 Benedict J Jones made a massive splash with his novella Slaughter Beach from Dark Minds Press a few years back. With his latest novella Hell Ship from the ever reliable Sinister Horror Company, he returns to similar territory with another World War Two themed story. Set in 1944 nine survivors from the torpedoed Empire Carew ship find themselves cast adrift in a lifeboat with minimum supplies, as tensions rise as their situation worsens all seems lost. Then like a gift from the gods they come across an abandoned Japanese boat they think that salvation is at hand, little do they know that salvation is something that they can only pray for. Hell Ship is a gutsy steamroller of a novella, Jones kicks off with a deeply disturbing prologue, usually I'm not a fan of prologues, in a lot of cases a prologue just feels like the author doesn't know how to start the main thrust of the story, however with hell Ship Jones has created one that perfectly sets the tone for the rest of story. He captures the claustrophobic horrific plight of the captured allied soldiers perfectly, with a strong sense of narrative speed and the excellent way in which he underplays the level of blood and guts. I wouldn't describe it as psychological horror, more a case of hint at rather than show and tell. The cold and calculated treatment of the prisoners by the Japanese is as sharp and unrelenting as the steel of the Samurai sword used by the ships executioner. Jones ramps up the sense of claustrophobia to the max in the next section of the story, as he depicts the plight of the survivors from the Empire Carew stuck in the lifeboat. Using this section to introduce us to the main characters of the book, Jones keeps the balance between character exposition and the need to drive the narrative forward on a nice even keel. Each character is given enough space in the story to establish themselves into roles that we will care about. There is some fantastic interplay between a couple of the characters that allows for a great sense of tension to be developed. It is just a very small pity that the conflict between two of the characters is resolved a little bit too quickly once they board the Japanese warship. Jones had created what could have a been a brilliant focal point for the latter sections of the story with the potentially explosive butting of heads between two of the characters only to have it brushed aside in an almost off-handed way. However, despite this minor quibble, the setting up of the characters and the plot for the riotously frenzied final act of the story is still handled with great skill. One of the strongest elements of this section and one that feeds into the rest of the book is the use of authentic sounding dialogue. If there is one thing that can throw a reader out of the story is corny and cheesy dialogue, especial when the author uses regional accents and patterns of speech, thankfully Jones has a good ear for this and the dialogue sounds authentic for the time period. Rest assured there are no Dick Van Dyke mockney accents residing in the pages of this novella. Once our plucky band of survivors board the Japanese ship, all hell literally breaks loose in an exciting, thrilling and brutal butcherfest trip through an aquatic nightmare. Riffing on Event Horizon, Hellraiser Silent Hill, and Ghost Ship, Hell Ship isn't afraid to wear its influences like medals of honour, but Jones injects more than enough of his style and ideas to lift hell Ship from being merely an excellent homage into being a superior and memorable story in its own right. Hell Ship is a fast-paced self-contained story that delivers on all counts, great characters, a brilliantly nasty villain, and a story that doesn't ration the scares, they say worse things happen at sea, but if they are half as much fun as this book, you should gladly take a punt on this.   SURVIVAL HORROR: ANCESTRY AND EVOLUTION
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