Sarcophagus

by Philip Hemplow

Something terrible is stirring in the wreckage of Chernobyl.

The Chernobyl Sarcophagus is crumbling, and the Carapace project to contain the infamous reactor has stalled. Dr Victoria Cox must return to Pripyat, in the heart of the exclusion zone, to find out why. Confronted by corporate irresponsibility and greed, she soon finds herself in a race against time, fighting to prevent another radiological disaster of catastrophic proportions. As the human cost of the project mounts, the long shadows of pagan myth and nuclear folklore fall across the irradiated ghost town. Shadows through which Victoria must walk, if she is to discover the true nature of the danger that they face - and the price that must be paid to stop it.

Genres: Horror, Lovecraftian

90 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 9, 2012

Reviews

[Lucjan · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an exciting book! I'm so incredibly tired of Chernobyl's mischaracterization, using radiation as a zombie fuel and showing scientists as some mad magicians or helpless puppies.
Here, I could genuinely feel research done. People tend to forget folklore is important for Europeans, it's talked about, it's shared within generations. I can see the author's respect towards Chernobyl and its story.
I can pinpoint a few mistakes when it comes to the workings of radiation and little cultural nitpicks, but nothing severe.
I only wish for it to have been even more obscure. If we are already playing with Czarny Bóg, go wilder! Make the god question Victoria's motifs, make it reason that humanity does not deserve a second chance. I think it would have worked very well.
Lastly, I am very interested in Chernobyl and the workings of radiation and this was a pleasure to read :-)

[Ryan Gauvreau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nutshell: In the shadow of Chernobyl, Dr. Victoria Cox is told, "a little vodka keeps away the radiation." Don't look for blood and gore or fast-paced thrills here; Sarcophagus moves slowly but inexorably like a Crawling Chaos. Some points are predictable, but they are skillfully set in order to lull you into complacency and keep you from realizing how it's all going to end.

Atmosphere: 3 out of 4. While it doesn't suck you in from the very first sentence (few stories do), the story's opening paragraphs still set a wonderful mood, and this is kept up until the very last sentence.

Characters: 4 out of 4. You can practically feel them breathe through the pages, even the ones that appear for only a couple of pages. Heck, even the characters that are only referenced.

Plot: 3 out of 4. Most of it runs tightly, with not a single scene wasted, but there is one section that is arguably an infodump, when Dr. Cox meets the old woman who lives in the Zone of Alienation.

Writing Style: 3 out of 4. Philip Hemplow's dialogue is, how can I put it any other way, human. The writing is also thorough, but nevertheless clean and simple, unadorned. There are a couple of technical issues, but nothing severe.

Worldbuilding: 4 out of 4. Slavic mythology. Soviet and nuclear folklore. Even a Japanese cult gets a fleeting mention, among other names dropped, and all of it is tied together with Lovecraft's horrendous Mythos.

All ratings are on a scale of 0-4, 4 being incredible and almost literally beyond belief, 0 being so abysmal as to be the literary equivalent of a trainwreck, and 2 being average.

Details, details: [here there be spoilers]

I really don't know how to feel about some of this. Appropriately enough for a Lovecraftian story, I think I might be going insane. I can't help but read a story nowadays and predict half of the things that are going to happen just on the basis of stepping out of the story and thinking meta, and then going meta on my meta to decide if the author is aware of what people may predict and is going to aim to subvert that, and then I wonder if, at that point, I'm thinking at one level higher than the author or still one level lower and I'm going to be outfoxed.

Well, I predicted almost all of it this time, but I can't shake the feeling that Philip Hemplow played me hard. Maybe it's just paranoia, but I'm pretty sure that the predictable parts were there just to keep me distracted from the other stuff, the stuff that I didn't see until it smacked me on the back of my head and drove a knife in my back.

Also, Nyarlathotep as the middle manager of Azathoth, Incorporated. Yes please.

It was great when the Lovecraftian elements began to really appear. I read "1000 masks," then "Dark Pharaoh," and then I had to go back to "1000 masks" and make sure that I just read this right, and then OH YES.

I wonder about the black bird, which has eyes but no head. I can't tell if I'm misunderstanding something (is it supposed to be a kind of mothman-like being?) or if this is an inconsistency in the writing.

The scene with Anubis-hotep was one of the best, and a superb scene of supernatural interaction. I would say that it was second only to the very last passage. Indeed, the whole story feeds excellently into one of my own usual themes in horror, that being an experience with the divine (which need not be a nice or happy thing).

The last couple of paragraphs really nailed it and made this story pure gold, turning Sarcophagus into a Lovecraftian anti-natalist story to make Thomas Ligotti and Detective Rust Cohle proud. It is, in a Cthulhoid way, a very beautiful ending, and the very ending that the story and its world demanded.

