Book Reviews: Dark Water (2004) by Koji Suzuki

Dark Water by Koji Suzuki (author of Ring and Spiral) is a collection of short stories that are all connected to the theme of water in some way. You might recognise the title, as the film, Dark Water directed by Hideo Nakata, was based on the first story Floating Water. The book was originally released in 1996 in Japanese as Honogurai mizu no soko kara (Translation: From the Depths of Dark Water), which I think makes more sense in the context of the theme, but it's not really important.

The book opens with a prologue and closes with an epilogue, both of which are half of a story about a grandmother weaving eerie plots to entertain her granddaughter. These frame the collection of tales well, although only the last story Forest Under the Sea seems to be directly linked to them. I'm not sure if the other stories are supposed to be the ones which the grandmother is telling, but they don't really seem like something you'd tell a little girl, so I assume not.

Koji Suzuki's writing style is fantastic! Admittedly, I haven't read the original Japanese version, but the translation manages to make a detailed account of a man fixing a tap (in Watercolors) really interesting. I'm not sure how that's even possible, but Suzuki managed it. He's also extremely talented at building up tension and creating creepy scenes, which makes Dark Water a lot of fun to read.

However, there are two big problems with this book: the characters and the endings. For the most part, Suzuki portrays the female characters as neurotic or annoying and the male characters as violent and cold, but doesn't really add anyone with a personality that makes you care what happens to them. Adrift, Forest Under the Sea and, to a certain extent, Dream Cruise had somewhat likable characters in, but the endings were predictable. 

In fact all of the stories had predictable or unsatisfying endings to them and that, more than the characters, was the disappointing aspect to the book. Some felt unfinished, whilst others just made very little sense. I don't mind open-ended plots or fantasy / paranormal-based tales, but it often seemed like Suzuki had begun writing a full-length novel, couldn't think of a good ending and so turned it into a short story instead. 

Overall, while I did enjoy Dark Water and Suzuki's way with words is wonderful, the endings ultimately let the book down. It's worth reading, but it's not, by any means, Koji Suzuki's best work.

Posted as part of the Month Before Halloween event:

Book Reviews: Raggy Maggie (Invisible Fiends 2) by Barry Hutchison

Raggy Maggie, the second installment of the Invisible Fiends series by Barry Hutchison, continues the story of Kyle, the 12-year-old boy who is forced to battle against vengeful, forgotten imaginary friends whilst confronting painful memories from his past. Whereas the first book, Mr Mumbles, dealt with Kyle's own made-up pal, this second book sees the imaginary friend of Billy the school bully returning. She isn't quite what Kyle expected: Caddie, a little girl with a doll named Raggy Maggie. That doesn't make her any less dangerous though and she kidnaps Billy, threatening to kill him if Kyle doesn't play a game with her.

Although this is the second book in the series, apart from quoting short sections of Mr Mumbles near the beginning, it doesn't really further the plot threads started in that book. The "Darkest Corners" is explained a little more and Kyle's father is introduced as a more important character, but many questions about Kyle's parents, his mother's imaginary friend and Ameena's background aren't really even mentioned, let alone answered. That's not necessarily a negative though, as the series spans six books in total and revealing everything in the first two would make the other four somewhat redundant.

Hutchison's writing style is still quite vivid, although, unlike Mr Mumbles, Raggy Maggie definitely seems more like it was written for children and young teenagers. The descriptions of the friendship / fights between Kyle and Billy are particularly written in a style more suited to older children but it is, after all, a children's book. This didn't, however, cause the characters to become annoying. Kyle and Ameena's "battle talk" was once again trying too hard to be sassy and just ended up being embarrassing though.

Overall, I don't think Raggy Maggie was as good as Mr Mumbles, as it felt much like a filler in a series. While it did progress the plot surrounding Kyle's father a little, missing out this book wouldn't be greatly detrimental to the set. Still, it was an enjoyable and easy read and I'd recommend it to anyone who liked the first Invisible Fiends book. On the other hand, if you haven't read Mr Mumbles yet, then definitely start with that one instead.

