The Sorrows – Jonathan Janz
The Sorrows, an island off the coast of northern California, and its castle have been uninhabited since a series of gruesome murders in 1925. But its owner needs money, so he allows film composers Ben and Eddie and a couple of their female friends to stay a month in Castle Blackwood. Eddie is certain a haunted castle is just the setting Ben needs to find inspiration for a horror film.
But what they find is more horrific than any movie. Something is waiting for them in the castle. A malevolent being has been trapped for nearly a century. And he’s ready to feed.
My thanks to Flame Tree Press for my review copy and to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for the chance to join this tour.
I find horror tales to be the most unpredictable reads in my tbr pile. With a crime thriller you generally know what to expect, adventure stories feature the “untouchable” heroes and psychological thrillers are twisty unexpected tales where the lead character will usually prevail in the end. In a horror story – all bets are off.
My favourite chilling tales are the haunted house stories where the menace is hidden, subtle and is slowly revealed. But there is very much a place on my bookshelves for a “schlock horror” where everything is bloody and brutal and the story has zero subtlety.
So what of The Sorrows? This one evolved as the story developed. Early indications were that this would be a subtle read. Four key characters in a remote location. Each brings their personal demons to a large lonely castle on a quite island off the coast of California. The aim is to produce the score for a forthcoming horror film – the creepy location to inspire the creative process for the composers.
At first the castle seems to be tormenting each of the residents, apparitions or memories will surface. Footsteps stopping outside a locked bedroom door but no sound of the person leaving again. The castle has a dark history and it soon becomes apparent that our residents are in grave danger. However, it is hard to feel too sorry for one of the guests as he really does not come across as a nice guy. Heavily in debt and unable to convince his father to bail him out of his latest predicament – the castle presents a haven to escape the unwelcome attentions of the debt collectors. If something bad were to happen to this chap it may make for entertaining retribution!
Happily Jonathan Janz knows how to deliver the chills. The subtle chills give way to monster perils, the danger full and bloody and very much in your face. The tone of the story changes up once the scene has been set and the back stories established. Danger escalates, terror increases and the psychological chiller gives way to a brutal battle with a demonic entity.
The unpredicability of the story kept me reading, I wanted to see which of the characters may survive and which would meet a grim fate. It is the eternal lure of a horror tale – we know there is a “big bad” out there and that not every character will make it to the end of the story…the fun is seeing what may happen.
The Sorrows is published by Flame Tree Press and releases on 30 November 2018 in paperback and digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sorrows-Fiction-Without-Frontiers-ebook/dp/B07JGDX81V/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1543257520&sr=8-1&keywords=the+sorrows+janz