Deep in the Darkness
By Michael Laimo

     This book slices through the reader with a sharp edge of horror. Deep in the Darkness is not just creepy; it is beyond creepy.

      It’s not that we haven’t seen this type of story before. We have. Many times. A good family, innocent of any particular wrongdoing, settles in a small, remote town where bad things begin to happen. In this case, some very bad things. And then, of course, the family becomes cut off from transportation, communication, and all obvious sources of help or redemption from the evil that progressively surrounds them. They become isolated, in the extreme.

     “Isolated” is a perfect word to describe this family, for they are plagued by a nasty bunch of creatures known as “The Isolates,” who not only terrorize our heroes, but who have ruled the unfortunate inhabitants of this small town for decades, somehow never fully revealing themselves to any public beyond the confined borders of their small community.

      Mr. Laimo has a gift for characterization, and that is what makes the book all the more disturbing. He does so in mostly narrative form, and it is easy to care about the new doctor in town, his loving wife, and cute little daughter. And if these people were not so carefully drawn, then the story would fail, for the reader would probably care less whether these good people might live through these terrors or not. I cared about them, and that is what kept me reading.

      Make no mistake; some of the scenes in this book are hard to take. I found myself in that odd position of not wanting to turn the next page, but also dying to know what happens next. I have not read a horror novel so disturbing in this way since Pet Sematary by Stephen King. Deep in the Darkness has the same feel. It is entirely disquieting.

      On the cover of this book, the publisher indicates that the story was a finalist in the “Bram Stoker Awards.” Honestly, if this one was just one of the finalists, then I’m not sure I would have the nerves necessary to read the winners of that contest. If this is the kind of story you like, then this is one of the best from recent years. But be warned; it will keep you turning the pages late at night until the very end.