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This story is a portrait of truly insidious horror by dark implication and salacious insinuation, as well as conveying painterly and actorly-actressly dynamics as part of an eventually exponential threnody of domestic and eschatological seediness.The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long to post here.Above is one of its observations.
This hardcover is copy 368 of 500 signed and numbered copies, signed by Reggie Oliver, All artwork by Reggie Oliver.
Not the man's best offering so far. Few of these stories are quite good, but most of those gud 'uns I've read in the anthologies in which they made their original appearances. Out of those new to me (whether they are original to this collection or not), titular story is a fun yarn with a dash of Charles Williams io it, un-supernatural "Green Hour" is a fun period detective story (and a nice tribute to Poe original that served as its basis), while the "The Book and the Ring" and "A Day with the D...
I'll give him this, Reggie Oliver is immensely readable. Whether his output contains what you require is a different thing.In his story notes he elucidates on his recent travails, and the artistic, and primarily personal crossroads that he has experienced of late. This is so typical of Oliver. Honest, and heart-wrenching.This is not my favourite collection of his, but I will continue to read, and look forward to his latest outpourings, agog!
Following a compact, honest, comprehensive 'Introduction', we have fourteen tales here, many of which contain extraordinary violence and nastiness benath their gentle and polished narratives. Some of my favourites were~1. Holiday from Hell;2. The Silken Drum;3. The Green Hour;4. The Perfect Author;5. Absalom;6. The Druid's Rest;7. The Rooms are High;8. The Prince of Darkness;9. The Maze at Huntsmere.Overall, despite there being several 'Meh' stories towards the end, I am being forced to award th...
Holidays From Hell is my second collection of Reggie Oliver’s dark tales, like the first I read (Masques of Satan) this was an excellent collection. The tales here were a bit more varied, and not necessarily only ghostly tales, it even has a detective story. Oliver wears his influences on his sleeves in many of these stories, from sequels to an M.R James tale, to a tribute to Robert Aickman, and a murder-mystery in the vein of Poe, but all these tales feel entirely like Oliver’s own. He has the
Another stunning collection of strange and supernatural short stories from the prodigiously talented author, actor and artist.
✭✭✭“Holiday from Hell” (2013) ✭✭✭½“The Silken Drum” (2013) ✭✭✭½“The Green Hour” (2013) ✭✭✭“The Perfect Author” (2013) ✭✭✭½“Absalom” (2014) ✭✭✭½“The Druid's Rest” (2014) ✭✭✭½“The Rooms Are High” (2015) ✭✭½“The Prince of Darkness” [alternate title: “Posessions”] (2015) ✭✭✭½“The Book and the Ring” (2014) ✭✭✭“The Maze at Huntsmeer” (2015) ✭✭½“Trouble at Botathan” (2015) ✭✭✭“A Day with the Delusionists” (2017) ✭✭½“Rapture” (2016) ✭✭✭“Love at Second Sight” (2016) ✭✭✭✭
Reggie Oliver is wry, understated, and extremely British. More than hints of Aickman and M.R. James color his work, but Oliver is original. This collection can move a bit slow and often the horror is in the blurs of one's vision, but "Holidays from Hell" delivers a thematically and very subtle collection of stories that rewards multiple re-readings and savoring the collection. "Holiday from Hell" and "The Silken Drum" start the collection off and hit the thematic notes of intrusion, half-underst...
There are some excellent stories in this collection, but also several that didn't make much of an impression. Of course, my expectations when it comes to Reggie Oliver are impossibly high, so it is only in comparison with his other short story collections that this is a three-star rating.
