GOING UNDERGROUND: HORRORS WHICH LURK BELOW….

25/6/2018

by tony jones

One of the books I was recently asked to review turned out to be a 33-page short story. As there is only so much you can say about a piece of that length without huge plot spoilers I decided to expand its theme into a wider article. As it was called “The Tunnelers” it got me thinking about horror and dark fiction set underground and my own personal favourites. I’m also going to cheat and add in a couple from underwater. Of course, these novels are not entirely set underground or underwater, but have long plot sequences that are, or have crucial plot developments.

If you want to read my further selections with an ‘underground horror’ theme, then press on. They are not ranked in any order apart from the first two which are all-time personal favourites of mine.

After my eight recommendations we have further suggestions brought together by the review team at the Ginger Nuts of Horror.

I’m starting with the short story which gave me the idea in the first place:

If any of the books take your fancy you can purchase them from your local Amazon store by clicking in the title or the cover image of the book

Geoff Gander – The Tunnelers

Narrated by Dr Vincent Armstrong, the doctor reveals the strange and perplexing case of one of his new patients. Initially he thinks this traumatised mining foreman has had some sort of break-down but will soon be healthy enough to be discharged from the psychiatric hospital caring for him. However, when the patient is allowed outside for a walk across the hospital grounds, he cracks up having a major relapse and in his incoherent babbling talks of dangerous creatures from underground which are stalking him. Or so he believes…

Armstrong is intrigued and begins to investigate, and soon makes a series of startling discoveries that threaten to tear apart his carefully constructed scientific view of the world and what might lurk underneath the surface. To say anymore would ruin what was a very entertaining short story which has a certain old-fashioned tone which nostalgically recalls monster movies of years gone by. The idea that the reader is also browsing Dr Armstrong’s personal case file was also a nice touch. Indeed, there was plenty of scope to turn this tale into a solid novella and it was a fun thirty minute read.

Scott Sigler – Earthcore

The mighty Scott Siger ranks amongst my favourite ever authors and I devour everything he writes. I adore the guy. His 2001 debut “Earthcore” is hard to beat for sheer imagination and craziness as a mining expedition which goes deep underground in the search for priceless platinum. Instead it stumbles upon something horribly nasty, and I’m not talking landslides. As debuts go, I think the author completely nailed the blueprint for future Sigler novels: a fusion between horror and science fiction which was irresistible and brilliantly addictive. You will find few better page-turners that this one, sure the characters are sketchy and shallow, but who cares? The level of cartoon violence is breath taking, the excesses, the pulp science, the non-stop action as a group of scientists and mercenaries use new technology to dig three miles below the earth’s surface looking for goodies but discover something else, something worse. Watch that body-count rise…

If you’ve never read it now is the perfect time to jump on the Sigler bandwagon, his publisher Empty Set have republished this early pulp masterpiece, with some author revisions to bring the book into the same time-lines as his later works. This is no bad thing, as you don’t want to know what I paid for my paperback some years ago. Sigler has been promising a sequel for years and it may eventually come sooner than we think. He’s certainly released the first chapter online as a taster… I cannot wait.

Jeff Long – The Descent

This bad boy ranks as one of my favourite EVER novels. It starts slow and convoluted, but stick with it, when it gets going it is an absolute knock-out. The descriptions of this vivid underground world, thousands of miles of cave, hundreds of miles under the surface of the planet is absolutely breath taking. The novel opens with strange disappearances of mountaineers and scientists in remote mountain locations, something nasty has been spotted, and we go underground looking for the disappeared. There are multiple character strings, incredible detail, and spread over nearly 600 pages it just gets better as it goes along. This book took some imagination to bring together.

