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Mother
Like the universe itself, the world of relationships can be mysterious, terrifying, beautiful, and ever-expansive. Within the cocoon of a marriage, the bond between two people can become predatory, often selfish. Emotions become conniving, thoughts turn deadly. And if that swirling organism of love and anguish blurs into the dark realm of the supernatural, anything can happen…
50 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2015
7 people are currently reading
782 people want to read
About the author
Philip Fracassi
73 books1,877 followersPHILIP FRACASSI is the Bram Stoker and British Fantasy Award-nominated author of the novels A Child Alone with Strangers, Gothic, Boys in the Valley, The Third Rule of Time Travel, and The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre. He is also the author of the story collections Behold the Void, Beneath a Pale Sky, and No One is Safe!
His stories have been published in numerous magazines and anthologies, including Black Static, Best Horror of the Year, Nightmare Magazine, Interzone, and Southwest Review.
Philip lives in Los Angeles and is represented by Copps Literary Services, Circle M + P, and WME. You can find him on Facebook, Instagram, and Bluesky, or visit pfracassi.com.
His stories have been published in numerous magazines and anthologies, including Black Static, Best Horror of the Year, Nightmare Magazine, Interzone, and Southwest Review.
Philip lives in Los Angeles and is represented by Copps Literary Services, Circle M + P, and WME. You can find him on Facebook, Instagram, and Bluesky, or visit pfracassi.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
October 31, 2022
Howard and Julie’s relationship is deteriorating and he is beginning to notice that she is changing in puzzling ways. An interesting horror novelette that begins with the familiar and slowly develops into the uncanny. No big shocks but a growing feeling that something is not right, that something horrific is going to happen. I believe this is the author’s first dip into the horror genre, and I can’t help feeling he will become a master of it in time. A quick and interesting read!
November 3, 2015
In his novelette Mother, Fracassi leads you into a living room that seems so familiar, so normal, so lovely. On closer inspection, the expensive curtains are rotting, the doilies are moth eaten, and there is a strange, dark stain on the carpet. Could be blood. Could be mud. The former would be less terrifying than the latter. Mother is a story of domestic collapse at the fringe of the known world that recalls the thematic brutality of Nathan Ballingrud and Karl Edward Wagner. This one will sneak up on you.
October 9, 2016
I've enjoyed this one considerably better than Fracassi's other novelette Altar (which makes me think I should review my rating criterias). A classic Gothic tale in the vein of Edgar Allan Poe with a touch of supernatural/cosmic horror. Very much a one sitting read. There was influence of Daphne Du Maurier and John Fowles too. MOTHER was intimate, uncomfortable and increasingly creepy. If you're alone on Halloween night pour yourself a glass of bourbon and read this bad boy.
March 8, 2018
Someone should've warned me.
This is the first thing I e ever read by this author. I would/will read more by him.
This is the story of Julie & Hoawrd, from the time they start dating all the way to their first child. I liked this story, it was very artistic and written well. I just wished someone had warned me of the ending. Damn devil beast ugh!! No thank you good sir! I don't like them in real life and I sure as hell ain't gonna read a book about them! Lol but I am glad I read this one. Halloweekly horror book club on FB.
This is the first thing I e ever read by this author. I would/will read more by him.
This is the story of Julie & Hoawrd, from the time they start dating all the way to their first child. I liked this story, it was very artistic and written well. I just wished someone had warned me of the ending. Damn devil beast ugh!! No thank you good sir! I don't like them in real life and I sure as hell ain't gonna read a book about them! Lol but I am glad I read this one. Halloweekly horror book club on FB.
December 17, 2016
Relationships, and especially marriage, take their toll on the psyche. Phillip Fracassi’s novellete, Mother, examines the gradual breakdown of a marriage from the perspective of a rather unlikable, but very realistic, protagonist: Howard. The ride through terror is excellently foreshadowed from the first line: “I know Julie loved me once.” From there, we are completely in Fracassi’s crafty hands.
Nobody wants to be an active participant in the dissolution of a relationship, at least, we can accept that people who invest time in the relationships genuinely want them to endure. Howard, by most standards, is an exceptionally repulsive man, as we can identify how his personality directly unwinds Julie’s. We are helpless to save Julie from herself and from Howard; we want redemptive love between these characters and a sort of compromise, but the only compromise is that both parties are rather helpless against their own psychological issues. Readers can easily determine how Julie might better help herself and the marriage, but Fracassi is able to depict the powerlessness that freezes abusive relationships, and the true horror of helplessness.
In the Gothic tradition, the metaphor is stretched from the delicate handling of psychosis damage. Even as Julie attempts to seek assistance from the arcane, we are offered the parallelism of the original supernatural nature of love’s invisible power, and the power of invisible horror, (SPOILER) which translates itself into the physical monstrosity.
An intelligent read that is never pretentious in its approach by being accessible and allowing the audience to infer the horror rather than have it shoved down their throats. Fracassi knows how to involve the reader in the unravelling, and, as a married man with children, the connections I can make to my revulsion for Howard kept me turning the pages because I wanted both characters to heal. I felt as if I witnessed two friends meet and then fall apart, and neither of them would listen to what I had to say. Howard and Julie were both helpless against themselves.
