Ancient Horror History UNEARTHED: Dark Twilight by Joseph A. Citro REVIEWED
It's been quite a while since I've cracked into some "ancient horror history", outside of a few republished books, and I am glad to have returned to it.
These classics, often referred to these days as "Paperbacks from Hell", are essentially why I started the blog in the first place.
It was a bit of a struggle to pick the right one to get back into the swing of it. I started another book, one that was 600 pages, that was just too slow-moving, and frankly, daunting in its size and prose. I put that one aside for another time, before settling into this, a slightly safer bet.
I recently read and reviewed Joseph Citro's excellent book Shadow Child, his first work published, which made me feel this, Dark Twilight AKA Lake Monsters, was going to be a very safe bet for a good, well-written time.
Well-written, it was, for sure. But much, much less fun than Shadow Child.
There's some cool things about Dark Twilight, but really it's just far too slow and misleading to hold in the same high regard as it's older sibling, Shadow Child.
Excuse me, younger sibling.
As it turns out, Dark Twilight was the first book Citro wrote, shut down by a few publishers, before being pulled from the rubble later in his career, surely after the success of Shadow Child.
So, Dark Twilight is the first born. If we approach this book from the psychological theory of birth order, it makes sense.
Statistically speaking, first born children tend to have a special place to their parents. This is where a parent cuts their teeth, makes many mistakes, but are held in a high regard by virtue of their being "the first". First novels are very much the same. Folks tend to seek out first novels, by the allure of it being where an author started, where they come from, and its often interesting for readers to see an author grow.
Of course, this book came out in 1991, when we didn't have the luxury of the internet to find out all these neat facts, so I imagine readers mostly assumed this was Citro's fourth novel, as it was his fourth (and last by a major publisher) novel released.
All of that aside, it reads far more like a freshman than a senior. The skill set that Citro carries as an author is there, it's just not matured yet.
Present traits that carry over from Shadow Child, is Citro's uncanny ability to evoke atmosphere. Dark Twilight takes place on a small Vermont Island, and the author does a fantastic job of making the reader feel as those they are there. It was a huge part of what made Shadow Child stand out, and it certainly does some favors for this title. The writing itself is quite good, but the story is where Dark Twilight fizzles out.
It's far more a mystery novel than a horror novel, at least for the first 90% of the book. It gets grim and fast for the last 20 pages or so, but it's slow going for the majority prior. The dark, twisty climax is a good amount of fun, very EC comics in it's build-up, but it just takes forever to get there.
Beyond that, what the hell does the title, Dark Twilight have to do with anything!? What does that title even mean? Perhaps this is why Citro reverted back to his original title, Lake Monsters, when getting the rights back from the now defunct Warner Books.
It sure sports a great cover, though. I wonder how many copies this thing sold, cuz that cover is just amazing.
But anyway, the story. The one I didn't care for.
Harrison is a fairly standard horror novel protagonist who is having a hard time. You know the type, lost his job or his girlfriend or his something or all of the above, and he plans to reinvigorate his life by hunting monsters for a potential second career. Upon hearing of a legendary lake monster in Vermont, he heads to a small island town off the coast to seek the creature.
That creature never surfaces, but lots of Vermont bumpkins, religious cults and the occasional spooky thing does. And there are monsters, only not the one he's looking for.
So, it's a fine book, nothing crazy, nothing awful, but its all just kinda blah. Very little happens in the way of horror, for at least the first two-thirds of the book.
And when the horror appears in the EC Comics form, it's just too little, too late. Not a total dud, but just not worth seeking out. Read it if you've got a copy and nothing else to read. Otherwise, it's a pass.
I give it a 2/5
These classics, often referred to these days as "Paperbacks from Hell", are essentially why I started the blog in the first place.
It was a bit of a struggle to pick the right one to get back into the swing of it. I started another book, one that was 600 pages, that was just too slow-moving, and frankly, daunting in its size and prose. I put that one aside for another time, before settling into this, a slightly safer bet.
I recently read and reviewed Joseph Citro's excellent book Shadow Child, his first work published, which made me feel this, Dark Twilight AKA Lake Monsters, was going to be a very safe bet for a good, well-written time.
Well-written, it was, for sure. But much, much less fun than Shadow Child.
There's some cool things about Dark Twilight, but really it's just far too slow and misleading to hold in the same high regard as it's older sibling, Shadow Child.
Excuse me, younger sibling.
As it turns out, Dark Twilight was the first book Citro wrote, shut down by a few publishers, before being pulled from the rubble later in his career, surely after the success of Shadow Child.
So, Dark Twilight is the first born. If we approach this book from the psychological theory of birth order, it makes sense.
Statistically speaking, first born children tend to have a special place to their parents. This is where a parent cuts their teeth, makes many mistakes, but are held in a high regard by virtue of their being "the first". First novels are very much the same. Folks tend to seek out first novels, by the allure of it being where an author started, where they come from, and its often interesting for readers to see an author grow.
Of course, this book came out in 1991, when we didn't have the luxury of the internet to find out all these neat facts, so I imagine readers mostly assumed this was Citro's fourth novel, as it was his fourth (and last by a major publisher) novel released.
All of that aside, it reads far more like a freshman than a senior. The skill set that Citro carries as an author is there, it's just not matured yet.
Present traits that carry over from Shadow Child, is Citro's uncanny ability to evoke atmosphere. Dark Twilight takes place on a small Vermont Island, and the author does a fantastic job of making the reader feel as those they are there. It was a huge part of what made Shadow Child stand out, and it certainly does some favors for this title. The writing itself is quite good, but the story is where Dark Twilight fizzles out.
It's far more a mystery novel than a horror novel, at least for the first 90% of the book. It gets grim and fast for the last 20 pages or so, but it's slow going for the majority prior. The dark, twisty climax is a good amount of fun, very EC comics in it's build-up, but it just takes forever to get there.
Beyond that, what the hell does the title, Dark Twilight have to do with anything!? What does that title even mean? Perhaps this is why Citro reverted back to his original title, Lake Monsters, when getting the rights back from the now defunct Warner Books.
It sure sports a great cover, though. I wonder how many copies this thing sold, cuz that cover is just amazing.
But anyway, the story. The one I didn't care for.
Harrison is a fairly standard horror novel protagonist who is having a hard time. You know the type, lost his job or his girlfriend or his something or all of the above, and he plans to reinvigorate his life by hunting monsters for a potential second career. Upon hearing of a legendary lake monster in Vermont, he heads to a small island town off the coast to seek the creature.
That creature never surfaces, but lots of Vermont bumpkins, religious cults and the occasional spooky thing does. And there are monsters, only not the one he's looking for.
So, it's a fine book, nothing crazy, nothing awful, but its all just kinda blah. Very little happens in the way of horror, for at least the first two-thirds of the book.
And when the horror appears in the EC Comics form, it's just too little, too late. Not a total dud, but just not worth seeking out. Read it if you've got a copy and nothing else to read. Otherwise, it's a pass.
I give it a 2/5
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