Dark Pathways: Why We Want That Cursed Artifact

Dark Pathways

I just finished John Hornor Jacobs’ A Lush and Seething Hell, which is a collection of two absolutely fantastic novellas, and I need to talk about it. I think you can put either novella into any annual “best of” category and they’ll come out near the top. They’re well-written, original tales of cosmic horror that prickle the gooseflesh.

But I want to talk specifically about “My Heart Struck Sorrow,” which is the tale of a man working during the Great Depression era to record and catalog music in the Deep South. The main character of this story is Harlan Packard, who is seeking a specific song that’s popular in very remote areas and seems to have some kind of power, depending on the lyrics and how it’s played. As Harlan gets closer to the true song, the cosmic horror elements begin to emerge. Continue Reading

Review: A Lush and Seething Hell by John Hornor Jacobs

A Lush and Seething Hell by John Hornor Jacobs
Harper Voyager (October 8, 2019)

384 pages; $19.99 hardcover; $12.99 e-book
Reviewed by Sadie “Mother Horror” Hartmann

The cover of A Lush and Seething Hell depicts two figures standing in some brambles; a darkness looms behind them, above them, all around them. It’s a menacing tower of darkness bearing down, but also rising up. Upon closer inspection, the figures aren’t so much standing as they are cowering.

I know because I stared at the cover and the title for awhile before I ventured past it to get at the meaty insides. And it’s that posture of cowering I remembered after I finished this book. Continue Reading