(Four stars because I hated Howard like I have hated no living person I have known, otherwise, easily a five star book. The fact that I hated Howard so much is a testament to Fracassi’s skill, because Howard’s actions were believable).
Nobody wants to be an active participant in the dissolution of a relationship, at least, we can accept that people who invest time in the relationships genuinely want them to endure. Howard, by most standards, is an exceptionally repulsive man, as we can identify how his personality directly unwinds Julie’s. We are helpless to save Julie from herself and from Howard; we want redemptive love between these characters and a sort of compromise, but the only compromise is that both parties are rather helpless against their own psychological issues. Readers can easily determine how Julie might better help herself and the marriage, but Fracassi is able to depict the powerlessness that freezes abusive relationships, and the true horror of helplessness.
In the Gothic tradition, the metaphor is stretched from the delicate handling of psychosis damage. Even as Julie attempts to seek assistance from the arcane, we are offered the parallelism of the original supernatural nature of love’s invisible power, and the power of invisible horror, (SPOILER) which translates itself into the physical monstrosity.
An intelligent read that is never pretentious in its approach by being accessible and allowing the audience to infer the horror rather than have it shoved down their throats. Fracassi knows how to involve the reader in the unravelling, and, as a married man with children, the connections I can make to my revulsion for Howard kept me turning the pages because I wanted both characters to heal. I felt as if I witnessed two friends meet and then fall apart, and neither of them would listen to what I had to say. Howard and Julie were both helpless against themselves.
(Four stars because I hated Howard like I have hated no living person I have known, otherwise, easily a five star book. The fact that I hated Howard so much is a testament to Fracassi’s skill, because Howard’s actions were believable).
August 2, 2016
Horror that sneaks up on you. A smashing debut!
Parenthood horrors come into reality for one couple, when they decide to bring a child into the world. but their world is a deadly mess. The authors poetic touch of creepy yet disturbing times are told with a vivid touch of the unimaginably ways. With a classic touch of horror Fracassi gives praise to "Mother," the birth of a child and a nightmare for parenting...
Parenthood horrors come into reality for one couple, when they decide to bring a child into the world. but their world is a deadly mess. The authors poetic touch of creepy yet disturbing times are told with a vivid touch of the unimaginably ways. With a classic touch of horror Fracassi gives praise to "Mother," the birth of a child and a nightmare for parenting...
February 27, 2017
One of the creepiest novellas I've ever read. Fracassi is a master at building suspense and terror.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
February 17, 2016
"Mother" is a novelette that, if read carefully, will make one look askance at things like parenthood and marriage. In other words, it sets out to make you uncomfortable with cherished societal roles and it succeeds in spades.
I'm not going to go into the details too much here, save to say that our narrator weds a perfectly lovely woman, and eventually fathers a child. Anything more than that and I would be worried I would give too much away. It's a compact read with a powerful impact.
It seems nowadays, everything gets compared to Lovecraft, but I would put this more in line with the pre-Lovecraft Gothic tradition. It hearkens back to tales where evil witches ensorceled and readers were cautioned against trifling with the wrong people. But all with a very modern twist. As a writer, I've tackled the subject of male discomfort with pregnancy twice. Fracassi aims more at male fears of fatherhood.
There are also mythic overtones to this tale. If a reader is familiar with the idea that Lilith was Adam's "evil" and "unsubservient" first wife, this tale might serve as an example of what would have happened to Adam if God said, "Stick it out with her, buddy."
The ending is not entirely unexpected when you get towards the final pages, but the masterful way it is played out keeps you reading with a sense of trepidation. Everything in the story is deliberately and carefully laid out to build up to those final few pages. This story is a perfect example of why I think novellas are the best maximum length for most horror stories. A tale of domestic discord and parental fears could easily be turned into a full-length novel, in fact it has, many times, but Fracassi wisely condenses his tale for absolute maximum impact. Not to say I don't like horror novels, but shorter forms are usually ideal for this kind of material.
Fracassi is not a newcomer, as he's written novels and for film, but he is a newcomer to the horror field. A first try like this one bodes very well for his future in the genre. I suspect that, before too long, Fracassi's name will be nestled cozily alongside folks like Laird Barron, whose blurb on this book is spot-on.
I give this my highest recommendation, without hesitation. You can't ask for a better horror debut and, when you turn the final page, be prepared to cast a mighty suspicious eye on your loved ones. Who knows what secrets they may harbor?
I'm not going to go into the details too much here, save to say that our narrator weds a perfectly lovely woman, and eventually fathers a child. Anything more than that and I would be worried I would give too much away. It's a compact read with a powerful impact.
It seems nowadays, everything gets compared to Lovecraft, but I would put this more in line with the pre-Lovecraft Gothic tradition. It hearkens back to tales where evil witches ensorceled and readers were cautioned against trifling with the wrong people. But all with a very modern twist. As a writer, I've tackled the subject of male discomfort with pregnancy twice. Fracassi aims more at male fears of fatherhood.
