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Toplin
DEATH IN THE FAMILY
BUT COME BACK SOON, the sign said. Obviously it was a lie. The people in the grocery store just wanted to make sure he couldn't buy the spice he needed to make the recipe he'd selected for that night (recipes must be followed exactly).
Obviously they wanted him to eat out... to meet the waitress, Marta... to see her horrible, unspeakable, unbearable ugliness. It was obvious to him: her maimed, twisted face was the living desire to be dead. He had to help Marta be dead.
His teeth are perfectly white. He can't see colors. He keeps a combination lock on his door and has twelve shelves of cookbooks. His walls bleed blood. His suits each have a number, S-1 through S-6. And life goes on.
Life goes on, if you can stand it. Life goes on, for the brave and the damned.
Life goes on, but come back soon...
BUT COME BACK SOON, the sign said. Obviously it was a lie. The people in the grocery store just wanted to make sure he couldn't buy the spice he needed to make the recipe he'd selected for that night (recipes must be followed exactly).
Obviously they wanted him to eat out... to meet the waitress, Marta... to see her horrible, unspeakable, unbearable ugliness. It was obvious to him: her maimed, twisted face was the living desire to be dead. He had to help Marta be dead.
His teeth are perfectly white. He can't see colors. He keeps a combination lock on his door and has twelve shelves of cookbooks. His walls bleed blood. His suits each have a number, S-1 through S-6. And life goes on.
Life goes on, if you can stand it. Life goes on, for the brave and the damned.
Life goes on, but come back soon...
156 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1985
15 people are currently reading
1196 people want to read
About the author
Michael McDowell
73 books2,067 followersMichael McDowell is a prolific horror writer who has distinguished himself with a varied body of work within the genre. He was born in Enterprise, Alabama, in 1950 and died of AIDS-related illness in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1999.
His first horror novel, The Amulet, relates the tragedies that befall various individuals who come in possession of a supernatural pendant in a small town.
In McDowell's second novel, Cold Moon Over Babylon, a murdered woman's corpse is dispatched into a river, but her spirit roams the land, and in the evening hours it seeks revenge on her killer even as he plots the demise of her surviving relatives.
Don D'Ammassa, writing in the St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers, noted that McDowell's ability to maintain a sense of mundane normalcy against supernatural activity provides the novel with "a fine balance between reality and unreality," and he called Cold Moon Over Babylon "one of the best ghost stories ever written at novel length."
A similarly disturbing tension between dull reality and the supernatural is produced in The Elementals, wherein a host of visitors come to stay at a secluded house occupied by embodiments of elemental forces.
McDowell's Katie, meanwhile, concerns a clairvoyant serial killer whose powers of perception enable her to evade her trackers. The attractive but deranged heroine of this novel manages to conduct her murderous activities despite the awareness of her parents, who are content to derive financial gain from their daughter's crimes.
Madness is central to McDowell's Toplin, which details the vile imaginings of a man who suffers from mental illness but nonetheless determines to conduct himself within society. D'Ammassa praised Toplin as "perhaps the best novel ever written from the point of view of a schizophrenic."
Among McDowell's other writings is the six-part serial novel Blackwater, a chronicle of a southern family drawn to the supernatural. In addition, McDowell has also supplied the screenplays for various films, including director Tim Burton's horror comedy Beetlejuice and his animated production The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Stephen King called McDowell one of the "finest writers of paperback originals in America today." Tabitha King was asked to complete McDowell's unfinished novel Candles Burning, which was published in 2006 to good reviews. Concerning his career, McDowell never tried to be something he wasn't. "I am a commercial writer and I'm proud of that", he said in the book Faces of Fear in 1985. "I am writing things to be put in the bookstore next month. I think it is a mistake to try to write for the ages."
His first horror novel, The Amulet, relates the tragedies that befall various individuals who come in possession of a supernatural pendant in a small town.
In McDowell's second novel, Cold Moon Over Babylon, a murdered woman's corpse is dispatched into a river, but her spirit roams the land, and in the evening hours it seeks revenge on her killer even as he plots the demise of her surviving relatives.
Don D'Ammassa, writing in the St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers, noted that McDowell's ability to maintain a sense of mundane normalcy against supernatural activity provides the novel with "a fine balance between reality and unreality," and he called Cold Moon Over Babylon "one of the best ghost stories ever written at novel length."
A similarly disturbing tension between dull reality and the supernatural is produced in The Elementals, wherein a host of visitors come to stay at a secluded house occupied by embodiments of elemental forces.
McDowell's Katie, meanwhile, concerns a clairvoyant serial killer whose powers of perception enable her to evade her trackers. The attractive but deranged heroine of this novel manages to conduct her murderous activities despite the awareness of her parents, who are content to derive financial gain from their daughter's crimes.
Madness is central to McDowell's Toplin, which details the vile imaginings of a man who suffers from mental illness but nonetheless determines to conduct himself within society. D'Ammassa praised Toplin as "perhaps the best novel ever written from the point of view of a schizophrenic."
