Incantations

by L.H. Maynard, M.P.N. Sims

The 2002 Prime Books collection with added bonus stories for Kindle

216 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2002

About the author

L.H. (Len) Maynard writes supernatural horror with M.P.N. (Mick) Sims.

Reviews

[Sara]

Snow beetles
that naw y now how the hart secwez
how y danse over ma pain
now y can feel it
y havnt blood
carless
dark snow cover yr haert desert
that my world
yr spirt have another
who death can have magic
not me
y knom how harting feeling
now i can dance
maunten smell have ma sense
over the cload
ma haert didnt want ya
now we twin in two world
laughing music ma heart

[SARDON · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first encounter with a Maynard and Sims collection, so it's worth saying that this one strays from the traditionally understated manner of the British ghost story to offer tales of a more savagely spectral shade. "The Business of Barabarians," exceeding seventy pages, somewhat audaciously begins the book with a narrative involving the dismal lives of small-time actors and their unwitting involvement in the clandestine world of far more prestigious entertainers. Even if the last quarter almost becomes mired by too much backstory and a plot twist which relies too heavily on a romance of very minor characters, the increasingly dark drama of the ensuing events justifies these weaker points. Particularly strong on the insidious accrual of foreshadowing details, this is a compellingly supernatural elaboration on the now very common knowledge of the extent to which an overprivileged secret society can feed upon those who seek a path out of the doldrums of common society.

This literary duo, though apparently most highly functioning in longer forms, prove to be reasonably competent practitioners of the short story; however, the careful development of emotionally charged atmosphere is a commonality, regardless of form. "The Weeping Stones," along with some of the most evocative descriptions of a cemetery which I've read in a long time, moves from the merely depressing to the bizarrely traumatic in less than ten pages which thoughtfully detail the ambivalent inner life of a widow who, nevertheless, obsessively visits her spouse's grave. Thoroughly displaying the more visceral inclination of the ghost stories in this collection, "Warm Lies, Cold Secrets" once more demonstrates the authors' masterful grasp on foreshadowing by charging nearly every physical detail with an ominous aura as a haunted man's woodland excursion leads to a fateful site. "Unreasonable Behavior" requires no more than five pages to effectively describe the fallout of a volatile relationship and its effect on a child, all punctuated by a closing image as elegantly macabre as it is indelibly devastating.

Other than moderately sloppy proofreading and several stories whose plots have been either stunted by unnecessary brevity or too obvious to be worth telling, 'Incantations' exemplifies how the British ghost story tradition has developed into one of distinctively modern menace. I look forward to reading more works which testify to the enduring and fruitful partnership of Maynard and Sims.