Goblin

Starred review from March 12, 2021

Originally available in a very limited edition that's now out of print, Malerman's (Bird Box) 2017 work is a tale about a town named Goblin that has a horrific past, shady characters across its history, and lots and lots of rain. It's a book told in pieces--six novellas and a pair of framing stories; the first story, "A Man in Slices," is a fitting way to start things off, with a quite literal deconstruction of the burdens of toxic friendship. From there, we see the darkest shades of Bradbury, but also Harlan Ellison and, yes, Stephen King. It's hard not to compare the town of Goblin to King's haunted Derry. But at its heart, Goblin is all Malerman. Throughout the stories, he writes like a downhill train, weaving Goblin's past and present into one rain-soaked horror show with stories featuring, among others, a man obsessed with being scared to death by a ghost; a hunter with forbidden game on his mind; and a magician whose magic might not be "clean." VERDICT These stories offer up a history lesson and guided tour of a severely troubled town. The writer-as-tour-guide is very clearly enjoying the trip, and it's impossible not to revel in the dark glee.--Alex Giannini, Westport P.L., CT

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2021
In interconnected stories, the author of Bird Box (2014) immerses us in the Midwestern town of Goblin, where it never stops raining, the sun sets a minute before it does in neighboring towns, the dead are buried standing up, and the police "move like...the dead." Though touted as an all-American tourist attraction, Goblin has been shrouded in spookiness since its original settlers were ambushed by Native Americans. ("Dad says they had it coming. I don't doubt it," one character says.) It's a place where people obsessively tempt the worst kinds of fates. Determined to bag a Big Owl--an endangered bird no one else has had the temerity to hunt--celebrated big-game hunter Neal Nash departs his wild 60th birthday party to enter into the haunted, off-limits North Woods where the owls reside. A touring magician with the name Roman Emperor strikes a Faustian deal to rise from obscurity with a shocking trick that sends sensitive souls running. Goblin's most celebrated figure, widower Wayne Sherman, who created an impenetrable maze with a chilling secret at the end of it, has his cover blown by a brilliant 9-year-old girl. With its array of misfits, also including a man whose romantic interest talks him into chopping off his toes as a sign of devotion, Malerman's darkly comic portrait of Goblin is not without its grim appeal. He is right at home in the graphic-novel mode--without the graphics, save for occasional full-page illustrations by Chadbourne. But most of the stories lack either any real sense of surprise or a satisfying payoff. And a few of them drag on. Give the author credit, though, for continuing to explore alternative realities with alternative fictional approaches. An entertaining but ultimately undercooked collection.

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