Review of Jonathan Maberry’s Dead Man’s Song

If you haven’t discovered Jonathan Maberry, you are in for a treat! He has quickly become my second favorite horror writer next to the King. The man is a horror writing genius, and I can’t tell you enough how much I enjoy his work. He creates real visceral scenes of horror which are all the more poignant for his wonderful character development and investment (even in the folks who are not long for this world). If you haven’t read Ghost Road Blues, make sure you read that first, as Dead Man’s Song is the second in a trilogy about the haunting town of Pine Deep and the beset characters therein. Honestly, I have never been as chilled from Vampires and their like since reading Salem’s Lot when I was thirteen. The evil is so total and ravenous that reading Maberry is like a blast of fresh October air in a genre which is so saturated with writing that makes the baroque and gruesome seem mundane. The promises of slow creeping horror from the first novel continue to deliver. The only thing that hinders this wonderful read is a slow paced central section of the novel, and some gratuitous scenes which do not necessarily build to the wonderful final section. That said, the character investment in Crow, Val and all the others is so intense, the pay off is all the more sweet. I can only tell you that if you are feeling a little bogged down with the sometimes minute by minute description of these characters trying to process what is happening to them, read on. The fantastic horror becomes all the more real because of it. I look forward to the reading of the final volume of this trilogy and reading all of Maberry’s work as soon as I can.