THE NIGHT BEGINS BY ABIGAIL F TAYLOR

FOLK HORROR, HOT OFF THE GRILL!!!

The Night Begins  by Abigail F Taylor 
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Luna Press Publishing (7 Feb. 2023)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 116 pages

A Horror Book Review by Jim McLeod 

For most people going back home when you are a freshman student involves loads of dirty washing and stocking up on chocolate biscuits, sadly this is not the case for Darcy, you see her mother killed her father with an axe, and now lives alone, isolated in a dilapidated house in the middle of a Texan woodland. Going home is never easy, but this visit will unearth secrets that were best left buried for Darcy.  


The Night Begins is the fifteenth novella in the Luna Press line; if you have yet to hear of Luna Press, they have a long history of publishing interesting works from authors who can take well-used tropes and give them a unique and refreshing spin. The Night Begins by Abigail F Taylor continues this fine tradition. From the moment that I read the opening passage, which is now one of my all-time favourite openings, to a book, I knew I was onto something special.  


Folk horror is in the middle of a huge boom, and there are thousands of books out there all vying for our attention, so what makes this book one that should be at the top of your reading list?  


Apart from the brilliant opening, the novella, The Night Begins is blessed with a super tight yet evocative writing style. Taylor balances a barnstorming narrative pace with an atmospheric sense of place; her powerful descriptive passages are so technicolour in their detail that you cannot help but feel that you are riding along in the car next to Darcy as she heads home to help her strange mother move house. While keeping you hooked with an unending sense of dread and foreboding. Even the relatively innocuous passage where she stops by the local petrol station/convenience shop has a sense of dread simmering under the surface. You will scream inside your head for Darcy to fill up and turn back.  


This passage works so well, and it's the bridging point between her old life and the new life she made for herself after leaving the family home; I loved how the petrol station was run by the one person who Darcy thought of as a childhood friend, but is too scared and nervous to ask him if he is indeed the friend from her past. She might be heading home, but she can never return home.  


However, when she finally returns home, the sense of dread and terror takes the front and centre of the narrative. We all know her mother is unhinged; it's made clear from the opening paragraph that her mother is a killer, living in a house that mirrors her mental state, and Taylor never misses a single chance to layer skillfully, layer upon layer of dread, terror and unease, leaving the reader utterly hooked on the story and where it is going.  


There is a deep feeling of claustrophobia in this section of the book; you will be hung on rusty tenterhooks as Darcy interacts with her mother, waiting with bated breath for her mother to explode and go on another murderous rampage. It's the subtle details that Taylor uses to significant effect to keep the reader on edge; simple things like the description of Darcy's childhood bed and how the thin mattress, and duvet, make Darcy feel uncomfortable are transferred to the reader feel her anguish and pain of being somewhere where she doesn't really want to be with every paragraph. And yet there is also a strange level of tenderness here; after all, she is still her mother.  


This slow build-up of dread is dropped for an explosive finale when Darcy tries to escape from the confines of her family home and her family's past. The chase scene through the local woods is magnificent, you can feel every twig underfoot, and the musty, damp smell of the rotting damp woods oozes off the pages in this section of the book, leading to a final passage that bookends the brilliant opening with a conclusion that does this marvellous novella the most perfect of endings.  


I have purposefully not discussed the supernatural elements of The Night Begins, and there is a good reason for this. Mainly, Taylor's use of a specific supernatural creature deserves to be discovered for yourself; any discussion of it will lessen the effect and unique take on this creature. However, the method by which Taylor ties this creature to Darcy's family is both clever and completely satisfying.  


The Night Begins starts strong and never takes a single misstep throughout its compelling story; thoughtful, terrifying and filled with a deep sense of melancholy, it is a triumph of storytelling.  

 THE NIGHT BEGINS  BY ABIGAIL F TAYLOR

Freshman, Darcy Mills, wants nothing more than to repair a strained relationship with her mother. When Darcy receives a letter from Althea asking for help with a downsizing move to Dallas, she is excited at the prospect of reconnecting. 


Facing the frightening memories trapped in the walls of her childhood home, is daunting, but Darcy is determined to have Althea back. 


Unfortunately, the past isn't the only thing to haunt Darcy. An evil lurks in the nearby woods, and It has noted her arrival. 


A story of family rituals, southern folklore, and magic set in rural Texas.

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