Shadowman

by Dennis Etchison

Shadowman, a sequel to the World Fantasy Award-winning story "The Dark Country," follows Jack Martin into an even deeper darkness in Shadow Bay, where the surf echoes against the shore, wild dogs howl and children tell ghost stories by firelight. Lissa Shelby works with disturbed children, and they are all afraid of the Man With No Face. The adults call him a fantasy — until the hills collapse under a torrent of rain and buried bodies pour forth. Only one thing is certain: no one is safe...


"Dennis Etchison is absolutely one of horror's most exciting, most radical and innovative talents, and Shadowman demonstrates all of his strengths — using a chaste, transparent style, he tells an innately horrifying story that catches the reader off-balance at every step by being starkly resistant to conventional expectations. This is fat-free horror, without maps, without easy transitions or resolutions. Shadowman would be a subversive book in any context, but in the safe, imitative world of contemporry horror, it is a kind of terrorist raid." — Peter Straub


"Dennis Etchison's writing is a disturbing marvel. Filled with perfection and loss; always delicate, heartbreaking. Its language is brillant, its images and moods dense with vision. This is a rich novel, gifted by thoughtful turns; haunting ease. It is upsetting and powerful." — Richard Cristian Matheson

Genres: Horror, Fiction

ebook

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

aka Jack Martin.

Dennis William Etchison was an American writer and editor of fantasy and horror fiction. He is a multi-award winner, having won the British Fantasy Award three times for fiction, and the World Fantasy Award for anthologies he edited.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of Etchison's most ambiguous and introverted works, and is a chilling and moody work that never quite came all together for me. It centers around abused and neglected children and the horrors they endure, and the case worker who's trying to save them. It's a pretty good story, if a bit unclear at times, but I preferred California Gothic and even The Fog.

[Cathy B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up "Shadow Man" on a used book table, and it was worth the few dollars I spent -- and then some. The author's voice is unique and personal. His main characters begin shrouded in mystery and history, and Mr. Etchison slowly peels their layers away, their personalities taking on meaning and growing deeper as the story line unfolds around them and their back-stories are revealed. Some creative twists and a (sometimes uncomfortably close) connection to the hero set this book apart. (I wavered between 3 and 4 stars - I'd like to give it a 3 1/2.)

[Roxann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel read a great deal like Etchison's short stories, except the stories were grouped together to make a book. It was an easy read. The story is about a coastal community in which many children have disappeared and been killed over the years. Bodies or partial bodies wash up after lots of rain. The killing stopped for years for no reason and now has started again. At times a little difficult to follow.

[Sadie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, this book sure has words. And they're printed in legible type. And that's about the nicest things I can say about it. I found it to be aggressively bad from start to finish. The only reason I bothered to read it all the way through was pure spite. The action was like out of a bad movie, unbelievable and confusingly rendered. So much of it seemed rushed, the worst offender being the ending. A lot of people happen to like 'Shadow Man', but I'm glad I'm done with it.

[David Stephens · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorite things about Shadowman, Dennis Etchison's novel about missing children and the shadowy figure who absconds with them, are the little moments that don't really add anything to the plot and may not quite even make sense, but still stick with me anyway. A teenager tells a campfire tale about abandoned soldiers who turn to cannibalism and self-mutilation in an effort to escape their isolation. A desperate search for a child leads to little more than some discarded shoes sitting within a dirty bathroom stall.

Otherwise, the dark and moody atmosphere steals the show. The story is so dreamy, rarely does it get beyond its central characters to the police or the neighborhood or even the missing children. These aspects are just dark spots in an already murky plot. In fact, it is this overwhelming atmosphere that ends up hampering the novel. Eventually, it consumes everything: the transitions, the world building, the story itself, even much of the dread.

And for a writer who is so psychological and introverted, Etchison could have projected some of his characters' hang ups onto the world around them, yet he seems content to draw flickering shadows on the wall that amount to the setup for a spooky story with little payoff.

Shadowman is a more cohesive narrative than his previous effort, Darkside, and it weaves more gracefully between the psychological aspects and the concrete moments, but its shiny veneer causes it to lose that previous works' coarseness, unpredictability, and most importantly in a genre work like this, its ability to frighten.

[Bill Borre]

I am sorry to leave a comment here under reviews for a book that I have not read yet but I wanted to assign a date for this book and the date set functionality of the website currently seems to be broken. If they get this working I will use this and delete this review.

02-25-2004

[Andi Plouffe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Huge slenderman vibes. Faceless man that kills children, lives in the woods, and most adults can't see him? Ugh. Poor writing style as well.

[Eda · Rating 1 out of 5]

I made it about halfway through this book and had to give up because I couldn't figure out what was happening.
🤷‍♀️

[Debra]

Stephen King recommended author per Forenote to Paperback Edition from King's Berkley's 1983 paperback. (revised from original 1981 edition).

Stephen King endorsed the entire Dell Abyss Horror line. Here is his blurb:

"Thank you for introducing me to the remarkable line of novels currently being issued under Dell's Abyss imprint. I have given a great many blurbs over the last twelve years or so, but this one marks two firsts: first unsolicited blurb (I called you) and the first time I have blurbed a whole line of books. In terms of quality, production, and plain old story-telling reliability (that's the bottom line, isn't it), Dell's new line is amazingly satisfying...a rare and wonderful bargain for readers. I hope to be looking into the Abyss for a long time to come."

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly exceptional work of psychological horror. Along with Darkside, this ranks as one of the best horror novels I have ever read. This is even stronger than Etchinson’s first novel and vividly displays the author’s ability to evoke a deep sense of unease from everyday situations while plundering the minds of his characters to reveal disturbing universal fears ….the town of Shadow Bay is beautifully rendered with it constant shroud of mist, abandoned drive-in theatre, Main St haunted by deserted tourist shops and surrounding canyon with its stockpile of monstrous buried secrets. I can not recommend this wonderful book highly enough….utterly superb.

[Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know Dennis Etchison has a reputation as a master among horror aficionados, but he eludes me. His prose is overly descriptive, possibly in an attempt to make the story atmospheric, but it doesn't affect me, so it just comes off as being wordy. His characterization is weak, and the plot is muddy. It makes me wonder if his style is better suited for short stories, where he can get to the point more quickly, and spend less time drawing out the story.

Maybe this isn't his best work, but if this novel is indicative of all his work, consider me mystified.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chilling and cinematic. Moves at a brisk pace without feeling rushed. This guy is massively underrated.