There are also mythic overtones to this tale. If a reader is familiar with the idea that Lilith was Adam's "evil" and "unsubservient" first wife, this tale might serve as an example of what would have happened to Adam if God said, "Stick it out with her, buddy."
The ending is not entirely unexpected when you get towards the final pages, but the masterful way it is played out keeps you reading with a sense of trepidation. Everything in the story is deliberately and carefully laid out to build up to those final few pages. This story is a perfect example of why I think novellas are the best maximum length for most horror stories. A tale of domestic discord and parental fears could easily be turned into a full-length novel, in fact it has, many times, but Fracassi wisely condenses his tale for absolute maximum impact. Not to say I don't like horror novels, but shorter forms are usually ideal for this kind of material.
Fracassi is not a newcomer, as he's written novels and for film, but he is a newcomer to the horror field. A first try like this one bodes very well for his future in the genre. I suspect that, before too long, Fracassi's name will be nestled cozily alongside folks like Laird Barron, whose blurb on this book is spot-on.
I give this my highest recommendation, without hesitation. You can't ask for a better horror debut and, when you turn the final page, be prepared to cast a mighty suspicious eye on your loved ones. Who knows what secrets they may harbor?
February 21, 2016
Skillful quiet horror that creeps up on you, eerily building under the surface until the climax. At that point every dam has been broken and we graphically discover the true terror of it all. Trials and tribulations of a head over heels relationship and the subsequent marriage between Howard and Julie set the stage for the sinister finish of their connection to each other.
One of many quotable passages: “She would sing softly on her walks, as well. Her voice would trail back to me as she’d venture deeper into the woods, a slim tendril of melody that pierced my mind like a long, cold thread, disorienting my senses, as if the mystery of her was more than my mind could absorb.”
This short story effectively inhabits a space that fuses the classic with more modern esoteric writing. Recommended!
One of many quotable passages: “She would sing softly on her walks, as well. Her voice would trail back to me as she’d venture deeper into the woods, a slim tendril of melody that pierced my mind like a long, cold thread, disorienting my senses, as if the mystery of her was more than my mind could absorb.”
This short story effectively inhabits a space that fuses the classic with more modern esoteric writing. Recommended!
October 27, 2015
A great little gem of a story that's as much an examination of a deteriorating relationship as it is about the monstrous, occult and Gothic. Fracassi's prose is simple and elegant, and there are some really beautiful, evocative turns of phrase and linguistic gems in here that creep up on you as you're immersed in the story, like:
"There was a spindly blue creek that trickled deep within the throat of the forest, an afterthought to the wild swath of vegetation, a varicose vein in Mother Nature's swollen green thigh".
An attractive publication from Dunhams Manor Press, whose releases are always a pleasure to read and always look great.
"There was a spindly blue creek that trickled deep within the throat of the forest, an afterthought to the wild swath of vegetation, a varicose vein in Mother Nature's swollen green thigh".
An attractive publication from Dunhams Manor Press, whose releases are always a pleasure to read and always look great.
October 26, 2017
Fracassi does it again!
Philip Fracassi has done it again! I read his book Altar and loved the way he hooked you in and never let go. Mother will not disappoint. A couple experiences the joys of marriage and parenting... until they don’t. Read it, share it with others. Great work!
Philip Fracassi has done it again! I read his book Altar and loved the way he hooked you in and never let go. Mother will not disappoint. A couple experiences the joys of marriage and parenting... until they don’t. Read it, share it with others. Great work!
Want to read
April 29, 2017HOW DO I GET YOU???
March 3, 2016
A GoodReads GiveAway
Here’s the opening line of this story: “I know Julie loved me once.”
This is a horror story.
Howard and Julie fall in love at first sight (kinda) and soon Howard proposes on the Merry-Go-Round.
Howard and Julie marry and live happily ever after. For a time.
Howard writes, “It was … the happiest we would ever be,” suggesting happiness could – would – go south.
One day Howard comes home from work to discover Julie lying on the couch, “…sunken in the shadows like a thing in wait of prey.”
Happiness is never the same after that.
Very dark imagery underscores the horror in this novelette. Consider this description of landscape for instance: “A broad expanse of leafy canopies, the aprons of a hundred towering witches hiding what lay nestled deep within the rotten crotch of mother nature.”
How’s that for grotesque imagery?
Then one day Howard finds Julie…
Well, you’ll see.
As it should, the sense of something wicked coming builds slowly.
Common horror motifs abound, especially when, after a particularly violent spat, Julies says, “Let’s have a baby.”
Ah-ha. Oh-oh.
Howard is certain – he bloody well knows – Julie is up to something unsavory when he sees pentagram-like symbols scribbled on the attic floor.
Have fun reading this story of incipient, irrevocable horror.
Although, if there’s even a slight tinge of arachnophobia in your nature, perhaps you ought to choose a different yarn.
Here’s the opening line of this story: “I know Julie loved me once.”
This is a horror story.
Howard and Julie fall in love at first sight (kinda) and soon Howard proposes on the Merry-Go-Round.
Howard and Julie marry and live happily ever after. For a time.
