Fulgore, a woman from a family stricken with a blood curse that used to worship The Bastard.
I feel like I was missing a few things by not reading every Edward Lorn book in existence but I caught references to all of his books I've read up to this point. Easy E does a great job of juxtaposing cosmic horror with the everyday small town horrors of racism, fear, and ignorance. There is some extremely creep shit going on here, like the Coat Men, the people working at Humble Hill, and whatever the fuck the kid in the eyepatch is doing. The book feels like a Laird Barron book at times, what with the cosmic horror and talk about the nature of time and such.
There's a lot of small press horror out there and a lot of it is mediocre to average. What sets Ed apart from a lot of horror is his characters. They all rang true for me, from Hap's inner demons to the friendship between Pete and Wesley. He nicely captures what it was like to be an eleven year old boy. It also helps that Ed knows how to put the words in the right order. "Like an asshole full of concertina wire" was one of the early lines that jumped out at me and there were a hundred others.
Everything is Horrible Now turned out to be quite a wild ride with a lot of crazy bumps in the road. 4.5 out of 5 stars.
errantdreams's review
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
In Edward Lorn’s Everything is Horrible Now: A Novel of Cosmic Horror, Father George kills his wife and child, sits muttering on his porch, then, when a neighbor child (Wesley) arrives, shoots himself in the head. Before he does, he tells the boy “everything is horrible now.” Thus begins a series of events that will rip this small town wide open–and change it forever.
The characters are amazing. Kirby Johnson sees “the Coat Men” in his room at night, and because everyone knows of his “unnatural desires” (he’s gay), it’s assumed he killed his mother when she dies violently. He has a hell of a tale to tell, and is somehow central to the inexplicable things happening at this time. And as he says, “everything is horrible now.” Sheriff Harold “Hap” Carringer is a psychopath–he once killed two people because the girl refused to dance with him, and someone unknown covered it up. He’s also a bully, but not entirely in the usual and expected ways. He stops to talk to 11-year-old Petey, who keeps slipping out of his grandmother’s house to walk around town, and despite Petey being fat and a bit weird, doesn’t bully him at all. Beulah Blackwood, Petey’s grandmother, has custody of him because his parents were murdered in front of him. She thinks she means well, and she kind of does, but her zealous version of Christianity sometimes leads her to be cruel as well.
At the start, when Petey is talking to Hap, he comes across as neurodivergent. He doesn’t really read social cues and doesn’t seem to understand abstract language. But later, when he befriends Wesley, he seems to have a better handle on abstract language, so I was a little confused there. He’s still a very interesting character who’s a little bit different from your average 11-year-old.
There’s a family in town that seems to have leprosy, or perhaps it’s something called “the Blood Curse.” They have some interesting family history, and Gertrude, the mother, has had some very strange experiences in her lifetime. It’s thanks to her family that the Bays, Marietta and Francis, died when the town crucified and burned Marietta for witchcraft. Yes, they burned a woman for witchcraft in the not so distant past.
There’s a place called Humble Hill that seems devoted to trying out “Conversion Therapy,” or a treatment for homosexuality. Unfortunately for everyone, things go awry when Kirby Johnson is brought to the center.
Things get weirder and weirder as the story progresses. There are gods, and manifestations of human emotions and memories, there’s a place called the Roaming and another place called the Someplace. There are creepy dreams and visions, and some very creepy reality as well. This is a very messed-up town, and it’s hurtling toward some sort of conclusion.
I absolutely recommend this book. There were one or two things that confused me, or that I think didn’t actually get answered, and the story gets more and more surreal as it goes, but I held on by my fingernails and the whole thing was a serious trip!
Content note: suicide, homicide, child death, rape, racism (including slurs), domestic violence, homophobia (note that homophobia and what a horrible thing it is is a major theme of the book, so it shows up a lot).
The characters are amazing. Kirby Johnson sees “the Coat Men” in his room at night, and because everyone knows of his “unnatural desires” (he’s gay), it’s assumed he killed his mother when she dies violently. He has a hell of a tale to tell, and is somehow central to the inexplicable things happening at this time. And as he says, “everything is horrible now.” Sheriff Harold “Hap” Carringer is a psychopath–he once killed two people because the girl refused to dance with him, and someone unknown covered it up. He’s also a bully, but not entirely in the usual and expected ways. He stops to talk to 11-year-old Petey, who keeps slipping out of his grandmother’s house to walk around town, and despite Petey being fat and a bit weird, doesn’t bully him at all. Beulah Blackwood, Petey’s grandmother, has custody of him because his parents were murdered in front of him. She thinks she means well, and she kind of does, but her zealous version of Christianity sometimes leads her to be cruel as well.
At the start, when Petey is talking to Hap, he comes across as neurodivergent. He doesn’t really read social cues and doesn’t seem to understand abstract language. But later, when he befriends Wesley, he seems to have a better handle on abstract language, so I was a little confused there. He’s still a very interesting character who’s a little bit different from your average 11-year-old.
There’s a family in town that seems to have leprosy, or perhaps it’s something called “the Blood Curse.” They have some interesting family history, and Gertrude, the mother, has had some very strange experiences in her lifetime. It’s thanks to her family that the Bays, Marietta and Francis, died when the town crucified and burned Marietta for witchcraft. Yes, they burned a woman for witchcraft in the not so distant past.
There’s a place called Humble Hill that seems devoted to trying out “Conversion Therapy,” or a treatment for homosexuality. Unfortunately for everyone, things go awry when Kirby Johnson is brought to the center.
Things get weirder and weirder as the story progresses. There are gods, and manifestations of human emotions and memories, there’s a place called the Roaming and another place called the Someplace. There are creepy dreams and visions, and some very creepy reality as well. This is a very messed-up town, and it’s hurtling toward some sort of conclusion.
I absolutely recommend this book. There were one or two things that confused me, or that I think didn’t actually get answered, and the story gets more and more surreal as it goes, but I held on by my fingernails and the whole thing was a serious trip!
Content note: suicide, homicide, child death, rape, racism (including slurs), domestic violence, homophobia (note that homophobia and what a horrible thing it is is a major theme of the book, so it shows up a lot).
jeanne25's review
4.0
Usually as I read a book I have some kind of idea where it is going. I may not always be right, but I think I know where it is headed. This book was intriguing because I had no idea.
First - there were a few parts (discussions) that I felt were a bit repetitive and went on longer than needed. But honestly, other than trimming that down, I can't think of anything to complain about.
This story jumped back and forth in time but was easy to follow. Lorn's characters are written well. Too many books have conversations that are forced and unnatural. I was really happy to see the simplicity and ease in Lorn's character conversations that made them realistic. The originality of the novel was refreshing. I was still wondering up to the conclusion just where it was taking me. And let me add that the ending of this book was perfect. While I enjoyed the novel, I had some doubts throughout whether I was going to rate it as 3 or 4 stars. The ending settled that. I absolutely loved the concept behind it and definitely recommend reading it.
First - there were a few parts (discussions) that I felt were a bit repetitive and went on longer than needed. But honestly, other than trimming that down, I can't think of anything to complain about.
This story jumped back and forth in time but was easy to follow. Lorn's characters are written well. Too many books have conversations that are forced and unnatural. I was really happy to see the simplicity and ease in Lorn's character conversations that made them realistic. The originality of the novel was refreshing. I was still wondering up to the conclusion just where it was taking me. And let me add that the ending of this book was perfect. While I enjoyed the novel, I had some doubts throughout whether I was going to rate it as 3 or 4 stars. The ending settled that. I absolutely loved the concept behind it and definitely recommend reading it.
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