This added to the otherness of the world of the story, made me believe in it.īarron also uses the story-within-a-story technique to create atmosphere. I tend to look up words I don’t know while I’m reading (most e-readers have a dictionary function, thank God), and many of these words that Barron used were listed as “archaic,” or “informal” (the word git,when referring to a contemptible person, for example). Barron also uses language to make his settings come alive, choosing vocabulary that was popular in the early part of the twentieth century, but not in vogue now. Barron limns these settings expertly, weaving actual events and historical personages (albeit obscure–ever heard of Eadweard Muybridge?) into his fiction. Many of Barron’s stories have historical settings, centering especially on the period between the World Wars. Much of this is achieved through the utilization of setting in a manner almost as accomplished as someone like Elizabeth Hand (who I consider a master at creating evocative settings). Almost every story in Barron’s collection is of novelette length or longer, and Barron uses those pages to slowly develop menace. Barron knows that horror needs atmosphere to be successful, and he provides that–in spades. It’s somewhat validating when you discover a writer who does what you’re doing, only at a much more accomplished level, as it gives you hope that you could someday have success with your work.Īs for what we do differently, and what I can learn from Barron’s work? Plenty. We also both enjoy mixing genres: I have been working on a weird detective novel (between short stories), and most of the stories in Barron’s collection are genre hybrids–”Hand of Glory,” “The Carrion Gods In Their Heaven,” and “Jaws of Saturn” have crime elements, while both “Blackwood’s Baby” and “Vastation” could be considered westerns. I found myself immediately drawn to the stories in The Beautiful Thing… because Barron frequently peppers his sentences with colons, semicolons and dashes–especially dashes– as I do, and his work (like mine) is dialogue heavy. If this is what cosmic horror is capable of, well…color me impressed. In The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All, Barron concocts a melange of old-school pulp fiction, insightful characterisation and supernatural dread that is both unique and profoundly enjoyable. I don’t think this sort of pigeonhole assessment does justice to Barron’s work, as he is doing much more than updating the mythos of some dead writer. Laird Barron has been characterised by many critics as being, essentially, the new Lovecraft. Lovecraft himself, and am probably not as well-versed in many of the conventions utilized by writers when they try their hands at cosmic horror. I have read more Lovecraft-inspired fiction than actual works by H.P.
Although I have had an abiding interest in horror and dark fantasy since I was a teenager, I have never read much cosmic horror.
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