A review by marplatense
Blackwater: The Complete Caskey Family Saga by Michael McDowell
5.0
I'm a sucker for Southern Gothic and this book have everything I could dream about the genre. The great and detailed descriptions use a lot of vocabulary (although English is not my mother tongue, I have been reading books in that language for years and this is the first time I have use the dictionary so much) and you get plenty of muddy waters and dangerous swamps, hot Alabama nights and iced tea. If you are ok to learn the life and death of a family with more than 20 members from 1919 until early seventies, this book is for you. I enjoyed it just like I would do with Faulkner (the fantastic undertones made me remember 100 years of solitude too).
When it comes to horror, it is not the key element that moves the story forward: the horror set pieces are distributed sparingly and they are bound to happen when the situation requires them. However, they are really well plotted, merciless and pretty gory and I might say I found them very scary, something that does not happen often. It is clear that McDowell knew how to write some good horror story.
Needless to say, I am planning to read more books from this author.
When it comes to horror, it is not the key element that moves the story forward: the horror set pieces are distributed sparingly and they are bound to happen when the situation requires them. However, they are really well plotted, merciless and pretty gory and I might say I found them very scary, something that does not happen often. It is clear that McDowell knew how to write some good horror story.
Needless to say, I am planning to read more books from this author.