Howard writes, “It was … the happiest we would ever be,” suggesting happiness could – would – go south.
One day Howard comes home from work to discover Julie lying on the couch, “…sunken in the shadows like a thing in wait of prey.”
Happiness is never the same after that.
Very dark imagery underscores the horror in this novelette. Consider this description of landscape for instance: “A broad expanse of leafy canopies, the aprons of a hundred towering witches hiding what lay nestled deep within the rotten crotch of mother nature.”
How’s that for grotesque imagery?
Then one day Howard finds Julie…
Well, you’ll see.
As it should, the sense of something wicked coming builds slowly.
Common horror motifs abound, especially when, after a particularly violent spat, Julies says, “Let’s have a baby.”
Ah-ha. Oh-oh.
Howard is certain – he bloody well knows – Julie is up to something unsavory when he sees pentagram-like symbols scribbled on the attic floor.
Have fun reading this story of incipient, irrevocable horror.
Although, if there’s even a slight tinge of arachnophobia in your nature, perhaps you ought to choose a different yarn.
February 13, 2016
*I received a free copy of this book through Goodreads First Reads. I would like to thank Philip for the signed copy of his book.*
This novelette by Philip Fracassi was unsettling...in a good way. I love horror stories and horror movies, especially ones that have to do with the spiritual world and/or the occult. This book managed to give me a good horror story told in 40 pages.
You can read the rest of my review at https://bookwormontheblock.wordpress....
This novelette by Philip Fracassi was unsettling...in a good way. I love horror stories and horror movies, especially ones that have to do with the spiritual world and/or the occult. This book managed to give me a good horror story told in 40 pages.
You can read the rest of my review at https://bookwormontheblock.wordpress....
September 18, 2016
I don't really know where to start with this one. Creepy, tense, and disturbing. This is the kind of horror that forces you to keep reading despite yourself. The only way I can think to describe the writing style is deft. Fracassi is truly skilled at putting an edge on every line.
I'd really give this 3.5 if I could.
I'd really give this 3.5 if I could.
July 28, 2016
Fracassi manages to put more creeps and disturbing imagery in this short tale than some writers manage in a 500 page novel. Truly disturbing little nightmare.
May 13, 2016
Originally published at Risingshadow.
This is a joint review of Philip Fracassi's two horror stories, Altar and Mother.
I'm glad I had an opportunity to read and review these stories, because they're well written and intriguingly unsettling horror stories. They're among the best new horror stories I've ever read, because the author's dark imagination has produced something that is not easily forgotten.
After reading these stories, I can state that I consider Philip Fracassi to be one of the most promising and talented new horror authors to emerge during the recent years. He has his own writing style and he's capable of blending classic and modernt elements in a satisfyingly original way. His stories have a fascinating touch of creepiness found in old-fashioned horror stories and classic weird fiction. Along with Clint Smith, Livia Llewellyn, Michael Wehunt, Scott Nicolay, Laird Barron and Nathan Ballingrud, he's one of the best new authors of horror fiction, because his stories contain addictive weird fiction elements.
Because I've been a dedicated fan of weird fiction for a long time, I was impressed by these stories. I found them fully satisfying and wonderfully creepy, and I was positively surprised by their quality.
Here's a bit of information about the stories:
- Altar: A young boy called Gary visits a swimming pool with his mother, Martha, and his sister, Abby. Soon something goes horribly wrong and the visit to the pool turns into something terrifying and unexpected...
- Mother: Howard and Julie get married, but after a while their marriage begins to decline. Howard notices that something strange is going on with Julie, because she seems to change...
In Altar, the author writes perfectly about Gary's life and feelings. He also fluently refers to Martha's drinking problems and what happened to her marriage. What happens at the pool is memorable and terrifying, because when a crack appears at the bottom of the pool, the story slowly turns into a cosmic horror story.
In Mother, the author's vision of marriage and parenthood is truly something to behold, because he writes insightfully about these issues and scares his readers with well-chosen supernatural elements. The author writes excellently about marriage and its decline, because it was fascinating to read about Howard's feelings towards Julie. I also enjoyed the ending, because it was brilliant.
When I read Mother, I got the feeling that the author wrote surprisingly honestly and viscerally about the marriage between Howard and Julie, because their slowly disintergrating marriage felt hopeless and doomed to fail, but a child changed it for a while. I liked this very much, because I've always been drawn to nuanced writing that reveals what goes on beneath the surface. Many authors merely scratch the surface, but Philip Fracassi goes beyond it.
Altar features one of the best descriptions of childhood happenings I've read in a long while. The author pays attention to what Gary feels and how he reacts to things. I also want to mention that what is revealed about the pool is impressive, and what happens to Gary's sister is quite nasty.
One of the most important reasons why I enjoy these stories is that they feel simultaneously familiar yet strange, and they gradually develop into unsettling stories filled captivating weirdness. I also enjoy the author's way of writing about the characters and their lives.
The atmosphere is perfect and intriguingly menacing in these stories. I love the way the author creates a feeling that something's not right. When you read these stories, you'll quickly notice that you get a feeling that something bad is about to happen, but you can't quite put your finger on what's going to happen.
