Unbury Carol by Josh Malerman REVIEWED

Josh Malerman is a unicorn in horror fiction circa 2018.

Josh Malerman is not related to Stephen King. He's not writing about standard horror tropes with a built in audience, like zombies or vampires. He's not writing novelizations of movies or within "the universe" of a TV show or video game or whatever.

But believe it or not, he is a relatively new author, with relatively new ideas, who is putting books out through major publishers, signing six figure deals and they're all horror flavored. Most importantly you can walk into a bookstore and actually find his titles! In 1988, this would be no surprise. In 2018, Josh Malerman is a unicorn.

I hope he knows it.

Bird Box, his debut, came out in 2014, to rave reviews, did well critically and is about to be released as a motion picture starring Sandra Bullock. It's a winner for sure, one of the easiest reads in terms of engaging, well-paced storytelling I can think of. Highly recommend that book.

After reading that, I sought out his follow-up novella, House at the Bottom of a Lake, which I hated. A lot. So much so, that I didn't read anything else of his.

A friend of mine handed me over a review copy of this, Unbury Carol, which is out in just a few days, on April 10th. I was hesitant about reviewing it after finding Bird Box amazing, then finding HATBOAL miserable.

As such, I waited until the midnight hour to read and review this. So here we are.

End result? Honestly?

I don't feel like I should be the one to sway your reading of this one. I'm excited for Malerman and the excitement, the life he is bring to the genre.

But Unbury Carol was just not for me.

I picture this one on endcaps at Target, that slightly quirky, but accessible enough flavor that tend to make those endcaps, is what this book is crammed with in presentation and narrative. Just out of the range of comfort for soccer moms, but a perfect fit for their edgy college freshman with the angular haircut and dangly earring.

You feel me?

This is a "horror novel" for the not Horror fan. It's way more Tarantino, Lifetime movie, Western...even hints of Kung Fu movies...than Horror. Sure, it's there. But it's everything else that defines the book.
Which could work for angular-hair Angie, but not for me. Horror for hipsters is the vibe I'm getting.

And I feel almost apologetic about it.

I continue to be excited for Josh Malerman and hope he moves a massive pile of books, enjoying illustrious success and gets such buzz going around the genre that we see the boom we're all waiting for. But Unbury Carol just didn't tickle any of my fancies.

Set in the Old West, Carol is a well-to-do who has an unknown condition that drops her into death-like comas at a moment's notice. We're talking no pulse, no breathing for a few days, and then suddenly she will snap out of it.

Carol has a wicked husband who plans to exploit this, by burying her immediately after most recent spell, and take all her fortunes. Those closest to Carol know what's up, and soon her long lost former lover, a gun-slinging legend named Moxie is on his way to attempt to...Unbury Carol.

A legless assassin with a penchant for fire named Smoke is hot on his trail, and a ghostly apparition who doesn't really make sense in the story named Rot poses some threat.

So yeah. My final thoughts are that angular-hair Angie and her hip bookclub will dig it. It makes sense on the mass-market and I'm ultimately happy it is there.

I just want my horror to be more horrific. Surely, the big house publishers seem to still disagree.

I give Unbury Carol a 2/5, but Angie would give it at least a 4/5.

Buy it and decide for yourself April 10th.