Antarctic Press 2018
By David Huchison
Dillon Brown thinks he’s made a friend with new transfer student Lilly Quist. But when the grisly remains of local kids appear, he starts to suspect the new girl has something to do with it. Soon Dillon realizes that an ancient, endless hunger has come to Carol Hill, Indiana in the form of a 10-year-old girl. He and his classmates now have to stop Lilly’s vicious, gore-drenched feast before it’s too late. But the secrets behind Lilly’s rage might just be more terrifying than Lilly herself!
Thanks to Diamond every Sunday I get a look at what’s coming out on Wednesday. This gives me a chance, without having any description, to get prepared for the week and find something new. I saw the title for this, did a quick search, saw the cover and knew instantly I had to read this. I love horror stories and I love monster stories and one look at the cover and you know that this is something you NEED to have.
We open up with that moment that catches your attention and the imagination and creativity involved with it is utterly spectacular. There’s enough that we see to give you the essence of a nightmare come to life. This is a book centred on kids so we see this with a mixture of both a kids and an adults eye and David nails it. While it’s dark and gloomy and extremely terrifying it’s also an opportunity to get a tad bit of characterisation. This is one of the most perfect opening of a book not to mention a series that I’ve seen.
I think the way that David has structured this book is completely and utter amazing. The natural way it flows through the book, the tension he creates as well as infusing it with kids who come across so real is quite the accomplishment. There are moments that he has you double takes as well seeing the bonds of friendship being stretched and strengthened all while sending waves of shivers up your spine and sprinkling your arms with goosebumps. It is rare for me to have such an experience as this but David has an impressive resume of books to his name. I mean many of them personal favourites.
The interiors here are superb. The attention to detail is stunning and there are these little moments that stand out and sometimes they have that perfect subtlety to them and other times border on the bold over the top but fall short of that. The use of page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective showcase a strong eye for storytelling. The use of colour here is outstanding and how pops on the page or jut kind sneaks up on you in places is fantastic.
There really are so many factors at play there that make this such a stand out. First the idea of children in horror stories while they stretch back as far as storytelling goes still manages to be one of the creepiest things out there. The corruption of the innocent has a striking effect on grown-ups and David uses that to full effect here. The way that he is able to show both sides of innocent and corrupt mixing that with the right spectrum of emotions really makes for an impactful tale.
There are and have been some extremely good books to come out of Antarctic Press and here’s a prime example why I feel more folks need to branch out and read these books. I mean the level of storytelling is spectacular it really is something that will touch you and reach you in ways that leave an impression.