Jonathan Thomas, thoughts?

[Fried Egg]

I'm just getting near the end of his collection "Midnight Call and other stories" which I'm, by and large, thoroughly enjoying.

I'm not quite sure how to describe him but he appears to be influenced by the likes of Poe, Blackwood and Aickman but still retains his own unique and modern style.

His stories definitely shy away from the visceral being more cerebral and weird and they are quite varied showing his versatility. His sense of humour often comes to the fore when he satirises the absurdities of every day life and with his astute observations about people. He delves into many different themes within the horror genre as even occaisionally outside into the realms of SF and fantasy.

 

[Fried Egg]

I've just finished "Tempting Providence and other stories".

I was looking forward to reading another collection by this author after thoroughly enjoying Midnight Call and Other Stories and was not disappointed. Even more varied than that collection, although not containing as many stories, this showcases his versatility as an author.

The themes explored in these stories include the dark side of human nature, supernatural encounters, dystopian futures and monstrous deities. He pays a healthy respect for the classics of the field yet injects his stories with originality and thematic twists that place them firmly in the here and now. I don't know of any other author that writes in quite the same way.

In "Power of Midnight", he suggests that the radical shift in cultural direction at the end of the 70's (ushered in by the Regan era) might have been brought about my one's person's listening to a forbidden cursed album, an audio "necronomicon".

In "Tempting Providence" the protagonist is visited by Lovecraft's ghost in a sequence of events that appears to parallel Lovecraft's own story "Haunter of the Dark".

"The Silence in the Copse" brings old Norse legends to life in modern Sweden as an American visitor learns more about their culture than is good for him.

I loved "Into Your Tenement I’ll Creep" in which the tables are turned on a cynically exploitative lothario and "A Different Kind of Heartworm" in which a wife's peculiar discovery about her husband threatens to drive a wedge between them.

A few of the stories I wasn't as keen on, such as "The Salvage Saints" which went on overly long in my opinion and "The Men At the Mound" which just didn't do much for me. But these were exceptions to the rule in otherwise quality collection.

 

[nomadman]

Thanks for the breakdown of his work.

I'm meaning to get a collection of his, probably Midnight Call, after my next payday.

 

[Fried Egg]

Just read his third collection "13 Conjurations". Another great collection.

I'm surprised how little known this author seems to be.

 

[Randy M.]

This is good to hear. I picked up Midnight Call a few years ago in a bargain bin but have never gotten around to it. Now I have to rethink that.

Randy M.