Jack Clubb is a musician best known for "Mortal Vail" a solo project that has also been featured before in this zine and he also writes horror fiction novels and this is a review of his novel "Obscure Reflections At Dawn".
The novel starts out like a classic horror novel that was written in either the 70's and 80's and also ignores the modern approach to horror writing focusing on the classic atmosphere that made early horror fiction great. At time s the novel also brings in more of a gothic orientated atmosphere and the writing also mixes in a ,lot of occult themes.
At times the writing also makes references to paganism and mythology more along the Greek, Roman lines. Trac3es of both Eastern and Western Demonology can also be seen mixed in with the more horror orientated atmosphere of the writing as well as adding in some cabalistic touches to capture more a classic feeling.
In the second chapter the story also mixes in Ancient American history to bring in more of a classic setting for the story while still being more based into the modern era. A lot of the story also takes place in the Mid Western area of the United States and also makes a brief reference to the Merovingian Myths that are very common in occult and conspiracy literature.
The story briefly adds in some references to serial killers along with the 3rd chapter also mixing in some Egyptian Mythology, Holy Grail, Knights Templar and classic grimoires which also makes the novel read more like an occult horror story and the writer also shows that he is also inspired by the poets of classic authors of past decades.
As the story progresses you can also see touches of folklore an ancient witchcraft also being mixed in with a more modern and urban setting. The second part of the book also starts out with a quote from Aliester Crowley along with the demons in the story showing some touches of Lovecraftian writings and the Qlipthoth as well as expanding on the occult horror style that was introduced in the first part of the novel
In later parts of the novel vampires are also introduced into the story which adds to the variety of the many different types of horror that are brought into the writing. A later chapter also goes into more of a psychological direction as well as mixing science and the occult together in a later chapter as well as another chapter also bringing in a different theory about the South American Pyramids and after awhile t he story also starts bringing in more of a necromantic vibe and also adds in the atmosphere of a zombie horror movie but with more of a storyline then most of those films capture.
In conclusion I feel this is a very great novel that mixes a lot of different aspects of horror and the occult to create a very original story that is more close to the classic era of horror fiction and also avoids all the modern types of writing that have watered down the genre for years and goes back to the roots of the genre, and if you are a fan of horror fiction, you should check out this novel 8/9 out of 10.
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