Among McDowell's other writings is the six-part serial novel Blackwater, a chronicle of a southern family drawn to the supernatural. In addition, McDowell has also supplied the screenplays for various films, including director Tim Burton's horror comedy Beetlejuice and his animated production The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Stephen King called McDowell one of the "finest writers of paperback originals in America today." Tabitha King was asked to complete McDowell's unfinished novel Candles Burning, which was published in 2006 to good reviews. Concerning his career, McDowell never tried to be something he wasn't. "I am a commercial writer and I'm proud of that", he said in the book Faces of Fear in 1985. "I am writing things to be put in the bookstore next month. I think it is a mistake to try to write for the ages."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews
February 2, 2016
Toplin is weird. I enjoyed it, a lot, in fact-but I'll be damned if I can put my finger on why.
Part of the reason, for sure, is because it's different. Yes, there is an unreliable narrator but he's so far away from the usual unreliable narrator, they're not even in the same ball park. There is a sense I had while reading of being off balance, of not quite "getting it"; I'm sure it was done on purpose and I enjoyed that feeling. There was also a terrible sense of bleakness and isolation-they were both almost suffocating, yet I couldn't tear myself away.
After having read this, I think I know why there isn't a lot written about this story. It's hard to get across how it made me feel and why I liked it. It's certainly not for everyone and it's not your average, every day horror story either. In a way, I question whether it's even a horror story at all. It's certainly horrific at times, but is that enough to make it "horror"? I often felt bad for a lot of the characters and then I wondered if I was supposed to feel bad for them? Am I supposed to be ashamed of or for them? Should I feel afraid of them or do I pity them? Is this guy mentally ill or is he a fucking psycho? Or both?
If anything, this book makes you come to terms with how YOU are feeling and if you're comfortable feeling it. And that right there-a book that makes you examine yourself and your feelings, usually rates pretty high in MY book, and this one is no exception.
*I received an ecopy of Toplin from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This is it.*
Part of the reason, for sure, is because it's different. Yes, there is an unreliable narrator but he's so far away from the usual unreliable narrator, they're not even in the same ball park. There is a sense I had while reading of being off balance, of not quite "getting it"; I'm sure it was done on purpose and I enjoyed that feeling. There was also a terrible sense of bleakness and isolation-they were both almost suffocating, yet I couldn't tear myself away.
After having read this, I think I know why there isn't a lot written about this story. It's hard to get across how it made me feel and why I liked it. It's certainly not for everyone and it's not your average, every day horror story either. In a way, I question whether it's even a horror story at all. It's certainly horrific at times, but is that enough to make it "horror"? I often felt bad for a lot of the characters and then I wondered if I was supposed to feel bad for them? Am I supposed to be ashamed of or for them? Should I feel afraid of them or do I pity them? Is this guy mentally ill or is he a fucking psycho? Or both?
If anything, this book makes you come to terms with how YOU are feeling and if you're comfortable feeling it. And that right there-a book that makes you examine yourself and your feelings, usually rates pretty high in MY book, and this one is no exception.
*I received an ecopy of Toplin from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This is it.*
February 3, 2016
3 stars for the plot, 4 stars for the surreal sense of isolation.
2/2/16 - I've given this book a lot of thought. I was expecting it to be something it wasn't. That is no fault of the book. As an abstract psychological journey down a twisted path, this story is close to perfect. 5 stars.
2/2/16 - I've given this book a lot of thought. I was expecting it to be something it wasn't. That is no fault of the book. As an abstract psychological journey down a twisted path, this story is close to perfect. 5 stars.
July 25, 2021
I don’t write reviews.
I read this in one go. I mean after I began I couldn’t do anything else until I finished this journey. It was all so bleak and isolated, yet simultaneously smothering. Claustrophobic. Reminded me of Ligotti.
I can’t explain the plot, except to say it’s about a man and his mind. The most unreliable narrator since The Repairer of Reputations. I absolutely loved it.
I read this in one go. I mean after I began I couldn’t do anything else until I finished this journey. It was all so bleak and isolated, yet simultaneously smothering. Claustrophobic. Reminded me of Ligotti.
I can’t explain the plot, except to say it’s about a man and his mind. The most unreliable narrator since The Repairer of Reputations. I absolutely loved it.
February 2, 2016
I almost lost confidence after reading it.(hahaha...)From beginning to end I’m at the mercy of this wonderful author.With weird setting,weird charcters and weird narrative gelled together,how can you predict what will come next?What a perfect recipe for creative reading!
His descriptive power is awesome! I think there MUST be hidden messages scattered here and there that I cannot connect well,so I’ll give it a thorough try on my second reading.A more decent review pending.
His descriptive power is awesome! I think there MUST be hidden messages scattered here and there that I cannot connect well,so I’ll give it a thorough try on my second reading.A more decent review pending.
February 8, 2016
Toplin is a story altogether different from what I've come to expect from McDowell. I enjoyed it immensely, and yet I can't quite articulate "why". This was an unexpected journey that we take along with a narrator--whose own ideals and idiosyncrasies often make you wonder if he is unbalanced, or if the world he perceives truly is. While the book was a relatively fast read, the content is not that which you take lightly. McDowell layers on the self-doubt, confusion, and blurs the lines of reality so well that you no longer know WHAT to expect.
