Four Dark Nights: The Circle/Pyre/Jonah Arose/the Words

by Bentley Little, Douglas Clegg, Christopher Golden

Stories include:

Circle by Bentley Little
Pyre by Christopher Golden
Jonah Arose by Tom Piccirilli
Words by Douglas Clegg

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies, Collections, Fantasy

326 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2002

About the author

Bentley Little is an American author of horror fiction. Publishing an average of a novel a year since 1990, Little avoids publicity and rarely does promotional work or interviews for his writing.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good anthology of four horror novellas. Curiously, no editor is credited. It's one of those examples of how different authors can come up with very divergent stories from a common starting point. The Bentley Little story is typical and representative of his work, I enjoyed the Tom Piccirilli story but I'm not sure I quite understood it completely, the Douglas Clegg was okay despite some confusing viewpoint shifts, and my favorite was the Christopher Golden, a good look at the parent-child dynamic and how sometimes it's hard to let things go. One should, of course, read this one after dark.

[Ben Boulden · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice assortment of witch-crafty novellas from four very talented writers: Bentley Little, Christopher Golden, Tom Piccirilli, and Douglas Clegg. My favorite, Bentley Little's "The Circle" where a neighborhood is brought to its knees, in surprising ways, by a scorned witch. It reminded me, just a little, of Richard Matheson's masterpiece, A STIR OF ECHOES.

[Alex McConnell · Rating 2 out of 5]

When four of the most acclaimed horror authors come together you expect fireworks. Instead, Four Dark Nights is four unconnected novellas, three of which are essentially meandering pointless junk. The two stars it got was for Clegg’s entry, The Words. It having been years since I read anything by him I was very happy that his novella essentially saved the book.
As stated Four Dark Nights is a collection of novellas by Bentley Little, Christopher Golden, Tom Piccirilli and Douglas Clegg. I bought the novel years ago thinking it would be cool to see how one tale flowed into the other but nope they’re all stand alone tales, three quarters of them subpar.
The Circle by Little was essentially three short stories that felt crammed together without reason. The usual ordinary turned creepy atmosphere is very present yet there’s zero narrative thread that works. Part one has a couple harassed by a feral child shitting attack beetles and diamonds (seriously), part two has boys attending a backyard altar of weirdness followed by essentially child porn and part three a hero’s tale. All taking place in a neighbourhood.
Pyre by Golden has a very unlikable protagonist somehow convince her ex best man friend to dig her father’s corpse up, bring it to an island and burn it hoping he’ll come back to life and tell her why he sucked as a dad. It gets more unbelievable from there. Which sucks because normally Golden is a sure thing for a good story.
Jonah Arose by Piccrilli made zero sense but was written like some wordy metaphor for the world. In honestly I’ve never been able to make heads or tails of anything he’s written, even his short stories leave me scratching my head. He writes well but not at all straightforward. This story has a guy searching for his stolen from the womb son in some imaginary carnival while freak ghosts haunt him. Which sounds cool but I had no idea what I’d just read at the end. Like the other novels and stories by him I’ve read.
The Words by Clegg was by far the best tale here, one of boyhood friendship and love, perverted by darkness. Two friends call forth some monsters into the world and it’s well written, creepy and believable in its delivery. I forgot just how talented a writer of suspenseful horror fiction he is.
Feel free to pass on this one and if you don’t just read the last novella. It’ll save you a disappointment headache.

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder* · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mix four masters of horror, give them free reign with their imaginations, and what do you have? A book worth reading, that's what!

Bentley Littles 'The Circle' starts off the fun. Although different, dark, twisted, and out there, it skids off the road a bit too much at times. I couldn't get into the characters, some of the imagery painted seemed overdone to the point of writing it just to shock the reader, and the ending left me disturbed, not necessarily in a good way.

Christopher Goldens' Pyre was an occupying, fascinating tale about a young girl who, after losing her father, goes over the edge to bring him back for a showdown. The theme was pure bliss, making me want to read more, more, and even more when it was all done with. The characters were convincingly written, multi-dimensional, and lingering. Goldens' writing style is both fierce and strong.

Tom Piccirilli's Jonah Arose is a mixed blessing. The story didn't do it for me, but it was written with a talented hand. The wording was as smooth as butter, the characterization was potent, and the ending strange. It just took a bit too long to get off, I was confused much of the time, since the tale was so 'out there'.

The last offering, Douglas Cleggs' The Words, ties in with Goldens as the winner. Intriguing, different, suspenseful, and creepy, it's a simple tale that holds much more beneath the surface.

