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Through Shattered Glass by David B. Silva; Kindle Edition ; 2011; 246 pgs; $4.99 US First published ten years ago by Gauntlet Press, Through Shattered Glass is a collection of short stories from horror writer David B. Silva comprised of his works that have appeared across such publications as Cemetery Dance and The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror. Right off the bat, I will say that the introduction from horror titan Dean Koontz is worth reading this collection for just by itself It’s incredibly cute to see Koontz gush about a writer who, even though he isn’t part of the Holy (or unholy, depending on your viewpoint) Trinity of horror writers (King, Koontz, Rice), he ought to be. The intro also serves as a way of letting readers know just how deeply involved Silva has been in the horror community, not just as a writer, but also as an editor and showrunner, most notably for “The Horror Show,” a magazine that he had a hand in for several years. And as Koontz asserts, Silva does deserve a larger audience, especially considering that he doesn’t have the slightest shred of an ego and doesn’t take himself too seriously, a welcome change that many writers would do well to adopt The first story in the collection, “The Calling,” is perhaps the one that made the most impact for me. It reveals the relationship between a young man, Blair, and his mother, who has terminal cancer. He hears a whistle that alerts him to whether she needs him for anything, like going to the bathroom or if she wants him to bring her something. He wishes for her death and loathes the sound of that whistle. Despite the circumstances with her illness, one can hardly blame him. Still, she retains her frustrations at other things, including having fallen and broken her legs years ago—something that prevented her from dancing anymore. The irony that he’s parenting his own mother isn’t lost on Blair, and although she’s not over-the-top in her demonstrations of her need for her son, it isn’t easy to witness her in such a ravaged state. But even creepier is that is seems the cancer is whispering to Blair, as if it can sense him watching what’s happening to his mom, powerless to stop it. It doesn’t happen very often, but this story moved me to tears. Sometimes horror isn’t about what’s scary, or trying to elicit that gasp of fear from the audience, but it’s about something that’s rooted deeply in tragedy. “Dwindling” is about a boy, Derrick, who asks for his little sister, Sarah. He does have another sister, Tammy, but keeps insisting that he wishes Sarah were more than a daydream, as the rest of his family tells him that there is no Sarah. Soon, it becomes “there is no Tammy.” All his siblings vanish in a similar fashion until he’s the only one left. Again, a powerfully told story with compelling characters. “A Time to Every Purpose” is about an old high school chum who comes back into the main character’s life and reminds him of the secret they thought they buried years ago involving the accidental and unfortunate death of a classmate that they indirectly contributed to. They go back in time, because the main character’s friend has the rare but tragic ability to wish people away to a different location or to see them dead. In the hands of a lesser scribe, the story would fall flat, but Silva makes this tale all his own and knows how to convey the sense of shame and culpability that someone who knows they’ve done something wrong feels in a way that doesn’t come off as over-the-top. Other highlights include “The In between” about Cody, a kid who is trapped in a room of a house where the Mother and the Father live. This tale examines suburban decay and doesn’t pull back. His parents call him “the boy” and consider a dinner party more important. I thought he might have been a ghost or looking at his corpse, but the reality is far sadder. Some parents get accused of being overprotective over-schedulers who compulsively cram the lives of their children with violin lessons and piano recitals but at the other end of the spectrum, there are those who couldn’t be bothered to give a toss. It’s a sad commentary on the state of the modern family forgetting their children and neglecting them in the interest of their own selfishness. “Empty Vessels” is about a kid, Marshall, who grows up with a mother who is a prostitute. He discovers her having sex at one point, but it really disturbs him to the core, because his mother’s mate, the boy discovers, is an incubus. The experience leaves her void. As an adult, Marshall hunts the “incubus” down who turns out not to be an incubus so much as a guy who was himself tricked by a woman who baited him with the lure of false promises. He takes emotions from people, like envy or anger, and collects them. You’ll never guess which ones he leaves behind. “Metastasis” is another cancer story that sees a husband watching his wife suffer the return of the cancer she thought was gone. In addition to the fatal illness, the woman also had a miscarriage years ago, but nothing is as bad as what she’s going through now. She says she’s dying of the chemicals from the first round of chemotherapy, but it’s unclear what is killing her. The story seems to take on the point of view that chemical treatments aren’t always a miracle cure and that there are serious side effects beyond the obvious ones we associate, such as balding, losing weight, etc. “The Song of Sister Rain” examines the difficulties of seeing what Alzheimer’s does to a parent, but not knowing whether it’s the disease or something else talking when the main character’s mother insists that there are things known as Feeders that are out to get everyone. Another high-impact story was “Slipping,” which goes into a movie world, and looks at the pain of divorce. It uses the plot device of a movie within the story called “Timescape” to add in screenplay directions such as “cut to.” Overall, another memorable tale. Silva focuses on families in most of his works, sometimes offering commentaries on the disintegration of how we relate to one another, and more often than not putting the spotlight on mother-and-son tales in particular. Somewhat amusingly, one can deduce how dated a story is based on the musical references, like Alanis Morissette in one tale and Oasis in another. Thematically, the collection has an emphasis on stories in which cancer figures prominently (unsurprising, given Silva’s family history), but Silva examines several other subjects and brings his own unique take to them, something that horror readers will enjoy. He’s a master who absolutely knows what he’s doing. By the time I got to the end of the collection, I couldn’t believe that was it. I felt like it had to keep going or that I’d missed something. I couldn’t believe it was over. It’s a great collection from a talented guy—more horror readers should know his work as a writer, and this is the perfect place to start. **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.** |
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It’s a touching, well-deserved tribute to Mr. Silva that reveals his history with Koontz and that although the two have never physically met in person, they have continue to keep in touch.
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