This is a story I've heard very little about prior to purchasing it, but one that I found genuinely challenging in terms of its content and the messages implied. In fact, the more that I think about it, the more I come to appreciate the tale for what it is.
Not your typical McDowell novel, but nonetheless, highly recommended!
This is a story I've heard very little about prior to purchasing it, but one that I found genuinely challenging in terms of its content and the messages implied. In fact, the more that I think about it, the more I come to appreciate the tale for what it is.
Not your typical McDowell novel, but nonetheless, highly recommended!
February 3, 2016
Remarkably dark, reminded me of both Stephen Gregory and Kafka.
Toplin is the story of a man whose narrative makes it impossible to discern where his inner world ends and the external world begins. When his self-perceived perfection is challenged by the utter opposite grotesque imperfection of Marta, a series of weird and disturbing events are set into motion.
This one was very different from McDowell's other works, and considerably darker, somewhat experimental and very well written.
February 4, 2016
This book is odd in a good way. McDowell's writing held my interest through out. Even though the story was filled with insanity and a somewhat supernatural gang, the author followed a logical progression. I find myself wondering if we as readers are meant to choose between the fantasies of the insane or the realities of a very queer individual (queer not meaning gay, but the more traditional meaning of queer). Difficult to put this one down ad it held my interest with every word. It is refreshing to read the English language as it is meant to be and not how so many 21st century author use it seemingly with no care for grammar
Four stars
Four stars
June 10, 2025
Sort of like if Scorsese's After Hours and William Burrough's heaviest drug trip prose had a schizophrenic baby. McDowell is a great writer. He just throws you into someone's cracked consciousness and dares you to keep up. It's deranged in the same way Zulawski's Possession and Aster's Beau is Afraid are and has a similar focus on foregrounding the internal reality of the main character. Toplin is obsessive, narcissistic, schizotypal, extremely maladjusted, but competent enough to continue passing for normal. Though this is not for everyone, I enjoyed this greatly. I would recommend it for fans of experimental writing or any of the films/writers I have mentioned. It made me want to check out the rest of Dell's Abyss line. It's really cool that something like this ever got a wide release in a Mass Market Paperback edition.
Sidenote: About ten years ago I wrote a short and highly experimental book called Other People. The loose premise was a holiday party in which we hop between the perspectives of the attendees. It gets gradually crazier and crazier and starts to double back on itself. It was only released in a limited run on a small independent press, but that's beside the point. I wish I could go back in time and give myself a copy of this book. It may have prevented me from wasting my time in writing Other People. My book contains some of the exact same elements as this one, including strangely similar descriptions of accents and a nearly identical sort of stream of consciousness flow for some of the characters. Perhaps most oddly, my follow up to that book was a short play put on a year or two later titled What's Next?
Read on Valancourt paperback edition and archive.org.
Sidenote: About ten years ago I wrote a short and highly experimental book called Other People. The loose premise was a holiday party in which we hop between the perspectives of the attendees. It gets gradually crazier and crazier and starts to double back on itself. It was only released in a limited run on a small independent press, but that's beside the point. I wish I could go back in time and give myself a copy of this book. It may have prevented me from wasting my time in writing Other People. My book contains some of the exact same elements as this one, including strangely similar descriptions of accents and a nearly identical sort of stream of consciousness flow for some of the characters. Perhaps most oddly, my follow up to that book was a short play put on a year or two later titled What's Next?
Read on Valancourt paperback edition and archive.org.
June 6, 2012
Like reading a used book that has questionable stains on the pages, this short novel left a layer of disgust with me well after I completed it. However, this disgust didn't seem to transcend further into amazement, mainly because of its limitations of viewpoint, for the whole novel is told from the perspective of a damaged, unreliable narrator. It was as if McDowell took a character from the peripheral landscapes of Eraserhead, placed him in NYC in the 80's, and had him feel the epiphany of murder transcending into salvation - of OCD enlightening a drab existence. The reader is locked in the diary of a madman, and for some it may prove tiresome, yet for me, it's a highly readable book, which most likely wouldn't see the light of publication today.
It's not the story itself that carries the book, but the images McDowell leaves the reader - the ugliest woman in the world, a waitress in a Polish diner, with a face like an infected sore (I won't be able to eat stew at a diner after reading the scene she serves him); a medicine man who has dozens of animal cages in his bedroom (rats, squirrels, and pigeons) and torments his rabid father who crawls on all fours with cannibalistic intent; a hermaphrodite building-super who boldly propositions the narrator in all manners of sleazy banter. There's not much sympathy to be had, nor much tension, just disgust and repulsion, and glimpses to a city that has turned into an asylum - or a world that may just appear normal to someone so obviously insane.