In the mood for a good horror anthology? How can you go wrong with four in-depth novellas from these authors? Simple - you can't.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four Dark nights is collection of novellas by four of todays most popular authors.

"The Circle" by Bentley Little is a pretty wicked little tale of elder god worship in the suburbs and one night of horror ensuing from that. While it was entertaining it wasn't the best of Little's work I've read.

"Pyre" by Christopher Golden was also an interesting reading experience. Although, I can't see myself resurrecting my deceased father in order to find out why he didn't love me enough...
There's no pain so great that I would go into a graveyard at night so, therefore, I found it to be a bit of a strectch. Otherwise, the tale is well-written and deals with Viking legends and symbols and was pretty interesting from that point.

"Jonah Arose" by Tom Piccirilli...this was my least favorite of the stories in this volume...I have liked other work by this author but while reading this one I felt disconnected from the story and the protagonist...it was a struggle for me to get through.

"The Words" by Douglas Clegg...an outstanding tale that was thouroughly enjoyable and kept me hooked from the get-go. Every time I read something new by Clegg I can understand why he's receiving all the acclaim he is. While I have enjoyed most of his novels I really enjoy his shorter works...he's a grand master at them and that is possibly why he featured so often in the Year's Best Fantasy and Horror editions.

[William M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This anthology is a mixed bag. While Bentley Little's Novella is easily the most original, fun, and scary of the bunch, Christopher Golden gets the runner up. Tom Piccirilli, as usual, has the best writing, but his story and style doesn't seem to fit with the others in this collection. Simon Clark or Scott Nicholson would have been a better choice to fit in. Finally, Douglas Clegg's "The Words", was my least favorite, rehashing old themes from Lovecraft. Clegg is a solid writer, but whenever he goes into his abstract prose, it just becomes clumsy and confusing. Still, this book is definitely worth reading, if for no other reason than to see the different styles and techniques of today's best horror writers.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Third story by Tom Piccirilli easily the best of the four short stories (novellas). Enjoyed the other three, but was completely hypnotized by Piccirilli's story. As with nearly everything else I've read by him. If you haven't read him you REALLY should. I started with 'A Choir of Ill Children'. He's like nothing you've ever read. Difficult to label for sure. But so worth every read. He doesn't waste a single word. Just beautiful and amazing work. Check him out. You won't be sorry you did. You'll be addicted, but never sorry.

Three stars for the collection itself. Five stars for the Piccirilli story.

[Danielle]

I only read 1/2 of this book. It sucked! I read 2 of the 4 stories, and that was enough. I had to throw it in a corner in frustration! Very disappointing.

[Ash · Rating 3 out of 5]

So to start off I have had this book for at least ten years. It has sat on my shelf, and ten years ago I attempted to read it at least four times. Today I completed what I couldn’t a decade ago.
So - was it good? Eh.

The Circle by Bentley Little.
We follow three different characters, Helen, Frank and Gil. All three live in the same neighborhood and chaos erupts in one night. During the day Helen finds a boy who shits diamonds, until shit hits the fan. Frank learns about a neighbor’s backyard shrine that can grant a wish if asked right, and Gil is Frank’s father who is in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I used to love Little as an author but as I get older I find his books very disjointed. This is no exception. I felt Helen had little to nothing to do with Frank and Gil. If he wanted three different POVs from the same night, he could have removed Gil or Frank and just used a different neighbor. This could have either been expanded on for a full novel or totally revamped to make a little more sense. This was a 2 out of 5.


“Pyre” by Christopher Golden
Sam’s father has just passed away and filled with guilt, questions and anger she decides to bring a friend, grave rob and take the corpse with her to a vacation town in the hopes of bringing her father back to ask him some questions.

I think this was my least favorite of the four. It is the definition of “that escalated quickly.” Sam had seen what she believes are witches or Valkyries on an island during a freak accident in high school and thinks that without any additional prompting that she can recreate this to bring her father back just to see if he ever loved her. So I understand that grief and loss makes us do strange things, but truly I could not wrap my head around this one. Everyone felt so one dimensional. I hated the ending. I honestly would have totally skipped this one if I knew it was so bland. This was a 0.5 out of 5.


“Jonah Arose” by Tom Piccirilli.
Our MC is a former child pastor, turned alcoholic, turned carnie, then is headed into the Works to find his father, who has stolen his son, Jonah. He brings his side show friends with him for support and inside the Works, things get weird.

