Ancient Horror History Republished: Shadow Child by Joseph Citro, Collector's Edition REVIEWED.

Shadow Child has had a more fortunate life than many of its 80s horror kin. On the surface, it's hard to put a finger on why.

Originally published in 1987 by Zebra, the title bore no outstanding traits in its initial packaging; a horror novel in a sea of horror novels, churned out for mass consumption. Nothing to really set them apart in their presentation, a skull face here, a spooky kid there, we'd be lying to ourselves as readers to deny that while we adore these covers in a nostalgic way, little was done to knowingly separate these novels from one another in their marketing.

And with nothing to make them standout from one another, without star power of a "name author", it was very easy for these titles to fall into the abyss to never be seen or heard from again.

Shadow Child has avoided this completely, here now in its 4th publication/edition. While I theorized how it has had such a rich life, one thing is clear and delineates it from its much less fortunate brethren: the author still cares about his novel, all these years later.

Joseph Citro has managed to keep his debut title (and evidently his entire body of work, which all seem to have been republished at various points) clear of red tape tied up with publishers of old, doing his best to ensure his books continue to live their most fruitful life possible through publications that maintain some integrity of his original vision.

But has it been worthwhile to readers for the author to preserve his book with such care?

I say, hell yes.

Like many of the "ancient horror history" authors I cover on here, I first heard about Citro, and thus, Shadow Child, by scouring the shelves of a local used bookstore, Mary's Paperbacks, in Warwick, Rhode Island. Its probably my favorite used shop, if for person meaning reasons only; Mary's is where I got started collecting this stuff.

I came across another of his Zebra titles, Guardian Angels, for a few bucks and with it's classic "skeletal-angel-plays-a-harp" cover, had me sold. But when, I got home and did my research, found it was a sequel to this earlier title, Shadow Child.

Reading a sequel first is absolutely not my thing, no matter how "loose" of a sequel it is, so Guardian Angels went to the "to-be-read-eventually" shelves and I read up on the fact that Shadow Child was in fact tentative for a re-release with all sorts of photographs and interviews to celebrate it's 30th anniversary! So, I decided to hold off to read either book, until this one saw the light of day.

That initial plan fell through, with Citro now publishing this edition himself, and adding a good handful of months of delay to that, but I'm cool with it, as
my holding off to read Shadow Child has been well-worth it, particularly with this beautiful version, to the brim with cool "extras" and anecdotes about the novel.

Shadow Child is a simple, 80s small-town horror novel that plays many of the tropes we know and love, but stands out with writing that evokes incredible atmosphere and makes itself a winner as a result.

The plot is very familiar, as our protagonist, Eric Nolan, returns to his hometown of Antrim, Vermont from New York after his wife dies. He plans for a time of healing with his family, but finds himself in the middle of a mystery surging with gory murder and supernatural implications.

The writing and pacing are both pitch perfect, building suspense and mystery, but remaining exciting enough to keep the reader going. Just when it gets too slow, you're whacked with a appropriately nasty death sequence.

But Citro's absolute hallmark strength is to invoke the exact atmosphere of the cold, wintery mountains of Vermont and layer it with great feelings of dread and isolation. That atmosphere sets the book ahead of its pact, setting it far and away from the other "nasty-monsters-eat-a-small-town" books being flooded into the market in 1987.

In fact, I will say without hesitation that this is the best book I have read under the umbrella of 'published by Zebra'. Easily the least discerning of quality publisher from the days of the book, everything I have read by these guys has been mediocre at best (Pauline Dunn's Flesh Stealer) or absolutely unbearable garbage (William Johnstone's Toy Cemetery), so my expectations of a title from Zebra is almost always low.

Obviously, this new edition is not by Zebra, but the quality of book inside, does not implore that any edition ever was. Shadow Child deserves better than Zebra, and perhaps that is way Citro has been so kind to his first novel; to ensure it gets appropriate presentation and, hopefully, a reputation separate from its publisher who seemingly did everything it could to not differentiate titles from one another.

The "extras" section of the book make this a must-buy for any Paperbacks From Hell enthusiast, with rich detail around the author's writing of the book, behind the scene photography, beautiful illustrations. It really is a definitive version of a book that deserved better from it's very first iteration.

Overall, Shadow Child is an exemplary piece of 80s horror fiction with some nasty, gory moments, monsters, and cozy familiarity. It excels in it's ability to evoke atmosphere and keep the reader turning the pages.

The author's latest edition is likely the definitive version of the book, and well worth the purchase.

4.5/5.

This edition can be ordered directly from the author, by messaging him on Facebook. It can also be purchased on LuLu, by clicking this link.