It's not the story itself that carries the book, but the images McDowell leaves the reader - the ugliest woman in the world, a waitress in a Polish diner, with a face like an infected sore (I won't be able to eat stew at a diner after reading the scene she serves him); a medicine man who has dozens of animal cages in his bedroom (rats, squirrels, and pigeons) and torments his rabid father who crawls on all fours with cannibalistic intent; a hermaphrodite building-super who boldly propositions the narrator in all manners of sleazy banter. There's not much sympathy to be had, nor much tension, just disgust and repulsion, and glimpses to a city that has turned into an asylum - or a world that may just appear normal to someone so obviously insane.
March 9, 2016
Not sure what to think. Its not that I'm not a fan of ambiguous books, but this one sure takes the cake. After reading this, I still feel like I have no idea what occurred. It was still enjoyable because it's Michael McDowell but I don't think I can recommend it. His other books are way better. If someone can tell me wtf happened in this book, feel free to comment. 3 stars for me.
December 3, 2025
I'm feeling like I lost an arm wrestle. But I'm immediately feeling relief, having decided to DNF this (rare for me).
Michael McDowell is a writer I very much admire. 'Toplin' appears to be a work of his that is one of the least-talked-about. There could be a good reason for that. From page one, it's rough-going. Halfway-in, it proves itself to be not only bleak (not a drawback in itself) but it presents an enhanced nihilistic view of life which, elsewhere in his work, McDowell has been content to suppress - or keep in reasonable check. In 'Toplin', he gives it full-rein.
It's exhausting. And it can make you feel as crazy as the titular character.
Were you ever unfortunate enough to have seen David Lynch's (inexplicably 3-hour) 'Inland Empire'? 'Toplin' is like that wretched movie (which nevertheless has fans; the kind I'd prefer to steer clear of). Who would choose to feel quite this bad?
The story has something to do with a guy zeroing in on a weird (and unfortunate-looking) waitress who he senses needs to be put out of her misery. It appears that he sets out to be her 'angel of death'. Being (largely) a horror writer, we give McDowell license to be creepy. ~ but there's creepy and there's inordinately *creepy*!
McDowell broke me. I was simply too creeped out. Maybe... maybe there's ultimately a point to it all. I didn't care. I thought I could manage what is actually a rather short book - but I still wanted it to just stop, before it went further than it had already gone.
Michael McDowell is a writer I very much admire. 'Toplin' appears to be a work of his that is one of the least-talked-about. There could be a good reason for that. From page one, it's rough-going. Halfway-in, it proves itself to be not only bleak (not a drawback in itself) but it presents an enhanced nihilistic view of life which, elsewhere in his work, McDowell has been content to suppress - or keep in reasonable check. In 'Toplin', he gives it full-rein.
It's exhausting. And it can make you feel as crazy as the titular character.
Were you ever unfortunate enough to have seen David Lynch's (inexplicably 3-hour) 'Inland Empire'? 'Toplin' is like that wretched movie (which nevertheless has fans; the kind I'd prefer to steer clear of). Who would choose to feel quite this bad?
The story has something to do with a guy zeroing in on a weird (and unfortunate-looking) waitress who he senses needs to be put out of her misery. It appears that he sets out to be her 'angel of death'. Being (largely) a horror writer, we give McDowell license to be creepy. ~ but there's creepy and there's inordinately *creepy*!
McDowell broke me. I was simply too creeped out. Maybe... maybe there's ultimately a point to it all. I didn't care. I thought I could manage what is actually a rather short book - but I still wanted it to just stop, before it went further than it had already gone.
December 6, 2025
In terms of Kafkaesque gay horror novels, this is about as good as it gets. A little stranger and more psychotic than other Micheal McDowell books, this is a novella more parts of Katie and Blood Rubies, had bizarre, satiric, horror vibes. Might compare to other disturbed-character novels The Wasp Nest and The Tenant. Some parts are very chilling. A smaller McDowell novel and a series of dark jokes.
February 7, 2016
Dark and Disturbing Toplin by Michael McDowell is more akin to the weird writings of Thomas Ligotti than mainstream horror fiction. The narrator in the story (we never actually get to know his name) lives a life of solitude and order and is consumed by the acute symptoms of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, a feeling that things have to be done in a way that is just right and this can trigger extreme anxiety which can impinge on day to day living.
In the context of the subject matter McDowell produces some powerful imagery highlighting the mind of the ordered “I found myself at work without recollection of having waked, evacuated, cleansed myself, drunk chocolate, spun my combination lock, descended my stairs, or traversed the sidewalks and streets from my apartment.” I particularly loved the description of the narrator’s suits numbered S1-S6...”They are numbered and I wear them quite at random. I might have placed on the floor of the closet my six pairs of black wing-tip shoes, for the boards there are completely bare. But my shoes are lined up beneath the foot of my bed. I might have placed my black socks in a shoe box on the shelf above the rack, but my socks are bundled in the top drawer of my dresser. I might have hung my slender black ties on a hanger pushed right against the side of the closet wall, or set on a hook that was already screwed into the back of the door, but my ties hang over one of the long bolts that hold my dresser mirror in place, The closet is empty but for my suits S-1 though S-6.”
