Wake the Dead

by Joshua Reynolds

Two men are eaten alive by insects. — A plane carrying Egyptian antiquities goes down in flames. — Yellow dogs and dead men prowl the street. — Shadowy figures prepare to pay off a centuries old debt while the dead crawl out of their graves to greet an evil as old as time. — An evil that spreads from the burning sands of Egypt to the kudzu soaked streets of Columbia, South Carolina in an attempt to claw its way back into the light.

Evil never dies. It just sleeps... and dreams... and waits.

197 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Josh Reynolds’ work has previously appeared in such anthologies as Historical Lovecraft from Innsmouth Free Press and Horror for the Holidays from Miskatonic River Press, and his novel, Knight of the Blazing Sun, is currently available from Black Library. He can be found at: http://joshuamreynolds.wordpress.com

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Reviews

[✨ Bookferatu ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I blame Josh Reynolds.

Though I've been a fan of modern occult detectives (John Constantine, Harry Dresden) I had never been a big modern pulp enthusiast; hadn't ever fully appreciated the pulp genre as it came into the 21st century.

I previously found "new" pulp to be too straightforward and resented the fact that in this day in age the pulp hero still always triumphs over the foe, no matter what, and all too easily at that. But I reckon that simple canon is the reason most pulp fans actually enjoy those stories.

That's fine, but you know, in my opinion, which is worth a lot, if I may be so bold (hey, I'm all about modesty, I mean, honesty), is that your average modern pulpster dishes out truly banal prose, uttering such terrible clichés inside of inferior writing that frankly assaults the senses of discerning readers who need a little bit more than a one-dimensional hero, a one-dimensional villain, and a one-dimensional cause to triumph for inside annoying stories written by self proclaimed pulp writers who think they've just delivered the most revolutionary gift to the genre since Edgar Rice Burroughs (and that's like the majority of most pulp writers in this day), not that Burroughs wasn't overrated, or anything. Yeh, that's right, I just said that. I know fans of sword and sorcery pulp everywhere are gasping, but get over it.

Back on point: I speak for those who were never into the modern version of this genre to begin with, but who still recognise and admire the contributions of Robert E. Howard, H. P. Lovecraft and Hugh B. Cave, among others.

The bottom line is that if I were to ever get "into" new pulp, a story would have to be uniquely attractive to me on more than one level - it would have to be sharp, spirited and unusual.

And as fate would have it, one night while updating a library entry I chanced upon Wake the Dead.

And things changed.

Josh Reynolds can write, and I mean, he can really write well. He's not just a good storyteller; I sincerely believe this author's got great talent and is one to keep your eyes on in the future.

I was lucky enough to get my hands on a copy of this out of print adventure story in which we're introduced to protagonist and occult investigator Baxter Sarlowe, a self-described "exterminator of sorts", and not just to learn about the interesting career he's made as an occult collector, but to picture in one's mind the fantastic perils of evil spreading from the oldest living civilisation in the world that this character goes up against as this story incorporates the land of the Pharaohs with magics and legions of unbound!zombies, connections to the Cthulhu mythos, plagues, ohh and an Assyrian demon (if you guessed Pazuzu, you would be correct), an abominable lycanthropic sorcerer, and a shit-ton of other interesting elements, all sharp, spirited and unusual.

And as a conclusion I can say this story was a FUN and pleasing read and left me feeling very enthusiastic about the future of modern pulp for a variety of reasons.

And about that lycanthropic sorcerer, here's a
Selected Excerpt:

"Outside the plane, a few dozen yards from the airstrip and all the goings on therein, a mangy, yellow haired dog gazed steadily at the cargo hold, almost as if its jaundiced eyes could see through the ruptured skin of the vehicle and at the artifacts within. A beetle buzzed across its muzzle and the dog snapped at it idly, swallowing it without even chewing. Then it turned and trotted away, tongue lolling over thin, sharp teeth, its eyes glittering in a most uncanine expression.

The master called and the dogs came.

As the dog loped across the highway towards the trees that surrounded the airfield its body began to warp and change. Fur clumped and fell away from the lean body as it shook and contorted. Bone lengthened with a series of ugly pops and skin stretched and bubbled.
The eyes stayed the same however.

A yellow dog crossed the road, but it was a man who entered the woods."

It's not that Reynolds is inventing anything truly new here, his plot is still formulaic with reguards to the pulp standard, and he takes an appreciable amount of pulpy-liberties while paying appropriate old-school homages (Lovecraftian overtones being just one), but I really want to point out that this fast-paced story is engaging not just because of the splashing in of said interesting elements, that are all delicate aspects in their own right that must be handled well (and he does that), but because of HOW he tells the story - an arguably more important detail for the astute reader who's been avoiding the modern pulp genre because of the usual contrived pastiche plot devices.

Don't get me wrong, Wake The Dead reads like old-fashioned pulp, but what made it different from other modern pulp stories for me personally was how this author goes about weaving it all together.

And to think this is Josh Reynolds' debut novel.

This author is able to engage the reader with a high-adventure maelstrom in a world that feels fantastic with colourful characters and snappy dialogue all sprinkled over with generous amounts of amusing, dark humour and wit, obviously interjecting a bit of his own clever personality into the story.

And I think it's that dark humour and wit which are the finer things, and actually Josh Reynolds' most strongest attributes as a writer; that he can tell an adventure pulp story where strangeness and mysteries swarm together all while seemingly grinning proudly at the reader for knowing just that.

I really enjoyed Mr. Reynolds' style of writing, and I honestly say this while unable to keep the enthusiasm out of my voice when I recommend him to friends and acquaintances.

This book would have easily been a 5 star if not for a few minor issues (editorial) and a somewhat pushed ending, but hey his FIRST book, and I give props for such a fun supernatural mystery story that was THE one to inspire optimism in me for the genre and, because of what I suspect is, or will be, the author's trademark sardonic humour, I can tell I am going to adore a lot of future works by him and so look forward to reading more of his stories.

Since this OOP book may be hard-to-find for most people at the time of this review, I would definitely recommend perusing some of his other canny works, that are well worth reading - even if you're not into pulp fiction or occult detectives, perhaps just on the prowl for a writer with a clearly defined style and who will surely become notable for his use of wit.

Though, if any of this story's elements are some of your guilty pleasures, you should try to track it down (or maybe harass him to re-publish), because it's a fine and approachable introduction for those not really familiar with pulp or the pleasures of experiencing ‘weird menace’ stories and I can seriously even see this story being turned into a pulpy action movie so it's without doubt a great read for those who are already pulp aficionados.

In essence, it's refreshing enough to wake the dead ;)

Josh Reynolds is not your average pulp writer.

He's the catalyst that put me on the road to enjoying fresh pulp stories in the modern age.

And I blame him for that.