Goblin

Starred review from March 12, 2021

Originally available in a very limited edition that's now out of print, Malerman's (Bird Box) 2017 work is a tale about a town named Goblin that has a horrific past, shady characters across its history, and lots and lots of rain. It's a book told in pieces--six novellas and a pair of framing stories; the first story, "A Man in Slices," is a fitting way to start things off, with a quite literal deconstruction of the burdens of toxic friendship. From there, we see the darkest shades of Bradbury, but also Harlan Ellison and, yes, Stephen King. It's hard not to compare the town of Goblin to King's haunted Derry. But at its heart, Goblin is all Malerman. Throughout the stories, he writes like a downhill train, weaving Goblin's past and present into one rain-soaked horror show with stories featuring, among others, a man obsessed with being scared to death by a ghost; a hunter with forbidden game on his mind; and a magician whose magic might not be "clean." VERDICT These stories offer up a history lesson and guided tour of a severely troubled town. The writer-as-tour-guide is very clearly enjoying the trip, and it's impossible not to revel in the dark glee.--Alex Giannini, Westport P.L., CT

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2021
In interconnected stories, the author of Bird Box (2014) immerses us in the Midwestern town of Goblin, where it never stops raining, the sun sets a minute before it does in neighboring towns, the dead are buried standing up, and the police "move like...the dead." Though touted as an all-American tourist attraction, Goblin has been shrouded in spookiness since its original settlers were ambushed by Native Americans. ("Dad says they had it coming. I don't doubt it," one character says.) It's a place where people obsessively tempt the worst kinds of fates. Determined to bag a Big Owl--an endangered bird no one else has had the temerity to hunt--celebrated big-game hunter Neal Nash departs his wild 60th birthday party to enter into the haunted, off-limits North Woods where the owls reside. A touring magician with the name Roman Emperor strikes a Faustian deal to rise from obscurity with a shocking trick that sends sensitive souls running. Goblin's most celebrated figure, widower Wayne Sherman, who created an impenetrable maze with a chilling secret at the end of it, has his cover blown by a brilliant 9-year-old girl. With its array of misfits, also including a man whose romantic interest talks him into chopping off his toes as a sign of devotion, Malerman's darkly comic portrait of Goblin is not without its grim appeal. He is right at home in the graphic-novel mode--without the graphics, save for occasional full-page illustrations by Chadbourne. But most of the stories lack either any real sense of surprise or a satisfying payoff. And a few of them drag on. Give the author credit, though, for continuing to explore alternative realities with alternative fictional approaches. An entertaining but ultimately undercooked collection.

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April 19, 2021
Originally published in 2017, Malerman's ""novel in six novellas"" introduces readers to Goblin, a very wet small town with large owls, a hedge maze, and possibly a forest witch. Goblin is the sort of place where lovelorn mutilations and zoo mishaps happen pretty regularly, and you can't even call the police because they are also upsetting monstrosities. Even something as innocent as a magic show ends up drowning in darkness. A sort of Tales from the Crypt meets Winesburg, Ohio, the book's macabre stories are linked only by their setting and recurring elements, like the town's never-ending rain. Goblin is at its best when it's suggesting horror, providing glimpses instead of long stares; when things get more overt, it starts to lose momentum. Though it's occasionally uneven, and not as accomplished as Malerman's excellent Bird Box books, there's still plenty of spooky fun to be had in these tales and Malerman's fans should enjoy their time in scenic Goblin.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from September 11, 2017
Fans of creepy, eerie, and genuinely unsettling horror will devour (or be devoured by) this set of vignettes about the aptly named town of Goblin, Mich. In Goblin, it rains nearly all the time; the dead are buried standing up; the town park, Perish Park, holds a yearly recreation of the strangling of an early politician; and the original 60 founders were massacred by Native Americans. Malerman (Black Mad Wheel) makes this hair-raising compilation of horror stories an ode to the town itself, a place where people appear normal and have normal jobs, but are often influenced by some odd miasma or emanation from the grave. Walter Kamp has removed all interior walls from his apartment to make sure no ghosts can sneak up and scare him to death; Dirk Rogers, tour guide for the Hardy Carroll Goblin Zoo, has an affinity for the animals that leads in unexpected directions. Malerman’s work reveals the evil lurking just beneath the surface of reality, and he has a true understanding of the things that go bump in the night. Agent: Kristen Nelson, Nelson Literary.