I really enjoyed this one; there was a lot going on, but paced appropriately so you just kept wondering where we were going next. I’m also personally a sucker for circus and religious horror so the combo had me in a vice grip. Without spoiling the end, because to me this is the one that had a better ending, I really enjoyed the fucked up imagery of the Works as a setting and would like to read a full novel in that setting. I would give this a 4.5 out of 5.


“The Words” by Douglas Clegg
Mark and Dash are friends, as close as brothers. They’re both outsiders growing up with unique and niche interests like cults, drugs and dark magic.

That’s probably all I can and should say. I also very much enjoyed this one; again call me a sucker for a bad ending but I liked Dash as a character who got too far roped into vintage cult shit. You spend a lot of the story being unsure what is actually real or what is just a lie that Dash is telling from his own fucked up mind. This is also the only story that doesn’t really focus on a father figure; so points for that! My score for this would be a 4 out of five.


So my final score would put this at a fair 3 or 3.5 out of 5. Personally I feel the second two stories are far stronger than the first two. If you like an easy horror read.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ah, the early 2000s. I don't know that I appreciated the contemporary horror scene at the time, but Four Dark Nights, a collection of novellas published in 2003 by prominent genre writers of the era, felt darkly nostalgic. I was a mall goth with a collection of Rob Zombie and The Crow posters decorating my room, and I could see myself huddled on my bed with a book like this in my idyllic middle-class clutches, telling myself how superior I was to the sheeple around me who wore bright clothes like the world was a pleasant place. Memories.

"The Circle" by Bentley Little - I'm familiar with Little from having picked up a collection of his short stories (aptly titled The Collection) from a Target or something. It was my first exposure to an author who came up with truly bizarre ideas. His novella here is actually a collection of three short stories told from different points of view, all revolving around a dilapidated shack in a typical suburban neighborhood that seems to be a nexus point for the magic of the unfriendly neighborhood witch. Lots of weird sex and murder ensues. This is of its time in that it employs the "grotesequely-overweight-and-therefore-evil" trope that became common in horror during the splatterpunk era, and for a long time it was the only representation us fatties really got, apart from being the horny but luckless best friend of slasher movies. The first story is only tangentially related to the larger narrative, which is odd; I think Little could have more effectively used that time to set up the character of the neighborhood, perhaps punctuating the quotidian scenes of existence with unsettling moments before things get balls-to-the-wall strange. But I did enjoy the three stories on their own. 3.5/5

"The Pyre" by Christopher Golden - Golden is the other author in this tetralogy I was previously familiar with. He's one of those guys who pops up in every other horror short story anthology you read, his name is on many of the comics in the Buffy collections I picked up after rewatching the show, and I read his novel Straight on 'Til Morning on the recommendation of some book forum or other. (It's yet another dark interpretation of the Peter Pan mythos; I don't recall being especially enamored with it.) The Pyre is about a young woman who can't sort through her grief after her toxic -if-not-abusive father dies, and she views a local legend about a spot where Vikings brought their dead back to life as her ticket to getting closure. And they say men will do anything to avoid going to therapy. Golden's prose is the weakest of the featured authors; he composes sentences in the most inelegant way possible sometimes, stuff like, "She felt she ought to be crying, but her eyes would not attain sufficient moisture to achieve the desired effect, despite her repeatedly summoning whatever god of tears might be listening for such pleas of the misbegotten." I made that up but it's sorta how the work feels from time to time. I understand what Golden was aiming for in terms of the protagonist's conflicted psychological state, but I had a hard time buying it; the rendition felt superficial. I understand that it can be difficult to detach from parents when they run hot and cold, or when they are manipulative, but the father seemed like too much of an unambiguous jerk to have exerted this continuing grip on the MC by the time she was an adult. He needed a shot of charisma, the kind of guy who makes you feel like a million bucks when the sun shines and then ignores or lashes out at you once the clouds roll in. Still, the payoff was fun enough that I'd still recommend The Pyre. 3/5

"Jonah Arose" by Tom Piccirilli - I mentioned splatterpunk earlier; this is that. It's a surreal story about a man who travels around with a weird circus and is sorta hunting for his murderous evangelical father or something. It was okay. The bulk of the graphic violence is inflicted on women, and it has that uncomfortable does-the-author-think-he's-commenting-on-misogyny-or-is-he-just-engaging-in-it vibe. 2.5/5

"The Words" by Douglas Clegg - My favorite, though I'm biased because I gravitate to stories about teens. The hapless protagonist falls in with a fellow high school misfit, one who seems more interested in ancient rites and theologies than your typical edgelord--maybe he's taking it all a bit too seriously? It feels like a coming-of-age story that gets violently aborted by Cthulu mythos. 4/5

