While I’m not trying to wish summer away, I have noticed I’m starting to yearn for some good horror to read. Carry Me To My Grave, the latest from Christopher Golden, might take place in the shrinking days of late autumn, but it’s a good preview to spooky season.
Malcolm thought losing his mom would be hard enough. After all, the indomitable Maggie Wise seemed eternal, invincible, even if she wasn’t always an easy mother to have. The creepy guy standing at the edge of the yard as she takes her last breaths, clearly some creditor waiting to swoop in as soon as she’s dead, doesn’t help. But as Malcolm and Violet, his neglected sister-in-law, stand vigil at Maggie’s bedside, Maggie’s last request makes the whole thing even stranger. It’s crucial, she tells Malcolm, that he takes her body back to her birthplace for burial before the sun rises on the second day of her death. The distance between Indiana and Maine would already be a bit tricky on its own, in an era with cars but lacking the modern highway system we now enjoy. But as Malcolm and Violet set out, the immediate attack of the supposed creditor, and the defense from the two hired fists Maggie had ordered to escort Malcolm for the duration of the trip, makes it clear that they’ve got one heck of a task ahead of them.
And that, of course, is before they discover that their only obstacles aren’t logistics and ordinary mortal enemies. Maggie’s death has awoken a long-buried evil, and that evil rises with the single aim of stopping her funeral. The train carrying Malcolm, Violet, and Maggie’s body is attacked—and they get a surprise visit from Elias, Malcolm’s brother and Violet’s long-estranged husband. An equally unexpected reappearance of Malcolm and Elias’s sister, Jen, completes the family reunion. With a legion of foes hot on their tail, the Wise clan continues their trek, racing against time and evil, increasingly unsure if Maggie’s final wish might be their last act.
For the number of characters and the chaotic events that fill Carry Me To My Grave, the story is easy to follow and whizzes by faster than the doomed train. But there is plenty to keep track of, with frequently swapped points of view. But this isn’t a polyphonic novel, nor is it one grappling with morally gray characters. This is a horror movie, where the humans are on the run from evil personified. Humans good, monsters bad, and the fate of the world hangs in the balance. Carry Me To My Grave doesn’t try to do anything more or less than this, and it does it well.
And Golden does have his fun. Maggie was always rumored to be a witch, and it doesn’t take long to find substance to back up the rumors. The great evil turns out to be the ancient inspiration for the world’s myriad vampire legends. As the merry band of good guys starts losing members, we even get a ghost sighting. This is a story where a lot of spaghetti has been thrown at a wall, and much of it stuck. The result is entertaining, creepy, and a bit bloody (but all in good fun). Even before the plot has revealed its secrets, Golden spins promises of strange possibilities, and proves himself an honest man. Carry Me To My Grave is a fast-paced fright that’s still breezy enough to bring to the beach.
Ring Reads 