The
Siren and The Specter is easily one of the top 5 haunted house/ghost stories I’ve
read, and that’s no small feat—I’ve read damn near all of them and have been
fixated by them since I was a child.
The
Siren and The Specter has everything you
could want in a gripping, hard-to-put-down, tight, frightening novel.
I’ll
start with a short, non-spoiler synopsis:
David Caine, a well-known author and
college professor who specializes in debunking the supernatural, is invited to
spend a month in a haunted house by a friend who’s hoping to turn the house
into a bed & breakfast. From the moment of David’s arrival, tension
begins—but vaguely… at first. So vaguely, in fact, and surreptitiously, that
the reader is drawn completely into the setting’s atmosphere, the interplay of
characters, and the overall mood of the book without even being aware they are
actually reading.
That,
to my way of thinking, is the mark of superior achievement in horror. When an
author can magically remove all outward distractions, focus the reader on his
or her story, and transport the reader into a realm constructed wholly of
supernatural imagination, you are in the presence of someone who is mastering
the craft.
Characterizations
are textbook perfect; from the most minor of participants to the major players,
your mind’s eye fleshes them out almost instantly. I was most impressed
by Janz’s ability
to punch out a character in two or three short sentences and have that
character materialize immediately in my head—I knew what they looked like, knew
what their motives were, and knew their place in the scheme of things. Knew
them… or, at least, knew somebody like them.
His
characters are real people. Very few of them are painted as pure good or evil;
they’re real and entirely believable (even those you wouldn’t want to admit are
believable).
Perhaps
the most refreshing thing about this novel is that every sub-plot, every
back-story, every throw-away line, and every thread in the tale is tied
together. Nothing is forgotten and not a word is wasted. This is 288 pages of
story, story, story—without an
ounce of padding.
With The
Siren and the Specter Jonathan Janz joins Henry James, Shirley Jackson,
Stephen King, and Richard Matheson as one of the masters of the haunted house
novel—and that is powerful company.