Pig Man

(Originally published at Red Adept Reviews.)Overall: 3 1/2 StarsPlot/Storyline: 3 1/2 StarsPig Man was genuinely scary at times, particularly the final scene. Some of this might be residual childhood trauma over Jodie the Pig in Amityville Horror. Of course, I read Amityville Horror probably ten times, so what does that say about me? I think though that the author also managed to portray how scary it is to be an adult at home with a young child when the house settles, let alone when there's a real threat.However, upon finishing Pig Man, readers will realize that there is a bit of a narrative cheat at work, an improbability in the storytelling. My guess is this was deliberate in order to jar the reader. It was an interesting gamble and, while I think it added to my surprise, I finished the story feeling a bit tricked.Characters: 3 1/2 StarsPig Man is told from the point of view of a mother who is home with alone with her young daughter, unless you count the dog, while her husband is away on business. Although this was a short story, and there wasn't much time to flesh out the character, I felt like I had an understanding of this woman. She seemed to be chilled by her daughter's stories about Pig Man before most people would be, but I don't think it's a spoiler to say she wasn't wrong.Writing Style: 3 1/2 StarsThe first part of the story often felt like it could have been tighter and used to ratchet up the fear more. There was a sense that everything leading up to the last scene was not the best version of the story that the author was capable of, because, as mentioned, the ending was beyond scary and a notch above the rest.What I liked a lot was the author's sly sense of humor. I heard myself laugh out of surprise twice at lines I didn't see coming and which struck me as very amusing. I loved those moments and love them in particular when used in horror to momentarily defuse tension before everything goes to heck.None of the characters in the story are named. I can see where that could work, but I kept thinking of Jim Dear and Darling from Lady and The Tramp.Editing : 3 1/2 StarsAside from the sense that there should have been more commas as a stylistic preference, there were also a few commas inarguably just missing. Formatting was a bit wonky, with a tendency for whole paragraphs at a time to right justify. There was one hodge-podge sentence – that's what I call it when an author rethinks wording, but accidentally leaves traces of the original sentence.Comment Comment Permalink