About a month ago I attended a mass signing of horror writers to kick off the 2011 Bram Stoker Awards. Needless to say, I was excited. Many of my favorite horror writers were in attendance. The turnout was nothing great, however, upon going to the event, I read the list of writers who were attending, went into my book collection and gathered up all the books I owned by writers who were going to be there. Before I entered the main ballroom, I was standing in the hallway alone when a man approached me. We began talking, and he introduced himself as James Chambers. The name at first did not ring a bell, that is until I entered the ballroom and saw the book cover to his latest book of shorts titled The Engines of Sacrifice. The day before the event, Dark Regions had sent me a copy of the book for review and I threw it into my backpack. I was a bit embarrassed that his name did not ring a bell right away, however James was a great guy and seemed surprised when I took his book out of my bag. He signed it for me and I told him I would cover the book for The Horror Review soon.
I now keep that promise.
If H.P Lovecraft were alive today, he would have some competition.
The Engines of Sacrifice contains four stories. All of them have to do with the occult and the unknown. The first story, Investigation 37, is about a young woman, Lavender May, and her dark journey into the occult told though the eyes of the private investigator searching for her. The Ugly Birds is about a man trying to save his small press publication. Unfortunately for him, the best storyteller and artist he needs to save the magazine happens to be his ex-fiancée. Her husband is into the occult to the point of no return. The Hidden Room is about just that, a hidden room. The story revolves around a doctor who is a member of the Nuclear Emergency Search Team. When people he knows go missing and he begins to see things, he will do anything to find out the truth. The Engines of Sacrifice, the final and the best story, is about the end of the world, where a cult has taken over, and a man whose writings seem to be able to bring forth the gods and demons of other worlds and dimensions.
The stories seem to all go right into one another. It is like they are all the same story of the same kind of darkness that seems to plague the characters, although the stories take place in different times. Chambers seems to have done a lot of research on the occult and mythology. There is a lot going on in each of these stories. This is not a book that you can mindlessly read through. It is one of those books that if you decided to skip around, you’ll miss important key elements to the stories. These stories are deep. I’m not saying that it is a hard read, but it is both character and plot driven. There is a lot of detail to which readers need to pay attention.
If you’re a fan of H.P. Lovecraft, you’ll be a fan of James Chambers. I’m not a hardcore Lovecraft fan, but I have read and know enough of his work to make the comparison. I’ve read a lot of other writers’ work that have been heavily influenced by Lovecraft. However, James Chambers is the first whose work I actually feel comfortable saying is close to Lovecraft’s. I don’t want to take anything away from Chambers as a writer, but the influence of Lovecraft is heavy.
This is a very well-written book. There is a lot of creativity and detail in the stories and I really enjoy the journey into darkness on which it took me. All of the stories take place in a fictional town on Long Island. I live on Long Island and know a lot about this part of New York. Although Chambers takes the liberty to create a fictional town, I understood most of the references. That not only made this book even better for me, but I got a lot more out of it for living here. This is one of those books that just sucks you in and does not let go until it is all over. I highly recommend this book for readers that enjoy Lovecraft or really like deep, detailed stories that are both plot- and character-driven.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