In many ways it is very philosophical and questions whether Hell existed, and if so what influence did it ever have on our own world? These questions are explored further in the slightly inferior sequel “Deeper” which I also enjoyed, but it was not a patch on “The Descent.” The sequel also examines whether the Devil ever existed. What do we find underneath? I’m not going to say much, other than it’s an incredibly well drawn world with a level of brutality rarely seen in a novel. Although Jeff Long has only written a few novels, he often has a mountaineering theme in his plots, which is central to the early stages of this novel. It’s a superb blend of adventure, fantasy and horror with the second book continuing the story in what amounts to the colonisation of the underworld. Utterly terrific and unique.

Nick Cutter – The Deep

I’m a big fan of Nick Cutter, having enjoyed his other horror novels “The Troop” and “Little Heaven” not to mention the stuff he writes which crosses into other genres. Two thirds of “The Deep” is set at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean in a research station which is so remote and far beneath the sea it’s the deepest man has ever explored and colonised. The world’s top scientists believe that there is an unknown entity down there which will help them cure an epidemic which threatens to destroy mankind. More and more of the population are suffering from this condition which is nicknamed ‘the Gets’ which leads to total memory loss and eventually those afflicted forget to eat and eventually breathe, leading to certain death. This illness is everywhere.

Dr Luke Nelson is persuaded to take the trip down below after they lose contact with the base, he is sent as it is his estranged brother who is running the show at the bottom of the sea. However, what he finds there is far from nice and harks back to his childhood nightmares. Once arriving at the station, he is plagued by hallucinations, claustrophobia, his deranged brother and things go horribly wrong. This was one wild book, you could argue the end did not add up, but I still loved the freakiness of it all. Before the ‘Fig Men’ come a calling….

Albert Sánchez Piñol - Pandora in the Congo

If you’re looking for a novel which is not strictly horror, but you’re after a read which is completely off the wall then look no further than this queer Spanish oddity. The same author wrote the equally crazy “Cold Skin” which is slightly more horror than this and has recently been turned into a film, but just as strange.

“Pandora in the Congo” is set in the Belgian Congo around 1914 and concerns (from a prison cell) the very unreliable account of a British manservant who, if he is to be believed, is the sole survivor of a diamond expedition into the Congo. According to Garvey the expedition encountered these weird creatures he calls ‘Tectons’ climbing out of cracks in the jungle surface, a race who live deep underground, but frequent the surface when no humans are around. On another level this very clever and literary novel is about writing pulp fiction, and are we are reading a novel within a novel? Who is fooling who? This book is a complete one off and ranks as one of my personal favourites.

Tom Walsh - Nogglz

“What the heck is a ‘Nogglz’?” is probably your first question, and it’s a good one. The whole novel is set over a bloody 24-hour period in a very remote part of the Colorado mountains in the small town of Canyon Bluff. Less than thirty people live in this isolated place which many years previously was a thriving coal-mining town. These thirty residents are all very elderly and refuse to leave their dying home town which no longer has a shop, school, or even working street lights. Set in the 1990s, Canyon Bluff is a superb setting for a horror novel, with the town dripping in atmosphere, sounds, decay and memories. It also has mines, very, very deep mines which take us deep underground. But this novel is more about what comes out of them…

Apart from the police officers called to the town after the brutal murder of Sarah almost every character in this quirky novel is well over the age of sixty and that itself gives the novel a deliberately slow pace which worked perfectly. Most are far from helpless, and heavily armed, for when things kick off. I really liked a lot of these grannies and grandads, many of whom went down swinging with all guns blazing. Sarah lives in a house which she inherited from her dead brother and their father before that. In their basement there is a heavily fortified entrance to an old mine tunnel. When Sarah’s mutilated body is discovered the police realise that something has forced the mine barrier open, from the inside, something very strong and unbelievably nasty. And to fight back into the mines we go with a book which is very hard to categorise, part horror, thriller, and loaded with both monsters and grandads with guns. Excellent stuff.

