Book Review: On the Night Border

On the Night Border by James Chambers is an excellent collection. There is a wide variety of horror stories here, something for every taste. It's also a great introduction to Chambers's writing; I will definitely be checking out more from him.

Some highlights include:

"A Song Left Behind in the Aztakea Hills" - I did my junior year high school term paper on the Beat poets, so this story involving Jack Kerouac was right up my alley. A lonely artist reminisces on his friendship with Kerouac and the night they experienced something strange in the wooded hills behind the artist's hometown. The artist confronts this mystery again when he ventures back into those woods following Kerouac's death.

"The Many Hands Inside the Mountain" was a Halloween set story and one of my favorites in the collection. A man plans his revenge on his fiancé's wealthy father, but all doesn't go according to plan when he witnesses the family's annual Halloween ritual in the woods.

"The Driver Under a Cheshire Moon" - You want to go into this story knowing as little as possible, because the truth of the story is only revealed to you gradually. I don't want to say any more, but this one is an emotional must read.

"Living/Dead" is a fairly lighthearted story about a near future where love is capable of resurrecting the dead. Needless to say, this makes the search for romance all the more desperate. It also means there are fanatics who are against the resurrections and willing to go to great lengths in protesting it.

"Kolchak, The Night Stalker: The Lost Boy" - My other favorite story. I'm a big Kolchak fan, and Chambers is excellent in channeling the character's voice; I could almost hear Darren McGavin narrating this one. A fun, fairly lighthearted story of fairy changelings and human greed.