8: 59:29 BY POLLY SCHATTEL {BOOK REVIEW}
22/3/2023
 There aren't many books out there that make me go "holy shit! but 8:59:29 had me shouting it out at the top of my voice. 8:59:29 By Polly Schattel Publisher : Trepidatio Publishing Paperback : 60 pages ISBN-10 : 1685100783 A Horror Book Review by Jim Mcleod A lot of people think that working in academia is vastly different to working in the "real world", but the same mundane niggles, exist in those hallowed towers of learning. Disgruntled employees, uninterested managers / senior lecturers, and the bland existence of going to work every day to see the same boring faces, the same daily drudge of going through the motions, as work slowly erodes any desire to be creative. You try to remain unnoticed and slog your way to the end of the day, but sometimes you get noticed for all the wrong reasons, and you literally find yourself in the firing line. So what do you do? Do you knuckle down and up your game, polishing the corporate ladder with the last smears of your soul? Or do you hook up with someone and try to better your lot in life by invoking a cursed film from the hands of a demonic Hellspawn? Well, that's the dilemma faced by Hetta. Thankfully she opts for the later course of action. Otherwise, this novella from Polly Schattel would be a much different and vastly less entertaining read of the consequences of taking the shortcut in life. Schattel's 8: 59:29 takes its time in getting to the horror element of this story. However, this is not a criticism; the initial part of this novel is a finely constructed look at the banality of working a job you don't want to be in. The observations are cutting, clever and deeply nuanced, underpinned by a dark sense of humour. We have all worked with a boss like that and dreamed of taking revenge on them for their inability to see our worth. Schattel has created a world that we can all relate to. Schattel draws you in with outstanding character development of the main character, downtrodden, downbeat and just down, with her creative drive sucked dry by her job, resulting in a protagonist that you will be rooting for, even when things get a little bit out of control. If I have one complaint about the book, it would be the speed at which Hetta is drawn to the dark side and begins her journey of demonic revenge. However, this is a minor complaint, especially when it is taken in the context of the space restraint of the novella form. And when you consider that it gives more space for the supernatural mayhem to breathe, you quickly forgive it. Once Hetta teams up with Tanner, things get weird pretty quickly, and the humour of the novel rises closer to the surface; I loved their discussions on what their film should be and can imagine millions of would-be film-makers having the same debate, settling on making a horror film because it would be so easy to do. It's too close to the bone to be laugh out funny for this horror reviewer, but sometimes the truth hurts. My favourite character must be the demon lord, a pompous, self-righteous entity whose opening monologue is a sheer joy to read. It looks like the hierarchy of work is exactly the same in Hell as it is here. 8: 59:29 is filled with powerful swipes at the modern world, profoundly entertaining and written with razor-sharp cuts at the contemporary world with a finale that would if this were an episode of The Twilight Zone, we would be ranking it as one of the best episodes ever. 8: 59:29 |
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