So in the context of this somewhat disturbed narrator we are privileged to view his world through his own limited vision. He has become fixated with a waitress called Marta who is employed at the Baltyk Kitchen and because of her ugly appearance has decided logically that she must die..”She was quite simply the most hideous human being I had ever seen. The disfigurements of her birth were compounded with the ravages of disease. I saw them in her face. Her mouth was a running sore. Her bulging eyes were of different colors. Her ears were slabs of flesh pillaged from anonymous victims of accidents. Her nose was a bulging membrane filled with ancient purulence.”
The reader has this wonderful and yet unbalanced feeling of understanding the narrator’s world through black and white imagery helped by the subtle use of black and white photos all adding to a great feeling of unease. One such photograph I found very disturbing was titled “The Maintenance Man came forward into the light”...”The left side of his chest had hair, the same color as his partial moustaches. The right side was smooth but bore a fair-shaped female breast, with a large soft nipple spitting out from the centre of it.”.....”I turned and fled from the hermaphroditic abomination.”
This is a very uncomfortable read as if by reading the narrators thoughts we are condoning his actions and lending approval to his limited view of society and his unconventional sexual needs. However if the mark of a good work of fiction is the writers ability to linger in the mind then Toplin deserves great respect and praise for a memorable and horrific journey.
In the context of the subject matter McDowell produces some powerful imagery highlighting the mind of the ordered “I found myself at work without recollection of having waked, evacuated, cleansed myself, drunk chocolate, spun my combination lock, descended my stairs, or traversed the sidewalks and streets from my apartment.” I particularly loved the description of the narrator’s suits numbered S1-S6...”They are numbered and I wear them quite at random. I might have placed on the floor of the closet my six pairs of black wing-tip shoes, for the boards there are completely bare. But my shoes are lined up beneath the foot of my bed. I might have placed my black socks in a shoe box on the shelf above the rack, but my socks are bundled in the top drawer of my dresser. I might have hung my slender black ties on a hanger pushed right against the side of the closet wall, or set on a hook that was already screwed into the back of the door, but my ties hang over one of the long bolts that hold my dresser mirror in place, The closet is empty but for my suits S-1 though S-6.”
So in the context of this somewhat disturbed narrator we are privileged to view his world through his own limited vision. He has become fixated with a waitress called Marta who is employed at the Baltyk Kitchen and because of her ugly appearance has decided logically that she must die..”She was quite simply the most hideous human being I had ever seen. The disfigurements of her birth were compounded with the ravages of disease. I saw them in her face. Her mouth was a running sore. Her bulging eyes were of different colors. Her ears were slabs of flesh pillaged from anonymous victims of accidents. Her nose was a bulging membrane filled with ancient purulence.”
The reader has this wonderful and yet unbalanced feeling of understanding the narrator’s world through black and white imagery helped by the subtle use of black and white photos all adding to a great feeling of unease. One such photograph I found very disturbing was titled “The Maintenance Man came forward into the light”...”The left side of his chest had hair, the same color as his partial moustaches. The right side was smooth but bore a fair-shaped female breast, with a large soft nipple spitting out from the centre of it.”.....”I turned and fled from the hermaphroditic abomination.”
This is a very uncomfortable read as if by reading the narrators thoughts we are condoning his actions and lending approval to his limited view of society and his unconventional sexual needs. However if the mark of a good work of fiction is the writers ability to linger in the mind then Toplin deserves great respect and praise for a memorable and horrific journey.
March 2, 2016
My, what a strange little book. I mean that as a compliment. It reminds me of the film The Double based upon a Dostoyevsky novella. I confess I haven't read the novella, but this book reads just like the film. I'm probably not making much sense, but for some reason the two feel very similar even though the plots are entirely different.
Back to the book, I did enjoy this. As another GR user (the esteemed Charlene from HA group) has also said she liked it but couldn't put it on her finger on why. Having read Toplin I know exactly what age means. The book just has something.
Michael McDowell has easily become one of my favourite writers. Each book is different and amazing in their own ways, and Toplin just adds to this. McDowell was a brilliant writer and the novels he has left behind are truly gems.
Back to the book, I did enjoy this. As another GR user (the esteemed Charlene from HA group) has also said she liked it but couldn't put it on her finger on why. Having read Toplin I know exactly what age means. The book just has something.
Michael McDowell has easily become one of my favourite writers. Each book is different and amazing in their own ways, and Toplin just adds to this. McDowell was a brilliant writer and the novels he has left behind are truly gems.
June 15, 2023
This is my third M.M. Novel and the previous two kept me hungry for more, but this book was a mistake. Please skip over it. Strangely crude & lots of sexual deviance and not for any reason relative to the novel. I kept hoping the end would give closer or explanation but it does not. 0/10 do not recommend. But if you really want to try this author Blackwater has become an all time favorite and I cannot stop thinking about it. The Amulet was also extremely well written and a great story.
