CHASING GHOSTS BY GLENN ROLFE

CHASING GHOSTS BY GLENN ROLFE

 Sinister Grin Press (1 Aug. 2016)
102 PAGES 

​CHASING GHOSTS sees Glenn Rolfe take a wrong turn...but in the right direction! For his latest novella, Rolfe goes all ‘Deliverance’ on us with a short, sharp, shock of backwoods horror featuring a family of inbred hicks that could’ve fallen straight out of ‘The Hills have Eyes’.

The original (and none too shabby remake) of ‘The Hills have Eyes’ is an absolute favourite of mine, along with the epic tale of survival ‘Deliverance’ starring Burt Reynolds and Jon Voight. I’d heard a few whispers that Glenn was going to go all out on this story in regard to gore and general nastiness, and it is certainly his most bloody adventure yet.

Being a novella, little time is wasted in getting to know people, why? Because most of them won’t ever see daylight again, that’s why. I often find novellas a great way to break up the reading of novels, anthologies or collections. They’re kind of like the one night stand of the literary world and whilst I will be the first to admit that a story surrounding a family of backwoods, hillbilly cannibals isn’t the most original, it can still be a lot of fun and that is exactly what this novella is. It feels like a writer paying tribute to his peers and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that at all. The body count is high, the twisted Cobb family are suitably obscene and there are some great moments of gore. The only slight criticism is that the ending came about a little too abruptly, even for a novella.

If you are tired of watching Friday night re-runs of ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ and ‘Halloween’ then this 80s style slasher is the book for you. Curl up by the fireplace with a beer and go chase some ghosts.