Nine Frights by Jeffery Mariotte; ITL Publishing; 2011; $2.99 US

Jeff Mariotte might be the most prolific dark fiction/horror writer of our times.  By my count, he is listed as sole author or co-author on over 47 novels and listed as a contributor to over 53 anthologies, short story collections, and comic book/graphic novel adaptations.

While the majority of Mariotte’s work is connected to movie or television tie-in work, he has authored some excellent stand alone horror novels that sold very well and garnered well deserved critical praise (Missing White Girl, Cold Black Hearts, and River Runs Red).  Add in his work as a solo author or co-author to the 30 Days of Night series of novels, you could say that Mariotte has his dark fiction/horror chops down cold.

By his own admission, Mariotte hasn’t written an abundance of original, non tie-in horror stories over the years, but as you can tell from his introduction to this collection, he has taken great pride in the ones he has.

The stories Jeff Mariotte presents in Nine Frights run the gambit from hard core horror to dark fantasy, and from gore laden prose to imaginative, speculative imagery.  But there is a theme that unifies all of these stories and it is a poignant one; it involves the lessons of humanity.  You don’t often see short horror stories that even hint of man’s virtue, how our love for others is intrinsic and how our first thoughts in a horrific situation would be for the welfare of others. Yet each and every one  of the stories in Nine Frights, as upsetting and as dark as most of them are, leave the reader with a positive perception of human nature, a glimmer of hope, or at least an understanding of why choices were made.

In “Janey In Amber”, the author gives us a story of a woman who is so lonely and so at odds with the world that she has invented a husband, and she lives with this deception and all it’s complications despite the consequences to those surrounding her.

What some may consider one of the most brutal stories in this collection, “Santos del Infierno” tells the story of a man who teams up with a low life and searches for a puzzle involving seven santo’s; religious idols that depict vile pornographic acts.  The thing is, despite the lowlife killing the man’s wife and daughter earlier in a horrific car crash he still hooks up with him after the lowlife convinces him that they are “brothers in pain”.  Fans of Clive Barker’s will delight in this story which includes one of Barker’s Cenobites characters.

“The Strip”, more than any other story, superbly illustrates Mariotte’s humanity thread, but does so in a bloody and heartbreaking manner.   This is a story of true love told over a backdrop of a plague that turns people into flesh eating zombies and details the sacrifice one man makes for a stranger that did him right; a woman he has grown to love.

The end piece, a change of pace tale that is more fantasy than dark fiction, concludes the collection on a huge high and life affirming note.  “World of Books” is a tale of two young people, Kevin and Caitlin, who are brought to a huge bookstore by their mothers and allowed to roam its vast aisles.  In their travels they come to a door, and despite the admonition written on it, they enter through and discover themselves in a new world populated by characters from novels.

The five remaining stories in Nine Frights are just as enjoyable and compelling as the four described above and readers will certainly find the majority of them, if not all of them, to their liking.  And while the endings of all of these stories will most definitely not put a smile on your face, they will leave readers affected and hungering for more.  So here’s hoping that Jeff Mariotte follows up this collection with a companion piece real soon, Nine Frights was different enough and enjoyable enough that fans are sure to want more.

—
Aug 13, 2011

**Please note. You may not reproduce any reviews in whole or in part without the express permission of Horror World and the respective author. Please contact the webmaster with any requests. Thank you.**