Night Relics

The Ghosts Trilogy #1

by James P. Blaylock

Attempting to come to terms with a failed marriage and longing for his son, Peter Travers's struggle to build a new life is haunted by mysterious visions of a woman and child as the spirits of the past come alive and a dark and terrible secret refuses to die.

Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Ghosts, Ghost Stories

385 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 1994

About the author

James Paul Blaylock is an American fantasy author. He is noted for his distinctive style. He writes in a humorous way: His characters never walk, they clump along, or when someone complains (in a flying machine) that flight is impossible, the other characters agree and show him why he's right.

He was born in Long Beach, California; studied English at California State University, Fullerton, receiving an M.A. in 1974; and lives in Orange, California, teaching creative writing at Chapman University. Many of his books are set in Orange County, California, and can more specifically be termed "fabulism" — that is, fantastic things happen in our present-day world, rather than in traditional fantasy, where the setting is often some other world. His works have also been categorized as magic realism.

He and his friends Tim Powers and K.W. Jeter were mentored by Philip K. Dick. Along with Powers he invented the poet William Ashbless. Blaylock and Powers have often collaborated with each other on writing stories, including The Better Boy, On Pirates, and The William Ashbless Memorial Cookbook.

Blaylock is also currently director of the Creative Writing Conservatory at the Orange County High School of the Arts, where Powers is Writer in Residence.

Reviews

[Mike (the Paladin)]

I picked this up largely because I like . This isn't quite as good (in my humble opinion). Still it's a fairly good read, except for the perverse Mr. Pomeroy. Being prepared for his part of the story and you can "slide by". I'm sure others won't be bothered as much as I and some will be bothered more...

On the whole you get a ghost story here of wrongs done and pain extended. It's a story of retribution, atonement, pardon, absolution and even grace. There's a love story buried here (more than one?), with a touch of childhood also. Not a bad read... I wasn't greatly enthralled, but I wanted to see how it worked out.

[B. Jay]

“There was nothing to be gained by summoning up memories like old ghosts. Inevitably they vanished into the darkness.” This is the premise of Night Relics, a premise that is made pretty clear from the beginning but spelled out by the character Ackroyd in one of the final chapters just in case you weren’t certain. Not terribly scary and not even full of very many ghosts, this book is mostly a romanticized cliché of ghost stories and a treatise on relationships. The main character Peter sadly disappears for a good portion of the book as a sub plot takes over. The subplot, however, is a bit more interesting, but starts to make you wish you were reading a different book.

[Stephani]

Look, I love quirky characters who have weird internal dialogue with themselves just like I do. I love characters who are good people who try to do good things and stumble and bumble along while trying to do those things. Blaylock is perfect at giving me those characters.

Plus. the way he describes the wind as this living, changing thing. It never becomes dull and the descriptions are always so good that you can just picture it.

And, the cat doesn't die

[Larry]

When the Santa Ana wind blows, the ghosts come out. I was reminded of Tim Powers, Dean Koontz.

I had a hard time following the ending. What happened to Amanda and David?

[Stephanie]

Eerie, atmospheric, and hard to put down; I've read most of Blaylock's books, and find this one the creepiest.

[Richard Edgar]

This is an intriguing take on how haunting might work, playing right on the boundary between the uncanny and the merely creepy.

[Pati]

To jest jedną z dziwniejszych książek,jakie w życiu czytałam.Meczylam się bardzo czytając ja,nie potrafię zebrać w całość sensu i zamysłu autora.Na pierwszych stronach,rozdziałach byłam zachwycona..natomiast później gubilam się,meczylam..zupełnie jakby w mej głowie był młot pneumatyczny i katowal mi mózg.Ostatnie strony czytalam z radością,ze to już koniec.Postacie wogole nie są ze sobą połączone,fabuła nie trzyma się niczego...jest to zamieszanie na miarę tornado.Bohaterowie mroczni,otepiali nie wiedzacy co się dzieje w ich życiu.Ja nie odnalazłam tu żadnego elementu,który mógłby zakwalifikować te powieść do horroru.I gdy zamknęłam książkę,przeczytwaszy ostatnia stronę pytam..
A o czym to było ?????

[Alisa Kester]

This is the second book I've attempted by this author, and the second I've given up on finishing. I think I'm finished with attempting this author.

Not that this book was actually *bad* mind you, it just never seemed to get GOING. I thought I was going to like it for the first few chapters, but then all the characters just started dithering about, dragging their feet, and seeming to repeat the same sort of conversation/event/traumas over and OVER again. Maybe if about half this book had been cut, it would have been a nice tight suspenseful ghost story. As it is, I got to about halfway and realized I just didn't care anymore.

[Libby]

I can't really describe this book. Kind of dreamy and really confusing for a while. It reminded me of the Tommyknockers (but better). The main problem with this is that it's a not a good enough read to make the haziness worth while. So its a decent read but not great. It may be a style issue though for me.

[Jeff]

This is my first experience reading a Blaylock book. I liked it, and thought it was a pretty good ghost story. However, I must confess, I found it slightly confusing toward the end, not being sure just what, exactly, happened.

I like Blaylock's writing style, though, and will, no doubt, be back for more.

[Velvetink]

Supernatural.

*note to self. Copy from A.

[Patrick]

First read around 1997.