What makes these stories especially effective is Philip Fracassi's uncanny ability to blur the line between the supernatural and the reality. His vision of supernatural and surreal happenings feels genuinely disturbing, because it's partially connected to reality. In these stories, everyday happenings suddenly take a turn for the macabre.
These stories are perfect examples of how to combine quiet horror, brutality, emotions, creepiness, intimacy and weirdness in a successful and unforgettable way. Not many authors have the ability to make this kind of stories interesting, but Philip Fracassi has this ability and he uses it wonderfully. He's a gifted storyteller who weaves a web of strangeness and dread over his readers and lures them on a terrifying journey towards a memorable and terrifying climax.
I like the author's raw and striking prose, because it fits the stories. His writing is in equal parts beautiful, lyrical, brutal and haunting. If he were to write different kind of prose, his stories wouldn't be as powerful as they are. His prose emphasises the strange atmosphere and his descriptions of the happenings make readers uncomfortable.
I sincerely hope that Philip Fracassi will continue to write this kind of horror fiction, because he clearly has a talent for writing memorable stories. I look forward to reading more stories written by him. I have a feeling that we can expect great things from him.
If you're looking for new horror fiction to read and are fascinated by weird fiction, I highly recommend taking a look at these two amazing stories. You won't regret reading them, because they're amazing and captivating in their strangeness. They're wonderful weird fiction.
Highly recommended!
This is a joint review of Philip Fracassi's two horror stories, Altar and Mother.
I'm glad I had an opportunity to read and review these stories, because they're well written and intriguingly unsettling horror stories. They're among the best new horror stories I've ever read, because the author's dark imagination has produced something that is not easily forgotten.
After reading these stories, I can state that I consider Philip Fracassi to be one of the most promising and talented new horror authors to emerge during the recent years. He has his own writing style and he's capable of blending classic and modernt elements in a satisfyingly original way. His stories have a fascinating touch of creepiness found in old-fashioned horror stories and classic weird fiction. Along with Clint Smith, Livia Llewellyn, Michael Wehunt, Scott Nicolay, Laird Barron and Nathan Ballingrud, he's one of the best new authors of horror fiction, because his stories contain addictive weird fiction elements.
Because I've been a dedicated fan of weird fiction for a long time, I was impressed by these stories. I found them fully satisfying and wonderfully creepy, and I was positively surprised by their quality.
Here's a bit of information about the stories:
- Altar: A young boy called Gary visits a swimming pool with his mother, Martha, and his sister, Abby. Soon something goes horribly wrong and the visit to the pool turns into something terrifying and unexpected...
- Mother: Howard and Julie get married, but after a while their marriage begins to decline. Howard notices that something strange is going on with Julie, because she seems to change...
In Altar, the author writes perfectly about Gary's life and feelings. He also fluently refers to Martha's drinking problems and what happened to her marriage. What happens at the pool is memorable and terrifying, because when a crack appears at the bottom of the pool, the story slowly turns into a cosmic horror story.
In Mother, the author's vision of marriage and parenthood is truly something to behold, because he writes insightfully about these issues and scares his readers with well-chosen supernatural elements. The author writes excellently about marriage and its decline, because it was fascinating to read about Howard's feelings towards Julie. I also enjoyed the ending, because it was brilliant.
When I read Mother, I got the feeling that the author wrote surprisingly honestly and viscerally about the marriage between Howard and Julie, because their slowly disintergrating marriage felt hopeless and doomed to fail, but a child changed it for a while. I liked this very much, because I've always been drawn to nuanced writing that reveals what goes on beneath the surface. Many authors merely scratch the surface, but Philip Fracassi goes beyond it.
Altar features one of the best descriptions of childhood happenings I've read in a long while. The author pays attention to what Gary feels and how he reacts to things. I also want to mention that what is revealed about the pool is impressive, and what happens to Gary's sister is quite nasty.
One of the most important reasons why I enjoy these stories is that they feel simultaneously familiar yet strange, and they gradually develop into unsettling stories filled captivating weirdness. I also enjoy the author's way of writing about the characters and their lives.
The atmosphere is perfect and intriguingly menacing in these stories. I love the way the author creates a feeling that something's not right. When you read these stories, you'll quickly notice that you get a feeling that something bad is about to happen, but you can't quite put your finger on what's going to happen.
What makes these stories especially effective is Philip Fracassi's uncanny ability to blur the line between the supernatural and the reality. His vision of supernatural and surreal happenings feels genuinely disturbing, because it's partially connected to reality. In these stories, everyday happenings suddenly take a turn for the macabre.
These stories are perfect examples of how to combine quiet horror, brutality, emotions, creepiness, intimacy and weirdness in a successful and unforgettable way. Not many authors have the ability to make this kind of stories interesting, but Philip Fracassi has this ability and he uses it wonderfully. He's a gifted storyteller who weaves a web of strangeness and dread over his readers and lures them on a terrifying journey towards a memorable and terrifying climax.
