The Camber Horror

by David Barker

(Horror Short Story). For twenty years Steve and Kathy had lived in the same sagging old wood house along a seldom used highway that twisted endlessly through the coastal range of Western Oregon. Pine-covered mountains rose up either side of the isolated valley they shared with a few other families. The hills were always dark with shadows and seemed to hold secrets from outsiders. But now something weird was growing in the woods, and people were disappearing.

Kindle Edition

First published September 21, 2011

About the author

David Barker has published two collections of H. P. Lovecraft-inspired horror fiction written in collaboration with W. H. Pugmire: The Revenant of Rebecca Pascal (Dark Renaissance Books, 2014) and In the Gulfs of Dream & Other Lovecraftian Tales (Dark Renaissance Books, 2015). His Lovecraftian novel, Witches in Dreamland, (also written with W. H. Pugmire) will be published by Hippocampus Press in October 2018. David’s horror fiction and poetry has appeared in magazines and anthologies including Fungi, Cyäegha, Weird Fiction Review, The Audient Void, Nightmare’s Realm, Forbidden Knowledge, Spectral Realms, and The Art Mephitic. He has a long history in the horror field, having published widely in the small press during the 1980s and ‘90s when he also produced three different Lovecraft fanzines. He left the horror field in the late 1990s but returned in 2012 with the ebook trilogy Electro-Thrall Zombies (collected as Dead Guys in Packards).

Reviews

[Grampy · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Camber Horror" by David Barker is a story about genuine "horror" in the woods behind the house of the main character's brother. The author's description of this horror leaves the reader's imagination wide open to re-create it in his/her own mental image of a "horror". I think this is a good technique to use, rather than spending many pages describing it down to the last detail. What I envision as a horror might not look anything like what you would envision, so it works well for both of us. One interesting phrase the author used was that the horror was like a bad acid trip - the kind feared by all the children of the '60's who worried they would have a bad trip that would leave them a drooling, paranoid shell of their former selves; that fear of a bad acid trip is something everybody imagines differently, regardless of whether or not they actually used acid, but it invokes that 50-year-old fear, contributing to a personal interpretation of what the "horror" might be. But the over-riding question throughout is: WHAT is this thing, WHERE did it come from, WHY is it here now, WHEN did it arrive, and most importantly, WHAT does it want?

This story was entertaining. The author packed a lot of punch into a few pages, but left me unsure if the main character ended up a hero, or an insane, drooling, paranoid shell? I thought that was an excellent way to conclude this story; rather than the author wrapping it up with a "happy ending", he leaves the interpretation of the end entirely up to the reader. Good job, Mr. Barker! It is suitable for all ages, as there are no profanities and no sex anywhere in the tale. I recommend this short story to all fans of the horror genre.

[Natasha Duncan-Drake · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a gore fest or a book full of in your face monsters attacking from all angles, which is what makes it so disturbing. I don't want to give anything away so I can't say too much, but parts of the story made my skin crawl in that delightful way horror can.

The reason I gave it four stars instead of five is that I think there were a few short cuts taken in the plot that could have been dealt with in a slightly more satisfying way, but I still think this is well worth a read. Reminded me a bit of Stephen King's The Tommyknockers with the insidious nature of the horror.

[K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A blob of oversized egg cartons. Hmmh ... This is a good short story, and it is scary and well-written. But it wasn't for me. This guy called Cal goes checking on his brother and his brother's wife, they live in the woods in Oregon, and strange things have been happening there. A big wild and whacky thing has been deposited behind the trees; Cal is put under mind control by it. By all means, fans of the genre should check it out. Aliens wanting intercourse with humans - oh yuck ;) I didn't like it.

[Jeanette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't usually read short stories, but decided to give this one a try. It just wasn't for me unfortunately.