Hugh Howey – Wool

You could argue that I am cheating by including Hugh Howey’s terrific debut “Wool” as it is more science fiction with a dash of dystopia than a horror novel. However, the entire story is set underground so is a worthy inclusion and is dark fiction writing at its finest. It is also one of the very best examples of fiction I have come across which was originally self-published (in part-publication) which went on to be a major hit. You may ask why the book is called “Wool” as it’s not the most ‘SF’ of titles?

The novel is set in these exceptionally deep underground, man-made, constructions, and nobody knows any other way of life and everyone follows a strict set of rules, which are never broken. One of the golden and strictest of rules revolves around the fact that nobody ever talks about going outside, this is punished in a very peculiar way and is why the book is called “Wool”. Did I answer your question? Not really, you will have to read it yourself for a more detailed answer to the question, but be rest assured you will not be disappointed. I enjoyed the second book also, but once the secrets at the end of book one is out of the bag it loses much of its impact.

Josh Malerman – A House at the Bottom of the Lake

‘A House at the Bottom of the Lake’ is a very strange mood piece which is difficult to classify, much of the second half is set under water so fits nicely in this list. It’s neither an out-and-out ghost story or a pure horror tale, but flirts around the edges of both morphing into a coming-of-age tale with the quirkiness we have come to expect from the enigmatic Josh Malerman. For a first date James asks Amelia to go canoeing with him to a lake, which leads to a second remoter lake. Whilst exploring the second quieter lake the couple find a secret entrance to a third lake, and on this third lake they canoe over a house submerged under water. They go diving and discover the house is perfectly preserved and that it has a strange pull on them. But are they alone in this submerged house where the couple feel like knocking on the door before entering?

To say much more would spoil this very enjoyable novella. As the couple explore each other more intimately this reflects the deeper they travel into the house, moving into the world of the supernatural and a few nice chills. At certain stages the story may even flirt with magical realism and I think every reader at certain points may reflect on their own teenage years and the pain associated with these difficult early relationships. Malerman has constructed a story which should have quite wide appeal and is a very quiet, almost melancholic read, which may well take you back to a time when you thought first love might last forever.

Michael Patrick Hicks – Broken Shells

This author has a cool knack for creating undemanding pulpy horror novellas which move along at eyewatering speed and are top-notch entertainment. Antoine is in a tough spot after losing his job and before long he is trapped underground with things about to get a whole lot worse. He has a moaning wife at home, a small child to feed, no cash, debt, and is desperate for new work. His wife Chantelle, who badgers him non-stop, reckons they have won five Grand on a “Money Carlo” scratch card which came in the mail. Fat chance he thinks.

Antoine is sure this dodgy lottery ticket is a scam, but his wife forces him to visit an out of town car dealership called “Dangle Chevrolet Dealership” which he must visit in person to claim his prize. Certain they will try to sell him a car he can’t afford he goes along any way. On arrival he meets the owner Joe Dangle who confirms he has indeed won the magic $5000. But soon things go from bad to worse as Joe Dangle is interested in Antoine for something more than his terrible credit rating. Yes, it’s totally ridiculous, the body horror violence is bloody, far-fetched, and way over the top, but it sure is fun. You’ll be cheering on Antoine in his brutal fight for survival as he will do anything to see his family again. Plus, he punches an irritating Donald Trump supporter in the face, what a dude.

Other novels with strong underground themes as recommended by other members of the Ginger Nuts of Horror review team. In alphabetical order by author:

Blake Crouch – Wayward Pines Series
Kristi DeMeester - Beneath
Stephen King - Desperation
Crystal Lake Publishing - C.H.U.D. LIVES! A Tribute Anthology
Tim Lebbon – The Silence
Arthur Machen - The Novel of the Black Seal
Laura Mauro – Naming the Bones
Jonathan Janz – Savage Species
Jonathan Janz – Children of the Dark
Scott R Jones (Ed) - CHTHONIC: Weird Tales of Inner Earth
James Rollins – Subterranean
William Sleator - Beasties

There must be many other suggestions, please add them in the comments box.

Tony Jones

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