I like the author's raw and striking prose, because it fits the stories. His writing is in equal parts beautiful, lyrical, brutal and haunting. If he were to write different kind of prose, his stories wouldn't be as powerful as they are. His prose emphasises the strange atmosphere and his descriptions of the happenings make readers uncomfortable.
I sincerely hope that Philip Fracassi will continue to write this kind of horror fiction, because he clearly has a talent for writing memorable stories. I look forward to reading more stories written by him. I have a feeling that we can expect great things from him.
If you're looking for new horror fiction to read and are fascinated by weird fiction, I highly recommend taking a look at these two amazing stories. You won't regret reading them, because they're amazing and captivating in their strangeness. They're wonderful weird fiction.
Highly recommended!
Read
October 26, 2019That was pathetic! Sickening and disgusting. I think the author wanted to creat that grotesque spooky picture in our heads but instead he just made fun of himself. This book was horribly gross. The characters were flat, full with boredom and lividity. The scene, the theme where the story took place were all an epic failure..... that was a waste of time!
Not gonna rate it.
Not gonna rate it.
May 7, 2018
Unusual
I liked the book because it had an a seemingly common everyday plot, but as the story developed, the characters became atypical unsuspectingly. This book would more than likely be rather intriguing to those YA and ‘young at heart’ adults. Definitely worth the read.
I liked the book because it had an a seemingly common everyday plot, but as the story developed, the characters became atypical unsuspectingly. This book would more than likely be rather intriguing to those YA and ‘young at heart’ adults. Definitely worth the read.
December 30, 2022
Read this story in behold the void. But had the stand alone edition also so had to reread it. Love this story
March 10, 2018
Good read.
Enjoyable read. Some truths are scarier than fiction. There’s a couple of gems in this story. Not bad for a first book in the horror genre.
Enjoyable read. Some truths are scarier than fiction. There’s a couple of gems in this story. Not bad for a first book in the horror genre.
August 27, 2016
(Originally appeared on my website, the Conqueror Weird.)
The Gothic genre goes largely unappreciated these days. Before Lovecraft and Machen and Smith introduced their unique pseudo-occult blend of weirdness, it was Poe and Radcliffe and Hawthorne, who wrote sweeping romanticisms of passion, hatred, and fear. It can be hard to find an equilibrium between these genres, as the Weird is predicated on abandoning all former conventions, while the Gothic has a definite vibe to it, favoring more traditional terrors to the highly unusual forces that appear in its daughter genre. But somehow, Philip Fracassi has managed to do it. Mother takes the mystery and intrigue of classic Gothic tales and blends it with the outside forces of the modern Weird tale into a fascinating and terrifying story.
Howard (our narrator) and Julie meet in college, and it is love at first sight. After three years together, they marry – a little too hastily, perhaps. They move to West Virginia. Their house is on the border of a vast wilderness, something which provides inspiration to Julia’s artwork.
Things start to go bad, unfortunately, very quickly. Julia is uncomfortable around Howard’s friends and her art career is languishing miserably. The two grow cold to each other and frequently remain in silence for days. When they do talk, they usually argue and yell. The rift between them continues to grow.
But Julia starts to act peculiar, and it becomes evident that she has found comfort elsewhere. She murmurs and takes long walks in the woods. This reaches its climax when Howard walks into her attic studio and finds her standing naked amidst black candles and demonic symbols. She flees into the woods, ashamed, only to return the next morning.
Things look like they’re at their lowest. But then Julia has an idea. She wants to have a child.
This is Philip Fracassi‘s first excursion into the realm of horror/weird fiction, and, for what is essentially a debut novel, it is fantastic. Particularly in its developments of our two main characters. Julie is driven to do terrible things, but it never feels like she was wrong to probe into them. She is lonely and ruined and she reached out for help. Did she get help? That’s…debatable. The writing is crisp and clean, straightforward, only delving into florid prose when necessary. The dialogue occasionally becomes stilted, but this is a minor and forgivable nitpick in the midst of a truly terrifying novelette.
As I said earlier, the book blends traditional Gothicism with modern Weird, and does so remarkably. Howard is a traditional Lovecraftian narrator, giving off a strong “I am writing this under appreciable mental strain…” vibe, and the isolated location is a modern Gothic castle (with its sinister goings-on in the night), but the fruit of Julie’s efforts is most decidedly in the Weird genre.
And about that – the ending. The ending. It is terrifying. I do not exaggerate – the conclusion of Mother scared the hell out of me, and disturbed me for days after. Not just because of its inherent – creepiness – but because that it suggested terrifying things about what a person will do when they’re lonely and lost. Truly one of the most nerve-racking endings I have ever encountered.
Mother is old-school. And…new-school (if that’s an actual term). It is another success for Dunhams Manor Press. It is a promising debut for an upcoming horror writer. And most of all, it is a deliriously terrifying story.
The Gothic genre goes largely unappreciated these days. Before Lovecraft and Machen and Smith introduced their unique pseudo-occult blend of weirdness, it was Poe and Radcliffe and Hawthorne, who wrote sweeping romanticisms of passion, hatred, and fear. It can be hard to find an equilibrium between these genres, as the Weird is predicated on abandoning all former conventions, while the Gothic has a definite vibe to it, favoring more traditional terrors to the highly unusual forces that appear in its daughter genre. But somehow, Philip Fracassi has managed to do it. Mother takes the mystery and intrigue of classic Gothic tales and blends it with the outside forces of the modern Weird tale into a fascinating and terrifying story.