May 31, 2012
Michael Mc Dowell’s Toplin, initially released in 1985, got a second lease in life through the Abyss line of books. I have fond memories of reading it and coming across this excerpt online tells me why I need to revisit that book:
The disfigurements of her birth were compounded with the ravages of disease. I saw them in her face. Her mouth was a running sore. Her bulging eyes were of difference colors. Her ears were slabs of flesh pillaged from anonymous victims of accidents. her nose was a bulging membrane filled with ancient purulence… beneath her uniform I sensed - I smelled- ever greater deformities. Her uniform, stained to a filmy translucence by God knew what manner of excretions, showed the irregularities of her skin beneath.
Mc Dowell’s prose shows a degree of maturity that transcends its ‘cheap’ packaging. There was also a tinge of sadness that lingers or it’s just my romantic leaning towards grotesqueries at work and I can’t say anything objectively.
Toplin was reprinted under Dell Books’ Abyss line. I discovered it back in sophomore year when I picked up a Nancy Holder book at National Bookstore-Cebu. This fascination towards the unsightly fueled my enthusiasm to read more. Abyss introduced me to a few good writers (Poppy Z. Brite, Tanith Lee, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Lisa Tuttle, Jessica Amanda Salmonson, R. Patrick Gates and the abovementioned writer) unfortunately, it also introduced me to underwhelming pioneer works by a lot of them, particularly: Rick Reed, Brian Hodge, Melanie Tem, and Dennis Etchison. A few tweaks here and there and the books could actually.
However, it doesn’t match the enmity I have for works done by Kathe Koja, Ron Dee, and a slew of other writers whose names escape me right now. You are left thinking: are these the things that actually get published those days. What I like about the other writers is that they made profound attempts to elevate the status of the pulpiness roots that they were working on. Not too base nor too haute literatur (is that even a valid phrase?) or else you lose readers. Publishing is still a business and getting more readers is essential.
It is sad that Mc Dowell will not be able to write anymore frenzied works as he died of complications from HIV. His other works, like the historical Gilded Needles fell flat to me. While Cold Moon Over Babylon doesn’t sound too compelling enough to finish (I’ve started 30 pages and I can’t even remember where it is right now), Toplin still scares and surprises me. But that could probably be because my book-reading habits have changed and I could make more astute observations.
I’ve rambled on long enough, if you could get this book, do yourself a favor, and read that relic which could very well surprise you while I look for a corner and become a scream queen.
The disfigurements of her birth were compounded with the ravages of disease. I saw them in her face. Her mouth was a running sore. Her bulging eyes were of difference colors. Her ears were slabs of flesh pillaged from anonymous victims of accidents. her nose was a bulging membrane filled with ancient purulence… beneath her uniform I sensed - I smelled- ever greater deformities. Her uniform, stained to a filmy translucence by God knew what manner of excretions, showed the irregularities of her skin beneath.
Mc Dowell’s prose shows a degree of maturity that transcends its ‘cheap’ packaging. There was also a tinge of sadness that lingers or it’s just my romantic leaning towards grotesqueries at work and I can’t say anything objectively.
Toplin was reprinted under Dell Books’ Abyss line. I discovered it back in sophomore year when I picked up a Nancy Holder book at National Bookstore-Cebu. This fascination towards the unsightly fueled my enthusiasm to read more. Abyss introduced me to a few good writers (Poppy Z. Brite, Tanith Lee, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Lisa Tuttle, Jessica Amanda Salmonson, R. Patrick Gates and the abovementioned writer) unfortunately, it also introduced me to underwhelming pioneer works by a lot of them, particularly: Rick Reed, Brian Hodge, Melanie Tem, and Dennis Etchison. A few tweaks here and there and the books could actually.
However, it doesn’t match the enmity I have for works done by Kathe Koja, Ron Dee, and a slew of other writers whose names escape me right now. You are left thinking: are these the things that actually get published those days. What I like about the other writers is that they made profound attempts to elevate the status of the pulpiness roots that they were working on. Not too base nor too haute literatur (is that even a valid phrase?) or else you lose readers. Publishing is still a business and getting more readers is essential.
It is sad that Mc Dowell will not be able to write anymore frenzied works as he died of complications from HIV. His other works, like the historical Gilded Needles fell flat to me. While Cold Moon Over Babylon doesn’t sound too compelling enough to finish (I’ve started 30 pages and I can’t even remember where it is right now), Toplin still scares and surprises me. But that could probably be because my book-reading habits have changed and I could make more astute observations.
I’ve rambled on long enough, if you could get this book, do yourself a favor, and read that relic which could very well surprise you while I look for a corner and become a scream queen.
March 7, 2010
A beautifully told, darkly funny character study of a total loon (who defines the term "unreliable narrator") with major OCD issues and a possible propensity to murder. Michael McDowell was a wonderful writer with a twisted bent, and I'm happy that there are still several books left of his output that I've yet to read.
November 22, 2014
I cannot recommend this book due to the content.
It is definitely not for the average reader. It is nothing like anything else by Michael McDowell that I have read.
You have been warned.
If you want to read a book like no other, this is that book.
It is definitely not for the average reader. It is nothing like anything else by Michael McDowell that I have read.
You have been warned.
If you want to read a book like no other, this is that book.
