A Much Needed Voice in Horror
Written: Feb 18 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Excellent use of setting and historical details.
Cons: No cons at all.
The Bottom Line: Buy it!
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| ceciltheme's Full Review: Havoc after Dark |
Thank God for favors big and small.
Robert Fleming himself e-mailed me and asked if I'd like to review his book. I am so glad he did. In a nutshell "Havoc After Dark" is a collection of African-American Horror stories that are sure to have universal appeal while being brutally honest about the horrors of life in the US---with a supernatural twist.
Your English teacher will be happy if she reads Mr. Fleming's work because his protagonists are "round", they "grow" and face "challenges" rather than just experience brief incidents that are called a short story. There are both plot driven and character driven tales, and so on. If you're looking for an author to compare him against, I can think of none other than Edgar Allen Poe. However, Fleming is not a black version of anything: his voice is truly unique.
What makes his voice unique is his use of Black American cultural details in his settings. His stories are set in the vast variety that is American blackness: the Jazz Age, Civil Rights era, on through today's Deep South and Urban environment.
Overall, there's not much more I can say about his work, other than that it's excellent. I can't pick one story to hold out above the others because to me, they are all of superior quality. Black sci-fi fans who have been pining for horror: buy this book. Other sci-fi fans who have wondered what would happen to black characters who don't necessarily die at the beginning or end of the story: this one's for you too.
Fleming's work just needs the right promotional push in my opinion. Then, he stands a good choice at being mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Ann Rice and Stephen King.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
ceciltheme
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Member: Cecil Washington
Reviews written: 162
Trusted by: 14 members
About Me:
I write speculative fiction. I'm the founder of Creative Brother's Sci-Fi magazine.
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