For more reviews and free story ideas and books (like an introduction to comparative mythology for writers and worldbuilders), check out White Marble Block

[Kimmo Makinen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Philip Hemplow's second horror fiction and Lovecraftian novella introduces the reader to a different kind of Chernobyl - one that is not only fast becoming a dangerous temple of human stupidity but one that houses unimaginable terrors far beyond those induced by mere gamma radiation. Hemplow extends his scope compared to his first novella - The Innsmouth Syndrome - by way of much more boldly and assuredly exploring us humans. What makes us tick, how we find the motivation to do whatever we do, what we seek out of life and how important it is for us to keep the appearance of free will in our decision making processes.

For fans of H.P.Lovecraft this novella is pure gold. Those unfamiliar with HPL's main body of fiction might find it less satisfactory since the book at least in some part relies on darker emotions evoked and so richly described by HPL. The book has a finely tuned pace and it is quite satisfactory to find out that Hemplow has the patience to treat his readers with respect in regards to how plausibly the events unfold, how the characters are elaborated upon, how the deepness of thought penetrates to the reader from between lines not actually written and how the emotive responses are triggered. Sarcophagus is not a gory horror book by any stretch of the imagination but is nevertheless still capable of instilling spine-chilling terror borne out of despair, emptiness, fear of the unknown and the crushing knowledge of the predictable tomorrow.

[James Gauvreau · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the Shadow of Chernobyl, Dr. Victoria Cox is told, “a little vodka keeps away the radiation.” Don’t look for blood and gore or fast-paced thrills here, but rather a steady doling-out of Slavic mythology. Soviet history, and nuclear folklore. Even a Japanese cult gets a fleeting mention, among other name drops, and together they move slowly but inexorably, like crawling chaos, toward a divine and terrifying experience.

Sarcophagus probably won’t suck you in from the very first sentence (few stories do, in my experience), but its opening paragraphs still set a fantastic mood which is maintained until the very last sentence.

Hemplow’s dialogue is, how can I put it any other way, human. You can practically feel the characters breathing through the pages, even when they appear for just a couple of pages. His writing style is also thorough, but nevertheless clean, simple, and unadorned, with only a few typos.

Most of the plot runs tightly, with not a single scene wasted. There are some points which I found to be predictable, but I can’t help but feel that, like a magician’s gun, their purpose was to misdirect me from what else was happening. I thought that I had the ending squared away, and then it crept out from a darkened corner and drove a knife into my back. If, like me, every new story is another chance to out-wit and predict the author, then I advise that you tread carefully.

The last few paragraphs of this story nailed it, and make this story pure gold. They are, while perfectly Lovecraftian, also inexplicably beautiful, and the very ending which this story and its world demanded. In the previous version of this review, written more than five years, I compared Hemplow to Ligotti. Now, with a new blog, a new review format, and half a decade of additional reading and writing under my belt, I want to revise that: I don’t want to make a sweeping statement about either author, but this story by Hemplow is better than any Ligotti story that I know.

(For what it’s worth, you can also read my review of Ligotti’s nonfiction work The Conspiracy against the Human Race here, on my "philosophy abstracts and reviews" blog)

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This had some really good creep factors - extremely atmospheric, with plenty of dread. I think it's brilliant to marry nuclear contamination with Nyarlathotep - it brings that concept into modern times, but still gets the feel of that horror perfectly on point.

This is only 3.5 stars for me because it felt a bit underwritten. I would love to see this as a novel, with more time to flesh out Victoria and where she's coming from before arriving at the site, more time to see a slow deterioration of Swan, and a little more elegance and subtlety about what's really going on. It felt rushed to have the computer screens spell out exactly what we're dealing with, and Gramma Exposition was clunky - a little too informed and too willing and able to convey all her information.

Also, there's an annoying thread that I found sexist and tiresome, but I'll say that the culmination of that thread took a different direction and was pretty bold. So I'm more willing to forgive what came before.

Still, I highly recommend checking this out if you like horror or weird fiction!

[Serenity · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. Very anti-climatic.

[Tarl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read Hemplow's and really enjoying not only their writing style, but the well crafted story, I decided to pick up 'Sarcophagus'. What I got was an interesting lesson on myths centered around Chernobyl and a unique Lovecraftian story.

Hemplow writes interesting characters, and this story is no different. Victoria comes across as a realistic character, her decisions reflecting her experiences both past and present. Her inner struggles with the things she sees are understandable, and do not feel plot driven. I was especially drawn to her inner thoughts later on when she is told something I can not spoil here. Her reaction, her decisions, and ultimately her final choice, all seem like the thoughts of someone who has experienced all that she has.

