(Title: Smoker on the Porch / Author: Dom Watson / Publisher: Self Published / Total Pages: 350)
Back Cover Blurb
1989. Suffolk, England.
All the children saw it. Out there, in the night-time swirl of dreamy sleep. The House of Sweet Things. It promised full bellies forever.
On the periphery of childhood to adolescence, Jake and his friends wonder where their lives are heading. An accidental encounter with Francis William Biggot propels them into a battle for their souls. Not just their own, nut those of the whole world.
Jake will face a choice and a journey like no other, Be at Biggot's side and have the power of a god, or be a boy.
Review
This is the second book that I've read by Dom Watson after 2020's The Boy Who Walked Too Far and I have to say he definitely knows how to craft a creepy and fantastical story. His books kind of remind me of Clive Barker in that they have some horror elements but also inject a good amount of fantasy and also weird fiction. So I like that his stories often span genres and don't adhere to a specific theme or formula. SMOKER ON THE PORCH is no different in that respect.
This book sort of has a Something Wicked This Way Comes (minus the carnival) as well as a Stranger Things feel to it. Something in the small town isn't right and it seems that only the troubled adolescents who live there can see it. We've all seen this style of storytelling before but it's always effective because it hits in such a familiar place of childhood fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of the creepy house on the corner which we all imagined might hold something mysterious and terrifying. It just works.
As these kids start to get a clearer picture of the possible evil existing side by side with them every day the novel goes from creepy to a sort of cosmic horror fantasy that I couldn't tear myself away from. We know that eventually there will be a final confrontation and that expectation and gradual buildup is paid off brilliantly by Dom Watson and I have to say that this story really grabbed me because Watson continually kept up the air of mystery and suspense the entire way through.
This was a very fast-paced read that delivered the scares but also put forth some powerful and upsetting backstories of the main characters, many of whom had some real life demons to deal with on top of the supernatural ones lurking in the shadows. Getting to experiencing their very real trauma upped the investment because there was an undeniable emotional bond there that was hard to shake as I progressed through each goosebump-inducing chapter.
Ultimately I found SMOKER ON THE PORCH to be a thrilling, sometimes disturbing, coming of age horror fantasy that brought back all of those bump in the night feels that scared the daylights out of me growing up. And I suspect that's exactly what author Dom Watson was going for. Pick this book up if you enjoy your reads entertaining while also being a little on the unsettling side.
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