Posted as part of the Month Before Halloween event:

Book Reviews: Mr Mumbles (Invisible Fiends 1) by Barry Hutchison

What if the imaginary friends you had as a child came back years later? What if they were no longer the fun and playful friends you remembered, but instead had become bitter and violent distortions of their former selves, after being forgotten for so long? This is the premise of the Invisible Fiends series by Barry Hutchison. Mr Mumbles is the first book in the set and centres around 12-year-old Kyle and the vicious return of his former imaginary friend Mr Mumbles.

The story itself is aimed at older children and teenagers, but Hutchison writes well and creates vivid worlds excellently. The only real differences between his books and those written for adults are the lack of sex, slightly toned-down gore and the fact that the main character is only twelve. I don't really mind those differences, to be honest, as a lot of sex and gore scenes in narratives are just filler and, although Kyle and his "sidekick" Ameena do have their cringe-worthy one-liners during fights, they aren't irritating. 

The lines between reality and imaginary are frequently blurred throughout and it's often purposefully unclear what is actually real and what is a product of imagination. For example, Hutchison uses common fears of children - banging on windows, storms, dark attics etc. - to signal Mr Mumbles' presence. However, it could easily be assumed that Mr Mumbles is simply the personification of those fears, at first and that Kyle just has an over-active imagination. This works effectively as you don't immediately guess the plot and it makes you want to read on to find out more.

There is also an unexpected and slightly odd twist involving Kyle and his parents, which still isn't explained completely by the end of this Invisible Fiends installment, but hopefully that will be addressed in later books. It is quite a big plot detail and something that will either make the series very good or not make any sense at all. It would be a shame if it was the latter though, as this is such a promising opening.

Posted as part of the Month Before Halloween event:

Book Reviews: Zombie Housewives of the Apocalypse (2012) by Sharon Day & Julie Ferguson

Zombie Housewives of the Apocalypse (2012) by Sharon Day and Julie Ferguson is a quirky, tongue-in-cheek look at the daily lives of two zombified 1950's housewives, the reserved Stella and her wild sister-in-law Liz. Featuring tips on being a good zombie housewife, raising zombie children, popular zombie recipes (with alternative ingredients included for human readers), as well as section on human misconceptions about zombies and more!

The concept of the book is brilliant! Zombie-perspective books / films are always a little hit and miss with me, but this one worked as it pretty much just adapted the stories of two human housewives and transferred their personalities and world views onto zombies. Thus, the flesh-eating nature of zombies is dealt with accordingly and Stella and Liz frequently refer to humans being like cattle (though they seem to be addressing humans in the book, which is somewhat strange if they view them only as food).

Zombie Housewives... is generously peppered with pictures, many of which feature the authors as these two shamblers. The quality of some of the images isn't great and some of the graphics are heavily pixelated. However, that could be an intentional design feature. After all, zombies - especially 1950's zombies - aren't known for their computer skills!

Although the book is seemingly short (96 pages - the last 30 of which are lists of zombie-related media and products), I don't think it could have been any longer. By the end, the novelty of Stella being a zombie that liked to keep a perfect (shell of a) house and Liz being a zombie that liked...men...had started to grow a little tired and repetitive already.

Having said that, it was an enjoyable read with a unique core idea. It didn't drag on for too long, didn't take itself too seriously and was a fun spin on the zombie genre.

There will be a Zombie Housewives of the Apocalypse book giveaway on HSL later this month, so rise from your graves again and come back soon, zombies!

Posted as part of the Month Before Halloween event:

Blog Events: Death Books & Tea: Month Before Halloween Event

The gory girls over at Death, Books and Tea are running a great event for all the book-lovers out there in the lead up to Halloween this year. The aptly titled The Month Before Halloween event will have interviews, reviews, giveaways and more!

"What I'm proposing is a month long event full of...stuff. Guest reviews, posts, interviews with people (bloggers, authors and publishers) on what, if any, scary books they like. A month full of this stuff here.  As long as it's scary to some degree, it's welcome. 

Oh, and then a giveaway. Lots of them.  On all your blogs. For the last week on October, everyone who's taken part (and wants to) will host a giveaway for anything of your choice-obviously related to spooky books."

Anything related to scary / spooky books is welcome and, obviously, the more bloggers taking part, the better it will be! If you want to join in, you can do so by visiting THIS PAGE and signing up by September 1st 2012. (And yes, we are taking part here at HSL too ;D)