Literature Review: Moontown by Peter Atkins
Posted by pete in Literature, News, Reviews on November 13th, 2008
In the spirit of Halloween Earthling Publication’s Paul Miller has been publishing signed, numbered, limited edition books for the past few years, this year is no exception.
#0: MR. DARK’S CARNIVAL by Glen Hirshberg
#1: BLOOD RED by James A. Moore
#2: THE UNBLEMISHED by Conrad Williams
#3: THE HAUNTED FOREST TOUR by James A. Moore and Jeff Strand
I was fortunate enough to purchase #1 in the series, (The first one was actually #0, Mr. Dark’s Carnival by Glen Hirshberg. but it was an ultra-short run of only 15 handmade hardcovers, which makes Blood Red Book #1 in the series.)
If you pine for classic supernatural horrors with monsters and haunted places, this series is for you. After all what is Halloween without a good monster story. And you all know how we feel about monsters here at Famous Monsters.
This year’s book is #4: MOONTOWN by Peter Atkins a novelist, screenwriter, actor and musician. He is also a friend of Clive Barker and has appeared in Barker’s theater group called The Dog Company. Atkins has also appeared in films, television and on stage as an actor. Peter is probably most famous for his screenplays for the HELLRAISER Series , including HELLBOUND: HELLRAISER II and HELLRAISER III: HELL ON EARTH. Atkins is also known for creating the screenplay for the first Wishmaster film.
“Shelley Campbell only meant to help people.
Recruited by her professor into working with a group-study program investigating phobias, Shelley has been using her ability as an empath to enter the minds of troubled patients. Within the dreamscape of their memories, Shelley uncovers their repressed childhood fears in order to help heal them.
But some fears are buried for a reason. Now, more than lost dreams are resurfacing. Something else is waking too, something dark and long forgotten, something hungry for the taste of our terror . . .
Shelley Campbell has gone too deep, has found the place where the darkness waits. A place ruled by the moon, a place where midnight lives, a place where every night is Halloween.
A place called Moontown.”‘
Just when you thought it was safe to reminisce about your childhood along comes Peter Atkins’ Moontown.
Atkins new novel is a dark joyous ride into childhood terrors come to life. The monster under the bed, the half open closet door, and the piled clothes on a chair are all potential monsters to the young. Who hasn’t suffered at the hands of a childhood monster when they were a child. But there is one catch, Atkins brings them to life.
Though I thoroughly enjoyed the book, it seemed to be lacking in some areas. It seemed to me that the horrors could have been more horrible. Moontown was a dark foreboding place and the creature was well thought out but for a flat out horror novel in Earthling’s Halloween series there seemed to be something missing. It just seemed if maybe the book was a little longer it could have been so much better.
That being said I really liked the book, the characters were interesting, the phobias of the children in the support group were well thought out and varied, and there was a twist that caught me completely by surprise.
The writing was fast paced and involving though the details could have been more fleshed out. All in all it was an enjoyable read that keeps Paul Miller’s Halloween series ranked up there as one of the best and I highly recommend it.