Howard (our narrator) and Julie meet in college, and it is love at first sight. After three years together, they marry – a little too hastily, perhaps. They move to West Virginia. Their house is on the border of a vast wilderness, something which provides inspiration to Julia’s artwork.
Things start to go bad, unfortunately, very quickly. Julia is uncomfortable around Howard’s friends and her art career is languishing miserably. The two grow cold to each other and frequently remain in silence for days. When they do talk, they usually argue and yell. The rift between them continues to grow.
But Julia starts to act peculiar, and it becomes evident that she has found comfort elsewhere. She murmurs and takes long walks in the woods. This reaches its climax when Howard walks into her attic studio and finds her standing naked amidst black candles and demonic symbols. She flees into the woods, ashamed, only to return the next morning.
Things look like they’re at their lowest. But then Julia has an idea. She wants to have a child.
This is Philip Fracassi‘s first excursion into the realm of horror/weird fiction, and, for what is essentially a debut novel, it is fantastic. Particularly in its developments of our two main characters. Julie is driven to do terrible things, but it never feels like she was wrong to probe into them. She is lonely and ruined and she reached out for help. Did she get help? That’s…debatable. The writing is crisp and clean, straightforward, only delving into florid prose when necessary. The dialogue occasionally becomes stilted, but this is a minor and forgivable nitpick in the midst of a truly terrifying novelette.
As I said earlier, the book blends traditional Gothicism with modern Weird, and does so remarkably. Howard is a traditional Lovecraftian narrator, giving off a strong “I am writing this under appreciable mental strain…” vibe, and the isolated location is a modern Gothic castle (with its sinister goings-on in the night), but the fruit of Julie’s efforts is most decidedly in the Weird genre.
And about that – the ending. The ending. It is terrifying. I do not exaggerate – the conclusion of Mother scared the hell out of me, and disturbed me for days after. Not just because of its inherent – creepiness – but because that it suggested terrifying things about what a person will do when they’re lonely and lost. Truly one of the most nerve-racking endings I have ever encountered.
Mother is old-school. And…new-school (if that’s an actual term). It is another success for Dunhams Manor Press. It is a promising debut for an upcoming horror writer. And most of all, it is a deliriously terrifying story.
September 27, 2017
Toil and trouble
Philip Fracassi writes very well, taking the hand of the reader and leading him relentlessly through the story. In this tale we have a rather unreliable narrator who is finding less in common with his wife as their relationship unrolls into the future. Just what does she do with her time? Perhaps a better question would be "is she finding less in common with him"? This is a horror novella in the style of Machen mixed a bit with Lovecraft. It contains a few nice, suspenseful moments and is successful overall in its intentions. I look forward to reading the author's recent book of short stories and novellas.
Philip Fracassi writes very well, taking the hand of the reader and leading him relentlessly through the story. In this tale we have a rather unreliable narrator who is finding less in common with his wife as their relationship unrolls into the future. Just what does she do with her time? Perhaps a better question would be "is she finding less in common with him"? This is a horror novella in the style of Machen mixed a bit with Lovecraft. It contains a few nice, suspenseful moments and is successful overall in its intentions. I look forward to reading the author's recent book of short stories and novellas.
May 13, 2016
I'm curious as to how many trunk, half-finished, or thrown out ideas for short stories Philip Fracassi has lying around because this novellete is one hell of a debut piece of short fiction for an author.
Very good pacing and atmosphere, and great choice of length. I'm not sure that he could have stretched the stories length to a novella successfully, a short(er) story might have been too short with the slow way the atmosphere was building up. The blurbs on the front cover were, for once, pretty damn accurate descriptions of the story and not generic but superlative praise. The man has to be, I assume, well read in both the short story form and the history of Weird/Horror fiction to be able to pull off a short story that feels this complete and well done.
Some absolutely chilling imagery sprinkled throughout, like the scene in the hospital and the "felonious" - to put it lightly - thoughts that run through the main characters head for example. There were a few examples of diction that I didn't quite like, e.g. purring, especially "potentially" in the hospital scene, and a couple others.
The ending wasn't quite as strong as the rest of the story, it would be pretty damn hard to live up to however. Fracassi has another short piece of fiction and a novella available, Altar and The Egoist respectively, that I'll be grabbing next chance. Amazing stuff.
Another quick asides - this is my second chapbooks by Dunhams Manor Press, apparently an imprint of Dynatox Ministries. Both have been well worth somewhat blind buying. I'm not a big fan of Bizarro but I'm definitely keeping an eye out on the weird fiction that'll be released by Dunhams Manor in the future. With how good those two chapbooks have been I'll be sure to check out their two currently available hardcover books from their new 2016 Hardcover Series.
