 A bestselling horror novel comes at a horrific price in Gothic by Philip Fracassi Is there a busier author in world horror than Philip Fracassi at the moment? I doubt that very much. However prolific Fracassi is has had little impact on the quality and sheer range of fiction he has recently released to a sleigh of top-quality publishers. Gothic comes hot on the heels of the excellent A Child Alone With Strangers (2021) and is available in two formats, the first is a 250 limited edition from Earthling Press (November 2022) which is long since sold out and the trade version which has been picked up by Cemetery Dance for a February 2023 drop. Fracassi is obviously a fan of releasing his work as limited editions before later wider releases as he did the same with the superb Boys in the Valley, which was originally limited to 500 copies (which sold out very quickly) but will thankfully get a mainstream release in the summer of 2023. It is a relief that Tor Nightfire (USA) and Orbit (UK) have picked up this terrific book as it was far too good to stay hidden away as an obscure collector’s edition. Don’t Let Them Get You Down (Zagava Press) is yet another limited edition, which I haven’t read yet, Fracassi has in the pipeline. If you haven’t read A Child Alone With Strangers I strongly recommend you check it out, it has some similarities in style to Gothic in that plot wise it is a throwback horror novel harking back to the glory years of the seventies and eighties. Thankfully that is where the similarities end as Fracassi is too good and stylish a writer to keep recycling the same ideas. A Child Alone With Strangers is undoubtedly a more ambitious work, but that is not being detrimental to Gothic, which has a leaner more self-contained story, with less characters and about half the page length. Fracassi has commented online “I’m hopeful readers of my work (and authors in the vein of King, McCammon, Barker) will enjoy.” The influence of Stephen King is all over Gothic, but personally I compare it to the briefer works of his alter ego Richard Bachman! At the heart of Gothic is a blend of two very old horror tropes: the cursed or haunted objects, which is expertly mixed with the idea of selling your soul for untold wealth. Philip Fracassi takes a bit of both and puts it into his exquisite horror blender and gives us a brand-new smoothie called Gothic! It does not matter too much that the idea is not particularly original, because the way in which the story is presented and told is first rate and a guaranteed page-turner which I sped through over a couple of days. Fracassi even has fun with knowing jokes aimed at Stephen King, both the horror author/reader crowd (“Richard Laymon’s novels were exiled to the UK”) and uncannily nails his plot of the novel in one sentence “Can you believe it Tyson? It’s like Christine… but wood!” Or to paraphrase instead of a haunted car, a 1958 Plymouth Fury to be precise, we have a possessed desk! It sounds very dumb but in reality the plots of those novels which inspired it were equally preposterous. Gothic opens with Diana Montresor getting very excited, she has spies and detectives all over the world trying to track down an ancient family heirloom which was stolen two centuries earlier, with one of her contacts believing he has eyes on it. Meanwhile in New York, Sarah, the long-term girlfriend of washed up former hot-shot horror author Tyson Parks is eyeing up buying her boyfriend a vintage desk for his birthday. He is 59 years old and has not had a hit novel in some years and she hopes the new desk will get his creative juices flowing. And considering what happens next that is a serious understatement! Although Gothic did not hold any major twists and turns it was a hugely enjoyable easy on the eye novel as Tyson Parks moves from being a twitchy has-been with low self-esteem to an all-together different swaggering beast. It was hard to say whether Parks was based on any real authors, more than likely there were snippets of various individuals thrown into the mix, but combined they gave a great portrayal of an author who enjoyed his second wind and was too self-obsessed to see the bigger picture. I am sure we can all think of many authors who had a few early hit and then faded away feeding off former glories and resenting the next generation being invited to conventions before them! I enjoyed the glimpse into the cutthroat world of bigtime publishing and how easy it is to be cast aside and forgotten (see above), with everybody only being as good as their next hit. The supporting cast and how they revolved around Parks was also first rate, from his relationship with Sarah, to his on/off bond with his daughter Violet. The interactions between the three was very credible and Violet was an empathetic university student who as the plot moved on jumped from the page. The relationship with his agent Harry, and the manner in which the balance of power switches, was also another strength of Gothic. Strong characterisation has always been a major strength of Fracassi, and even with the plot leans towards the trashy, he does not lower the quality or skimp on the detail or credibility. And what of the desk itself? It was much more than a hunk of wood and was far from inanimate. What a monstrous and wonderous creation! It breathed, lurked, evolved, oozed, made empty promises, fed on pain and grew ever so powerful as Tyson’s writing career produced a new bestseller. Along the way there were moments of hair-raising gore and the desk drawer scene had me wincing. If you ever read Gothic you will know exactly what I mean. Over the last couple of years Philip Fracassi has quickly become one of my ‘go to’ authors and he is equally skilled at writing novels and novellas as he is short stories. If you have never read him both Gothic and A Child Alone with Strangers are great places to start before the rerelease of Boys in the Valley in the summer of 2023. But don’t forget his excellent range of shorter fiction, this guy covers all the literary bases. Tony Jones Gothic by Philip Fracassi "Nobody is safe in a Fracassi story." - Laird Barron On his 59th birthday, Tyson Parks—a famous, but struggling, horror writer—receives an antique desk from his partner, Sarah, in the hopes it will rekindle his creative juices. Perhaps inspire him to write another best-selling novel and prove his best years aren’t behind him. A continent away, a mysterious woman makes inquiries with her sources around the world, seeking the whereabouts of a certain artifact her family has been hunting for centuries. With the help of a New York City private detective, she finally finds what she’s been looking for. It’s in the home of Tyson Parks. Meanwhile, as Tyson begins to use his new desk, he begins acting... strange. Violent. His writing more disturbing than anything he’s done before. But publishers are paying top dollar, convinced his new work will be a hit, and Tyson will do whatever it takes to protect his newfound success. Even if it means the destruction of the ones he loves. Even if it means his own sanity. Published as a trade paperback: • Printed on 60# acid-free paper • Featuring full color cover artwork • Retail price $18.99 Published as a trade hardcover: • Printed on 60# acid-free paper • Featuring full color cover artwork • Retail price $25.00 CHECK OUT TODAY'S OTHER ARTICLES BELOW  THE HEART AND SOUL OF HORROR PROMOTION WEBSITES Comments are closed.
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