Prefaced with an intriguing author’s note that gives a great insight into the basis of this collection, All Who Wander Are Lost is a rumination on travel, tourists and strange destinations. Danger, monsters and nightmares made real abound in this cleverly crafted book.
Opening with a truly unique story, There’s Something In First Landing State Park contains so many potential readings. Following Melanie, a restless traveller, as she journeys to America on another jaunt, it’s clear she carries the weight of trauma. But, what seems like an innocuous visit turns suddenly with the appearance of a bizarre man spied from Melanie’s hotel window. When she and her friend visit the local swamp of First Landing State Park that first, ignored sighting comes back to bite in awful ways. Playing on ideas of invasive species and the natural instincts to survive, free of motivation, there’s the sense of otherness couched in the story; of people seeking new land and their destructive differences and those unmoored from the things that bind us.
An epistolary story set in 1888, Let Sleeping Gods Lie once again builds to a terrifying close. There to dig and learn about the ancient pharaohs, an archaeologist is on the hunt for a hidden burial ground. The juxtaposition between his very English roots and his sweltering, Egyptian location adds a wonderful quality to the story but it’s what he finds deep in the ground that makes it such a great tale.
Like a fever dream let loose, A Song For Sam sees two brothers tasked with their dead father’s final wish and forced to travel together. Bitter and filled with hatred for Sean, his younger brother, Sam is determined to kill him. The unbridled anger morphs and warps under the aurora of Norwegian skies becoming hallucinatory. Madness and memory intermingles becoming something quite strange but nonetheless brilliant.
Another standout in the collection, The Ancient Ram Inn manages to defy expectations brilliantly. When a group of friends visit a pub, notorious for its haunted grounds, on Halloween the atmosphere curdles as soon as they cross the threshold. Turning the traditional ghost story on its head, it accelerates into the twist quickly and perfectly. Whilst less about travelling as some of the other stories are, it’s take on voyeuristic tourism sets the tone only for it to become a truly nightmarish tale; one of regret and remorse and shameful acceptance.
The final story in the book, Christmas in Antarctica is a gripping mash up of folk lore and eldritch horror. A travel addict, albeit one who can afford to go places, Jen sees an advert for an Antarctic tour in one of her many magazines. When her boyfriend, Ash, offers to help her achieve the dream Christmas trip, the pair set off to find a way to make it happen. From Argentina, they manage to score price reduced tickets aboard a huge ex- hydrographic research ship repurposed for tourists. As the pair embark on what should be weeks of wonderful memories, Jen encounters a strange, almost inhuman figure on her first night. That sighting and the consequential chaos that ensues is terrifyingly captivating. Horrifying violence and creatures beyond comprehension turn the journey into a fight for survival as the story churns up the idea of “careful what you wish for” and chums the icy waters with it.
A fantastic collection, each one peopled with brilliant characters and wild changes, there’s a style, here, that is perfect for short horror stories. Well crafted and gripping, All Who Wander Are Lost is a dark and captivating anthology.
Review copy
Published by Cemetery Gates
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