Very good pacing and atmosphere, and great choice of length. I'm not sure that he could have stretched the stories length to a novella successfully, a short(er) story might have been too short with the slow way the atmosphere was building up. The blurbs on the front cover were, for once, pretty damn accurate descriptions of the story and not generic but superlative praise. The man has to be, I assume, well read in both the short story form and the history of Weird/Horror fiction to be able to pull off a short story that feels this complete and well done.
Some absolutely chilling imagery sprinkled throughout, like the scene in the hospital and the "felonious" - to put it lightly - thoughts that run through the main characters head for example. There were a few examples of diction that I didn't quite like, e.g. purring, especially "potentially" in the hospital scene, and a couple others.
The ending wasn't quite as strong as the rest of the story, it would be pretty damn hard to live up to however. Fracassi has another short piece of fiction and a novella available, Altar and The Egoist respectively, that I'll be grabbing next chance. Amazing stuff.
Another quick asides - this is my second chapbooks by Dunhams Manor Press, apparently an imprint of Dynatox Ministries. Both have been well worth somewhat blind buying. I'm not a big fan of Bizarro but I'm definitely keeping an eye out on the weird fiction that'll be released by Dunhams Manor in the future. With how good those two chapbooks have been I'll be sure to check out their two currently available hardcover books from their new 2016 Hardcover Series.
August 24, 2016
The emotional nuances of a relationship falling apart condense first into an eeriness before solidifying into a full blown horror fest. A relationship going bad follows the illogical, meandering paths of the participants' imaginations. First, it's the little irritations and angers that one can barely put one's finger on. On the flip side, as things go sour, there are the little excuses one tells oneself trying to take an optimistic stand. The contradiction is compellingly depicted here.
From the start, Howard narrates with honesty and foreboding:
The demise of the marriage of Howard and Julie tilts and careens recklessly from silent truce to grating bitterness. Howard's obvious obliviousness to his own antiquated sexism erodes Julie's respect for him despite his successful career. Her own lack of success fuels her insecurities.
Despite the clear breakdown, the couple decide to have a baby in an effort to mend the family. Because that never goes wrong . . .
Not that this is an "American Beauty" style domestic horror. It's not, despite Howard's affair. No, when the horror comes, it's Lovecraftian or Kafkaesque in nature. Transformative, irreversible horror.
I received my copy of this novella directly from the author through bookreviewdirectory.wordpress.com. I'd previously read his excellent horror novella, Altar .
From the start, Howard narrates with honesty and foreboding:
I know Julie loved me once. I know it as fact, like the warmth of sunshine on my skin.
. . . We married the day after graduation, exchanging vows in the campus church . . . All of our friends attended. It is a day I will never forget, because it was the happiest we ever were. The happiest we would ever be.
The demise of the marriage of Howard and Julie tilts and careens recklessly from silent truce to grating bitterness. Howard's obvious obliviousness to his own antiquated sexism erodes Julie's respect for him despite his successful career. Her own lack of success fuels her insecurities.
Despite the clear breakdown, the couple decide to have a baby in an effort to mend the family. Because that never goes wrong . . .
Not that this is an "American Beauty" style domestic horror. It's not, despite Howard's affair. No, when the horror comes, it's Lovecraftian or Kafkaesque in nature. Transformative, irreversible horror.
I received my copy of this novella directly from the author through bookreviewdirectory.wordpress.com. I'd previously read his excellent horror novella, Altar .
November 29, 2016
Another good short story, I read this after reading Altar. It was interesting seeing the events of the story through the eyes of such an unlikable protagonist, and I couldn't help but find myself on Julie's side. Howard's simultaneously possessive and disinterested. He's misogynistic, abusive, and quick to anger. He is finally able to really feel love for her after her transformation into a spider-like creature; he is a monster himself, and can only love her properly once she is also a monster, not a victim.
"I feel a deep surge of love mixed with my fear. My wife, I think, and almost smile.
"I feel a deep surge of love mixed with my fear. My wife, I think, and almost smile.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 1, 2016
Nothing I can say will add to the reviews already given here...but I can say that this little slice of horror gold is now out of print and unavailable...for now. This is a story full of atmosphere and suspense. as with the rest of his stories Fracassi tends to make you wonder just where he is going with it before dropping you off the cliff into a deep pit of bleak and vivid nightmares. hopefully this will find its way into a collection sometime soon so all those who weren't hip to its release can enjoy it as well!
September 5, 2016
Disturbing and intelligent
This is the kind of horror that has layers and subtexts that really make you think. A dissatisfied husband and father is a common creature nowadays, and the question of who is the bigger monster is played out with a drifting, dreamy kind of terror. This is a worthy story for fans of more esoteric horror.
This is the kind of horror that has layers and subtexts that really make you think. A dissatisfied husband and father is a common creature nowadays, and the question of who is the bigger monster is played out with a drifting, dreamy kind of terror. This is a worthy story for fans of more esoteric horror.
January 11, 2016
A quick and frightful read that is a mixture of Henry James and Fritz Leiber. A modern day Weird Tale. A great debut from an author to watch out for.
March 8, 2017
A very good short read with an old school flavor to it. I really enjoyed the prose and "feel" of this one as the dread thickens with the story progression.
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