Oliver’s ‘Orrors: The Slasher
24th October 2015
The Slasher is such a well worn trope of horror, it’s arguably become a bit tired.
Of course, you have your classics like Halloween or Psycho, but when it comes to making the serial killer truly scary there are more misses than hits in the movies these days. In novels, however, the author is able to take us much deeper within the killer’s mind, making the murders that much more insidious and disturbing. You only have to look at the works of writers such as Lauren Beukes or Michael Marshall to see how much an essential part of genre the serial killer story still is.
Down River by Stephen Gallagher has everything a good serial killer novel should – it starts off slowly, lets us spend time with the characters, subtly suggesting the terrors to come, before Gallagher pulls out all the stops in what turns into a full-throttle, bloody thriller. Gallagher demonstrates an uncanny control in manipulating the elements of the story, building the plot carefully; there is not a wasted word and the set-pieces are thrilling and horrifying.
Gallagher understands that the story of a killer must also be a story about humanity’s capacity for evil. It’s no good just having a masked killed with a mysterious, and ultimately unexplained, motive. For a killer to be truly terrifying, he or she has to reflect something that we can identify with, that we wouldn’t wish to admit is within ourselves.
Honourable Mentions
The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
Path of Needles by Alison Littlewood
The Face that Must Die by Ramsey Campbell
No One Gets Out Alive by Adam Nevill
Kiss it Away by Carol Anne Davis
From Solaris and Abaddon (don’t forget there’s currently 50% off all horror titles in the Rebellion store!)
Plastic by Christopher Fowler
Ritual Crime Unit: Disturbed Earth by E.E. Richardson
The Happier Dead by Ivo Stourton
Cold Warriors: Ghost Dance by Rebecca Levene
Talus and the Frozen King by Graham Edwards