No Further Messages
By Brett Alexander Savory
Delirium Books (November, 2007) $16.95

Exploring the cause of madness is a common theme in horror, one that crops up in a number of stories in this excellent collection by Brett Alexander Savory, perhaps the best author in horror/dark fiction you’ve probably never heard of.

In “Jimmy Dale,’’ Savory somehow makes an elderly insane killer sympathetic, even though the old coot still has enough left for one more crime. It’s the same feeling in “Jewels” and “Danny Boy,’’ two more tales set in institutions where we see the root of their insanity.

But the best, and most chilling, tale is “Slipknot,” in which insanity takes on a life of its own, taking pleasure in its role as it haunts a family’s bloodline through the centuries.

This story alone is worth the price of admission, but Savory will give you more than your money’s worth. He starts off with the fantasy tale “Messages,’’ where mysterious missives are being written by average people, who aren’t conscious while they’re writing them. Who is behind these manuscripts? And why are people willing to kill for them?

There’s not really a weak story in the bunch, but some other favorites include the funny and sad “Scenario B”, “Anniversary of an Uninteresting Event’’ and “The Time Between Lights.’’

If you’ve never read anything by Savory, this collection is a good place to start. He also recently had his second novel, In and Down, published in September.

--Jeff Cercone