gilda_elise

Goblin seems like any other ordinary small town. But with the master storyteller Josh Malerman as your tour guide, you'll discover the secrets that hide behind its closed doors. These six novellas tell the story of a place where the rain is always falling, nighttime is always near, and your darkest fears and desires await. Welcome to Goblin. . . .

A Man in Slices: A man proves his "legendary love" to his girlfriend with a sacrifice even more daring than Vincent van Gogh's--and sends her more than his heart.

Kamp: Walter Kamp is afraid of everything, but most afraid of being scared to death. As he sets traps around his home to catch the ghosts that haunt him, he learns that nothing is more terrifying than fear itself.

Happy Birthday, Hunter!: A famed big-game hunter is determined to capture--and kill--the ultimate prey: the mythic Great Owl who lives in Goblin's dark forests. But this mysterious creature is not the only secret the woods are keeping.

Presto: All Peter wants is to be like his hero, Roman Emperor, the greatest magician in the world. When the famous magician comes to Goblin, Peter discovers that not all magic is just an illusion.

A Mix-Up at the Zoo: The new zookeeper feels a mysterious kinship with the animals in his care . . . and finds that his work is freeing dark forces inside him.

The Hedges: When his wife dies, a man builds a hedge maze so elaborate no one ever solves it--until a little girl resolves to be the first to find the mysteries that wait at its heart.

I was disappointed with his book, having read several of his novels and loving every one of them. Maybe Malerman should stick to novels, because his novellas seem to be short stories that got away from him.

The stories drone on and one, especially Kamp. The same could have been said with a lot fewer words. Yet, at the same time, there’s little resolution to some of the stories. I had the same problem with A House at the Bottom of the Lake. Malerman seems to need room to stretch, and he’s not giving himself enough here.

And Derry or Castle Rock? I think not. Goblin could be anyplace. There’s very little that connects the stories other than the name of the town that’s slapped on. I wasn’t crazy about the tongue-in-cheek, or was that supposed to be humor, that pervades some of the stories, either.

So, I’d have to give this one a pass.