February 8, 2022
This was bizarre.
Fair warning - it's nothing like McDowell's other works (Cold Moon Over Babylon, The Elementals, Blackwater, etc.). This reads more like the diary of a madman, a delusional stream of consciousness, a window into the mind of a disturbed man that thinks the universe is giving him the sign to kill a waitress (who may or may not be horribly deformed and ugly). Every person becomes someone trying to pass off a secret message to aid him in the murder, but it's never clear what exactly is real or not, and to what extent.
The beginning immediately hooked me in, but it started to drag right after. Once you get into the groove of how he thinks and rationalizes his existence, it picks up and is absolutely absurd. Ya boi is also kind of nasty and misogynistic, but it provides further insight into his messed up little mind. Kinda recommend if you're in the mood for something funny but mostly fucked up, with a dash of disgust and pity.
Fair warning - it's nothing like McDowell's other works (Cold Moon Over Babylon, The Elementals, Blackwater, etc.). This reads more like the diary of a madman, a delusional stream of consciousness, a window into the mind of a disturbed man that thinks the universe is giving him the sign to kill a waitress (who may or may not be horribly deformed and ugly). Every person becomes someone trying to pass off a secret message to aid him in the murder, but it's never clear what exactly is real or not, and to what extent.
The beginning immediately hooked me in, but it started to drag right after. Once you get into the groove of how he thinks and rationalizes his existence, it picks up and is absolutely absurd. Ya boi is also kind of nasty and misogynistic, but it provides further insight into his messed up little mind. Kinda recommend if you're in the mood for something funny but mostly fucked up, with a dash of disgust and pity.
October 27, 2020
"If thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee." Nietzsche
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In January of 2018, I discovered Michael McDowell's incredible novel Cold Moon Over Babylon, a Southern Gothic horror tale that swept me off my feet. I hasn't previously been exposed to that style of horror, and was pleased to find a new horror sub-genre to enjoy. I recently found Toplin, a 1984 release by McDowell, which classified itself as an "abyss dark fiction". It's not your usual haunted house, vampire or ancient Indian burial ground horror. The abyss is the darkness inside the human soul, and we all know that's the scariest of all monsters.
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While expecting a more overt "evil", reading this book felt more like reading Camus, with a nameless narrator who's convinced that a waitress he recently met is waiting for him to kill her. The descriptions the author uses for his characters often clash with the way others describe her, leading the reader to believe the narrator may be suffering delusions. Our guide through this tale is a self-proclaimed "perfect man", leading me to think he feels he has the power of life and death over those he feels don't deserve life.
.
This wasn't a novel I would call horror, but more of a psychological story of one nameless man. While a good book, it want what I had hoped, and it didn't really tick off any of my boxes.
.
.
In January of 2018, I discovered Michael McDowell's incredible novel Cold Moon Over Babylon, a Southern Gothic horror tale that swept me off my feet. I hasn't previously been exposed to that style of horror, and was pleased to find a new horror sub-genre to enjoy. I recently found Toplin, a 1984 release by McDowell, which classified itself as an "abyss dark fiction". It's not your usual haunted house, vampire or ancient Indian burial ground horror. The abyss is the darkness inside the human soul, and we all know that's the scariest of all monsters.
.
While expecting a more overt "evil", reading this book felt more like reading Camus, with a nameless narrator who's convinced that a waitress he recently met is waiting for him to kill her. The descriptions the author uses for his characters often clash with the way others describe her, leading the reader to believe the narrator may be suffering delusions. Our guide through this tale is a self-proclaimed "perfect man", leading me to think he feels he has the power of life and death over those he feels don't deserve life.
.
This wasn't a novel I would call horror, but more of a psychological story of one nameless man. While a good book, it want what I had hoped, and it didn't really tick off any of my boxes.
.
October 9, 2015
A strange, eerie, and protean book, it is impossible to parse out where our paranoid narrator's unreliable point of view ends and his surreal world begins. Toplin might be brilliant, I don't know; I frequently felt like I was missing some clue that would explain the narrator's motives and actions, as well as provide some grounding for the actions of the bizarre denizens of his washed-out world. None was obvious. This book is almost perfectly relentlessly creepy.
Two paragraphs towards the end bugged me in which the narrator considers that all the contents of his world are of his imagining. Most readers should have considered this from the beginning and drawn their own conclusions in the first two chapters. Still, this line of contemplation is not out of place, given what we know of the narrator's character. I just found this brief foray into solipsism enough to jar me away from the otherwise gripping narrative.
Two paragraphs towards the end bugged me in which the narrator considers that all the contents of his world are of his imagining. Most readers should have considered this from the beginning and drawn their own conclusions in the first two chapters. Still, this line of contemplation is not out of place, given what we know of the narrator's character. I just found this brief foray into solipsism enough to jar me away from the otherwise gripping narrative.
