Twighlight
Jan 20, 2008
Author: William Gay
Publisher: Macadamcage
September 07, 2007
ISBN: 978-1-59692-264-8
Format: Paperback Genre: Fiction Pages: 225
Price: $14.00
This is a rather disturbing book that involves a disgusting mortician with very nasty habits as relates to those he "takes care of", a completely psychotic and violent nutcase who keeps murdering people and getting away with it, creepy 'Blair Witch' type woods and two young adults on their own after their father dies who get into a situation that's way over their head.
The story is set in the late 1950s in the South, but if the actual town or state is mentioned, I'll admit to missing it. The area of Ackerman's Field it mentioned throughout the story. But it's centered around an area where the mines have long been abandoned and sunk back into the earth and where the woods are called Harrikin - named after a tornado that they called a hurricane when it wiped what was left of the old mining town off the earth.
The story involves Kenneth and Corrie - siblings who have buried their father recently and sense something wrong. They dig his body up one night to find that not only is his very expensive coffin not in the ground with him, but that he has been disfigured and "posed" in a very undignified manner. They continue to dig up other townfolk, only to find the same has happened to all of them.
After Kenneth manages to steal the mortician's briefcase, he finds revolting self photos of the man cavorting with the dead he's supposed to be burying.
Kenneth and Corrie blackmail him for the return of the photos. The mortician instead hires the town psycho to kill them for the same amount of money.
Here the story starts in earnest. It is filled with odd folk, good folk and many scary folk. There's violence throughout the rest of the story and you have to admire Kenneth's strength of character to go on and keep trying to set things right by reaching the law in a neighboring town.
The descriptions throughout the book give a strong visualization of the time and area - leaving your imagination to follow right along with the story. It's a nice quick read that rarely slows it's pace... but I wouldn't read it alone at night, especially if you live out of town.