[Dustin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one has been on my shelf for some time and I happened to notice the other day that it contains novellas by Douglass Clegg, Tom Piccirilli, and Jonathan Maberry all of whom I've never read and been meaning to check out for some time--so on the Halloween reading pile it went as it had a nice suitable theme for the month of October.
Bentley Little opens the collection with a fine enough story, one that leans as far into bizarro fiction as he has ever gone (that I'm aware of) and while it's not his most satisfying or memorable story it has a few truly creepy moments. Maberry's story is superbly written and is pretty unique. Pic's story is...bizarre. But it works, mostly. It's a great addition to carny horror. The star of the show for this one is Clegg's closing novella, "Words". This is supernatural occult horror that channels Lovecraft without ripping him off, it's black metal horror with a hint of light, it's...really friggin' good. By ending with it fresh in my mind I was briefly tempted to give this book 4 stars but given that the three preceding tales were good but not great I'll keep it at a solid 3. Well worth your time if you're a horror fiction fan and I'll be reading novel length works by all of these gents in the near future.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[John Bruni · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing line up! Hands down, though, my favorite of the bunch is Tom Piccirilli's "Jonah Arose." I swear to you, if you find another story like it, I will kiss my own ass. It's one of the greatest things I've ever read. A man who was a child preacher is on the hunt for his father, who stole his son, in the middle of the filthiest, most depraved neighborhood you can imagine, along with his circus sideshow friends. Of course, it lives up to the great Jim Thompson rule, that nothing is as it seems. By the time this novella is finished, your life will be changed. Plus, it contains one of the most inventive ways of killing someone I've read in a while, and I've read a lot of inventive ways to kill people. My second favorite is Bentley Little's "The Circle." As always, he is very good at taking something that should seem silly or even cliched and making it seem so incredibly insidious that it's crazy. He's also as ruthless as ever with his tale of a neighborhood shrine and a group of kids who only want to get laid (but of course get screwed). Douglas Clegg gives us the greatest thing he's ever written with "The Words." I connected with it very well because Mark and Dash's relationship is very reminiscent of a relationship I had when I was in high school. Clegg remembers what it was like to be young, and he showcases it well in this novella. It is a hell of a horror tale. Christopher Golden's "Pyre," which I liked least, is still pretty good. The protagonist is very unlikable, to the point where you're wondering why you're reading the story, but the journey is worth it.

[Debra]

Stephen King recommended author. He says: "BEST OUTRIGHT HORROR NOVELIST. Bentley Little, in a walk. Don't know Bentley Little? You're not alone. He's probably the genre's best-kept secret, but at least 10 of his novels are available in paperback; you can pick up three for the price of that flashy new hardcover you've got your eye on. The best thing about Little is that he can go from zero to surreal in 6.0 seconds. My favorites are The Store (think Wal-Mart run by SAYYY-tan) and Dispatch, in which a young fellow discovers that his letters to the editor actually get things done. Bad things."

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stories were good, some not.
I did not like the 3rd story. Unsure who it was by. It was about some strange carny guy going into a building called the Works. I hate to leave a story unfinished. However, I got about halfway through the story and decided I shouldn't be wasting my time on something I didn't enjoy. So I actually stopped reading it and moved onto the last story. This was a very rare event.

[Lolapaige · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bentley Little as usual drug out his story with pointless obscene sexual situations. Pyre was a little on the boring side, Jonah Arose was okay although I did expect more of Tom Piccarilli. The Words was the best story by far but even it couldn't save this collection.

[Daniel Drago · Rating 3 out of 5]

None of the stories were exceptional with Little's and Clegg's being the two stronger titles. Dissapointed with Tom' Piccirilli's story as he is one of my favorite authors but his contribution was a tad to eccentric for my tastes.

[Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

One story each by 4 different horror authors, cool idea, but it felt like a b-sides compilation.

[Eric Blood · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the Bentley Little story in the book, but I couldn't really get into the rest.

[Erica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read better stories by each of the authors, but the book was ok.

[October · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. I liked the last story the best, but would have liked it to keep going. I have read better stories from each of the writers.

[A. Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book and I liked all of the novellas. My favorites were the two by Little and Clegg. A very good book overall.

[Blake Pablo - Jerome · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first two stories were definitely mediocre. I haven't read anything by Little that I've been impressed with so far. The last couple of stories were good, but I don't care to elaborate right now.

[Brett]

Horror,Anthology

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read better by Bentley Little and the other stories didn't thrill me either.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good read for the fall season, just wish there had been a little more of each.