 Haunted houses and dead ex-girlfriends really don’t mix Chad Clark's latest novella Winward is released today from Shadow Work Publishing and to mark the launch of Winward we are having a Chad A. Clark day Ginger Nuts off Horror. With this review from Tony Jones for Yesterday, When We Died and my review for Winward which can be read by clicking I have frequently hard Chad Clark mentioned in horror chat circles, but this was my introduction to his fiction, and if 2017’s “Yesterday When We Died” is anything to go by I’ll certainly look into his other work. This piece reads as a long novella, and the author notes in his afterword that an altered version previously appeared in an earlier 2014 short story collection. Seen initially from the points of view of three best friends, Kyle, Grant and Shannon who are on a trip to visit an isolated cabin to chill, let their hair down and drink some beer. Kyle is initially the main driver of the story, but he has alternative motives in choosing this cabin for their holiday jaunt. Struggling to come to terms with the suicide of his ex-girlfriend Cheryl the previous year, he discovered she had visited the cabin in the period leading up to her death. He suspects it had something to do with instigating her downward spiral and eventual collapse. Why? He isn’t sure, except for an itch he has to scratch. Grant and Shannon are initially pissed off their old friend has dragged them to this dump, which is a bit of a wreck, and doesn’t look like it has been inhabited for years. Equally so, they have become tired of Kyle moping around over a failed relationship and don’t believe he should feel guilty about anything. When he broke up with Cheryl their relationship was already dead and buried. Before long the story spirals into familiar haunted house territory, but Chad Clark throws plenty of sneaky curve-balls to keep the reader on their toes. Firstly, the triple first person POV works exceptionally well in this story, as the house plays around with them and messes with their perspectives and senses supremely well, with the three men being affected in different ways. Although Grant and Shannon are good friends, even they begin to struggle as Kyle continues to go off at the deep-end and they begin to turn on each other as they misread situations. Before long, someone or something trashes all the furniture, a weird guy appears in the distance and they begin to realise it’s perhaps safer to sleep outside than inside. But is this a house they will ever be able to leave? Once the big reveal comes you will not be disappointed. I thought it had a particularly strong final 25% and the book bobbed and weaved into a direction which crossed pollinated rather coolly into another genre. Heading into the final few chapters is a bit of a mind-bender, but I loved the brutality of the ending which the author provides further details on in his endnotes. The title of the work and the eventual appearance of the dead Cheryl will perhaps give you a few clues on where the story is heading. That’s the beauty of novella length fiction, you can end it with much darker conclusions than you might do with a full-length novel without an editor bitching for some sunshine closure. On another day an editor may have pushed for something happier, but fair play to Chad Clark for keeping it real. The Kindle version I read also had a short story called “To Expunge” which is not a sequel to the main work but is set in the same location and is a continuation of sorts as the house returns. It is also worth a look if you enjoyed “Yesterday When We Died” but don’t expect a happy ending! Tony Jones   FILM REVIEW: SHARKNADO 5: GLOBAL SWARMING
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