February 5, 2020
I would read shampoo instruction written by McDowell-he’s incredible at building atmosphere that is downright palpable. That said, I really have no idea what this book was about-it May roughly be the equivalent of “Patrick Bateman from American Psycho goes to hell and then finds redemption in the very thing he hates most-ugliness” This is the best I have-I think the narrator is either in hell or some type of Bardo-somehow his acts weirdly redeem him and bring him back to earth/heaven...who the hell knows! Haha
February 27, 2015
Stephen King recommended author. He says: “McDowell must now be regarded as the finest writer of paperback originals in America.”
Very strange view into a psychopath's view point. I know this has been done before, and this one wasn't done recently. Sometimes I couldn't tell for sure what was going on, and it ends strangely. But, I still liked it! McDowell deserves more recognition than he gets!
Very strange view into a psychopath's view point. I know this has been done before, and this one wasn't done recently. Sometimes I couldn't tell for sure what was going on, and it ends strangely. But, I still liked it! McDowell deserves more recognition than he gets!
July 16, 2022
A real departure for McDowell — I guess I see it as sort of a mid-'80s American spin on Camus, what with its severely dispassionate (and downright weird) protagonist, although in this story you often don't really know what he's imagining and what the hell is actually happening. Also, lots of references to various bodily fluids. Didn't really enjoy it, but it casts an odd sort of spell.
June 4, 2008
This is a book that was very ahead of it's time.
It's got a very moody atmosphere,and the photos done by the author add to the mood and mystery.
Nice Read.
It's got a very moody atmosphere,and the photos done by the author add to the mood and mystery.
Nice Read.
February 22, 2019
Just didnt understand this one. This is the first Michael McDowell novel I have not really cared for. Nobody to root for in this..none of the characters made sense to me.
July 27, 2020
Fascinating and well-written, but ultimately gruesome, self-indulgent, and unpleasant.
December 18, 2020
Relentlessly repulsive. That's the point of it but maybe sometimes art shouldn't have a point.
February 8, 2021
Toplin, by Michael McDowell, is congee with a sliced thousand-year-old egg.
A seemingly typical asian dish one might order off a cart in Chinatown. But the special egg on top is what you came for, what makes this meal so special.
Bizarre as it is foreign to the tongue, the egg started its journey much like other duck eggs do, waiting to be consumed in a box amongst other ostensibly ordinary eggs. But this egg is different in that it’s future is predetermined. Considered. Created.
Plucked from the pallet, granted new privilege, deemed ideal for the task. And then, with a deliberate mix of clay, ash, salt, and a good fair dose of lye, the egg is now swaddled in a layer of crust.
Months pass. Maybe even years. But then, on a hot summer’s day, you decide it’s time. You delicately peel the egg, eager to see its transformation.
To the obtuse, the egg appears to be in an advanced stage of putrescence, it’s yolk a jellied umber, encased in a grayish green film. But to the superior eye (an eye that may not distinguish colors so absolutely as you) this egg is at its peak performance.
The stinky smell enters your nostrils with a quickness reserved for sight, yet you consume it rapidly, the muskiness of it distinct, unyielding. The pulpy yolk is heavy and undeniably ruthless in its saltiness. The gruel underneath adds nothing to the taste but a slimy residue that coats your teeth.
Even though you’ve waited so long for this moment, this meal, the egg has done its task and served its place in your world. It’s time to move on, discover your fate in other foods, other places.
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December 28, 2021
I'm not going to include a synopsis with this one because I feel like the immersive experience that is Toplin is better to blindly jump into.
This was by far the strangest thing I've ever read (maybe ever BUT) by McDowell. The nameless narrator's paranoia made me uneasy to the point to where I had to read this ~20-40 pages at a time and then take a break. The way McDowell lets you peer into his mind is fun but his thought processes make me....truly terrified to coexist with strangers in the world. The gang aspect and the (kooky???) characters like Annie and Howard were what kept the book truly interesting to me but, I wish that there was more going on plot-wise throughout, as most of the events didn't take place until the last 10 pages. Living inside the narrator's mind and going through his day-to-day ritualistic activities began to become monotonous after a while BUT I did like that the monotony was always shaken up with some "what in the actual fuck is this guy thinking/doing?!" *spice* added in. This made me feel like I do after looking at those creepy backrooms pictures, looking at anything that's pale yellow for too long, and gave me major The Number 23 w/ Jim Carrey vibes. O D D.
This was by far the strangest thing I've ever read (maybe ever BUT) by McDowell. The nameless narrator's paranoia made me uneasy to the point to where I had to read this ~20-40 pages at a time and then take a break. The way McDowell lets you peer into his mind is fun but his thought processes make me....truly terrified to coexist with strangers in the world. The gang aspect and the (kooky???) characters like Annie and Howard were what kept the book truly interesting to me but, I wish that there was more going on plot-wise throughout, as most of the events didn't take place until the last 10 pages. Living inside the narrator's mind and going through his day-to-day ritualistic activities began to become monotonous after a while BUT I did like that the monotony was always shaken up with some "what in the actual fuck is this guy thinking/doing?!" *spice* added in. This made me feel like I do after looking at those creepy backrooms pictures, looking at anything that's pale yellow for too long, and gave me major The Number 23 w/ Jim Carrey vibes. O D D.
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