‘Darkness on the Edge of Town’ – Brian Keene

January is officially the most dismal month of the year as far as I’m concerned. Christmas and New Year are over and done with and the only thing there is to look forward to is going back to work. Yeah, what a great month January is...
Having said that though, I have found that January does have it’s good points as well. As a long time fan of Brian Keene’s work I’ve found that I can pretty much set my clock to a new release of his coming out every... January (or thereabouts, go with me on the whole ‘poetic licence’ thing here!) Ever since reading ‘Urban Gothic’ last June (one of my favourite books of last year) I’ve been itching to read more of ‘Darkness on the Edge of Town’ other than the teaser excerpt. This weekend I got the chance to do just that when ‘Darkness’ arrived in the post...

The night before, everything was fine and just as it should be. The following morning the residents of Walden woke up to find... nothing. Beyond the town limits lies nothing but darkness. Nothing can get through and the people of Walden don’t even know if there is anything out there trying to get in. All they know is that anything trying to get out will just end up dying horribly; the screams are still ringing in their ears...
What has caused the darkness to surround the town? Is there any way that the darkness can be got rid of? If there is, what will be left? The most important question of all though is... the darkness is speaking to the townspeople, can they survive what it has to say?

I’ll say right away that I’ve been a big fan of Brian Keene’s work since I found a copy of ‘City of the Dead’ so you might want to bear that in mind when you’re reading this review ;o)
As with all of Keene’s books, ‘Darkness on the Edge of Town’ was a book that was barely out of the packaging before I started reading it. It wasn’t long before I finished reading it either; ‘Darkness’ is only two hundred and sixty four pages long but it was the concept, and Keene’s execution, that made the pages literally fly by. If you’re a long term reader then you’ll see the ‘Labyrinth’ linking this story to others but it doesn’t matter if you’re not; ‘Darkness’ can very much be read and enjoyed as a stand alone piece.

There were times though when I found my thoughts wondering away from the page, something that very rarely happens when I’m reading books by this author! Without fail, Brian Keene writes a superb story when he’s dealing with the apocalypse as it happens; full of adrenaline, tension and assorted viscera! The thing about ‘Darkness’ though is that it’s a story where the apocalypse has already happened... When the apocalypse has come to an end, all you’re left with is the creeping dread about what might be left and how you’re going to survive amongst people who value their survival above yours. Keene does a good job at portraying this gradual breakdown of what is left of society (more on that in a bit) but the slow pace feels forced, as if he’s having to rein himself in from his more natural pace. This was confirmed to me when Keene really lets go in the latter stages of the book and goes for the jugular, you can tell that this is what he does best!

Like I said, despite the ‘forced’ pacing holding him back Keene still does very well to show his readers just how close we all are to reverting to savage behaviour and our over riding primitive urge to survive at all costs. It’s made all too clear that the veneer of civilisation is a thin one and Keene’s depictions if regular people (being regular people) make it all the more shocking when they flip and... you’ll see. Keene has never been one to hold back and he doesn’t disappoint this time! The Darkness on the edge of Walden must have been sat there wondering if its presence was necessary, considering what the residents of the town get up to.
The darkness itself is a tool that Keene uses to maximum affect in unsettling not only his characters but his readers as well. There’s something about the way it just hangs there (with no explanation as to it’s cause, at least to begin with...) that just grows in your mind and has you wanting to find out more. When Keene finally lets the hammer drop he drops it with gusto, proving that he is a writer who really knows how to press the buttons that make you shudder with horror. Again, he’s not afraid to let fly with grotesque imagery that will stay in your mind far longer than you want it to...

‘Darkness on the Edge of Town’ is a book that suffers slightly from Keene choosing not to play to his strengths and following a different path instead. Despite this, it’s a path worth following and one that will lead you to some very dark places indeed. Fans will love it, if you’re not a fan (but you love horror) then give it a go anyway (actually, start with ‘Urban Gothic’). Roll on ‘A Gathering of Crows’ in August...

Eight and a Half out of Ten