The Lovecraftian horror of the story is also done well. There is a smattering of folklore that is centered around Chernobyl which had me instantly googling it learn more and that I found highly engaging. It added a level of realism to the story and helped to create a believable situation to insert the true horror of the story.

My only real complaint to the story is that when the final confrontation happens, it comes across as kind of hokey. The entire 'using primal instincts to obey vs using other primal instincts to fight it', while a good concept, didn't fit with everything that had been going on. Especially with Victoria's earlier thoughts, and even more so with the final decision at the end of the story. (which perhaps was supposed to be ironic, but in the end killed all validity the mental battle had at the climax of the story)

Still, the story is well crafted, the characters are enjoyable, and the setting was handled really well. Still worth picking up if you want to read a shorter Lovecraftian story, or are interested in some of the myths of Chernobyl. (not to mention, it is attractively priced as well, which is nice in this ever increasing pricing for ebook market)

[AudioBookReviewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

ABR's original Sarcophagus audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.

The Sarcophagus is a short story that takes place in the haunted ruins of Chernobyl. Dr. Victoria Cox is sent to troubleshoot the site. With her is Swan, a rather irritating man, who thinks he is in charge of the project and Osterberg, an older man, who is a very good friend of Victoria.

Osterberg was in charge of the project to contain the reactor but he was months behind schedule. He told Victoria and Swan that he had had many workers walk away. Others had been injured or died. There is tension among the remaining workers and some of them think the place is haunted. Strange things have been happening. Victoria’s instincts were telling her to be careful. Several times she noticed a strange figure lurking in the shadows. A figure that is tall with a black full length coat and hood.

There are numerous clues in this story to entice the reader to keep turning the pages. The location itself, with the abandoned buildings, crumbling Sarcophagus, and the folklore of monsters, leads to the sinister feeling that something evil hides in the shadows.

I think this short read should have been a bit longer. More about the folklore of the area would have been nice. The end could have been extended also. Perhaps with more of the supernatural element. I would also have liked to know more about Victoria’s future.

Although the audiobook was relatively short, it was enough to give you the shivers!

The narrator, Edoardo Camponeschi, had a deep voice with an accent. He did a good job of telling the story and it was interesting to listen to him.

There were no audio production issues. Everything was clear.

Audiobook provided for review by the author.

[Todd Russell · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the chilling things that happened in the 80s was the horrific nuclear accident at Chernobyl which literally forced people from their homes three kilometers away. Many left so fast that most of their personal belongings were left. Pictures of this radiation-infested hot zone known alone are creepy, much less thinking about the poisoned animals with twisted DNA that inhabit the area. When I saw the cover of this novella and learned of its setting, I immediately wanted to read.

The story involves two upper level employees of a company sent to investigate the delays in constructing a new carapace to cover the infamous reactor number four sarcophagus at Chernobyl. While the company is fictitious there really is an ongoing project to provide a new cover (check Wikipedia). The Chernobyl setting is described well and the setup of a female investigator at odds with her fellow employee (a cantankerous sod) over how to handle the delays provides an interesting conflict. The story wasn't predictable, leading me down a path I didn't expect, although there weren't as many chills and thrills as the awesome setting allowed. I did feel some interest in the character motivations and adventure. The descriptions and writing style seemed to fit the story. The ending was a bit abrupt.

All in all, I'd likely read another story by this author. I'm up the middle on recommending this one. A slightly above average horror novella read.

[Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll keep this short for now.
I read this because I follow Mr. Hemplow on twitter and he promoted it somehow (I don't rightly remember) but it looked interesting so I picked it up. I read it in about a day and must say I was hooked. This really is an excellent story and frankly I could have done with a longer tale, but in true Lovecrafttian style it was short and to the point.
I will definitely recommend this to all my friends with similar tastes.

[Michal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining enough horror story set in modern-day Chernobyl NPP. An easy read, but had me cringe several times at the cartoonish, one-dimensional characters; the locals seem to be mixing Ukrainian and Polish for some reason, except for an old lady still living in the Zone, who has somehow mastered almost poetic English. I liked references to Slavic mythology, and I learnt about the black bird of Chernobyl, so 3 stars.

[A.M. Oldroyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

A chilling tale in the tradition of H.P. Lovecraft, updated to the modern day. The story is set around the site of the Chernobyl disaster and cleverly interweaves modern science & technology with ancient myth & legend. A really inventive setting, meticulously researched and a thoroughly absorbing & enjoyable read.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining little novella set at the the Chernobyl nuclear power station. The descriptions of the site are actually better than the supernatural elements of the tale, but it's still a good little story.

[Ian Florance]

A geniunely scarey example of Lovecraft inspired horror, this one based at Chernobyl. He's written others but this is the best.