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Lengthening Shadows
The master of creeping unease and unrelenting consequences is back.
The vain and the cruel, the indifferent and the excessive, across ten tales of cut corners and grubby compromise, Bob Franklin turns his fairground mirror on contemporary Australia, with a cast of characters navigating modern life and trying to get by, get on and get away with whatever they can, whatever the cost.
A gaggle of comedians exchange escalating jokes about a needy fan. A small business owner delights in making top dollar off uncomprehending customers. A widower finds solace in a new dog that gives focus and purpose to his rage and grief. In 60s London a rock band rise and rise, aided by occult forces from another place. After dinner stories in an elite gentleman’s club turn to impossible murder and skullduggery in an Australian mining company.
Gleefully macabre, drily menacing, chillingly acute, Franklin spares nobody.
The vain and the cruel, the indifferent and the excessive, across ten tales of cut corners and grubby compromise, Bob Franklin turns his fairground mirror on contemporary Australia, with a cast of characters navigating modern life and trying to get by, get on and get away with whatever they can, whatever the cost.
A gaggle of comedians exchange escalating jokes about a needy fan. A small business owner delights in making top dollar off uncomprehending customers. A widower finds solace in a new dog that gives focus and purpose to his rage and grief. In 60s London a rock band rise and rise, aided by occult forces from another place. After dinner stories in an elite gentleman’s club turn to impossible murder and skullduggery in an Australian mining company.
Gleefully macabre, drily menacing, chillingly acute, Franklin spares nobody.
181 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 30, 2022
Bob Franklin is probably most well known for being a comedian here in Australia, so it's really fun seeing him turn his comedic talents on their head to create some fairly disturbing short stories. This is Franklin's second book of horror themed stories, the first being "Under Stones". He's also previously written a full length horror novel Moving Tigers. All of which I've thoroughly enjoyed.
There's something deliberately off-putting about Franklin's writing, like you're in a constant state of unease about what's going on. You know you're reading a horror themed book so you're expecting vampires or aliens, but there's none of that. It's more like catching something out of the corner of your eye, you thought you saw something but it's probably just your imagination. Probably.
I think his prologue probably captures the spirit of this book better than anything I could hope to write, so I'll include it verbatim:
Reader Beware
"It might be expected, in a book that handles horror, that readers should proceed with caution. But there are monsters in this book both more insidious and more familiar from the real world than things that go bump in the night. The evils that lurk in these pages - the racist and the selfish, the sexist and the venal, the ill-informed and the cruel at heart - aren't in the lengthening shadows. they're well lit, well fed, and running our boardrooms and our countries. We can't promise they all get what's coming to them, but none of these fictional characters should be read as a role model or author surrogate."
There's something deliberately off-putting about Franklin's writing, like you're in a constant state of unease about what's going on. You know you're reading a horror themed book so you're expecting vampires or aliens, but there's none of that. It's more like catching something out of the corner of your eye, you thought you saw something but it's probably just your imagination. Probably.
I think his prologue probably captures the spirit of this book better than anything I could hope to write, so I'll include it verbatim:
Reader Beware
"It might be expected, in a book that handles horror, that readers should proceed with caution. But there are monsters in this book both more insidious and more familiar from the real world than things that go bump in the night. The evils that lurk in these pages - the racist and the selfish, the sexist and the venal, the ill-informed and the cruel at heart - aren't in the lengthening shadows. they're well lit, well fed, and running our boardrooms and our countries. We can't promise they all get what's coming to them, but none of these fictional characters should be read as a role model or author surrogate."
June 30, 2021
Dark stories for dark times. The shadows haunting each of these short stories seemed to linger around the day to day motions of ordinary people, doing nothing outrageous or outlandish. Coincidences seem eerie, like déjà vu, a little un-nerving. Bob Franklin certainly has a weird outlook on life, and certainly on Australian life. Each story provides the premise that there is always something sitting in the corner of your peripheral vision, something nagging at you that seems to intensify as the tale progresses. He describes place and brings you into each scenario with a level of unease awaiting in the doorway. Quirky, interesting short stories in a rather short book.
December 22, 2024
A collection of short stories by Australian comic, writer and actor Bob Franklin.
I've not read his first collection of short stories however this book intrigued me and it was a quick and easy read which I'm glad I picked up. This collection features 10 stories of varying length, all unsettling and a little creepy - I do enjoy a story which makes me feel a little uncomfortable.
My favourite stories would have to be:
- 'You Can't Come With Us" about a desperate fan who is the butt of a group of comedians' jokes, at least until she disappears.
- "The Hand That Feeds" abiur a dog who takes the ultimate revenge on those who deserve what they get.
A good read which will keep you up at night and leave you feeling a little spooked
I've not read his first collection of short stories however this book intrigued me and it was a quick and easy read which I'm glad I picked up. This collection features 10 stories of varying length, all unsettling and a little creepy - I do enjoy a story which makes me feel a little uncomfortable.
My favourite stories would have to be:
- 'You Can't Come With Us" about a desperate fan who is the butt of a group of comedians' jokes, at least until she disappears.
- "The Hand That Feeds" abiur a dog who takes the ultimate revenge on those who deserve what they get.
A good read which will keep you up at night and leave you feeling a little spooked
April 14, 2021
Not my usual genre, I felt like I had slipped behind the curtain into erratic chaos. I haven’t read many short stories, but I loved the pace of these, like rushing through a horror movie in the hope of a happy ending that never comes. I enjoyed the characters being cleverly linked. Left me a little bit rattled and a lot entertained.
April 25, 2023
After reading Franklin's first book of short stories and really enjoying them, I just had to read this. Some creepy and heartbreaking tales in this collection love the connecting threads throughout. Some stories fell a bit short of being good, and one to me was unreadable.
May 16, 2024
A terrific follow-up to Franklin's 'Under Stones' collection. 'Lengthening Shadows' comprises a collection of short stories that leave the reader with a deep sense of unease and an unshakeable sense of wrongness. For those who like their horror a touch more subtle, Franklin's collections are a must-read.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews