Mason Gorey: A Haunting Catskill Elegy, by Shane Keene and Stephanie Ellis
27 Oct 2024The Book
Synopsis:
Camp Kaatskill near the small New York town of Wildham was once an idyllic spot for summer and fall getaways. Surrounded by a wild thicket of black walnut, aspen, and evergreen, reflected by the reservoir and overshadowed by its dam. Camp Kaatskill seemed like the perfect destination for young Rachel Starck to spend her summer interning and experiencing the world beyond England.
But this Catskill hamlet harbors a dark secret, a sordid past, and an ancient curse that demands a blood toll each summer. Unbeknownst to Rachel, her own familial history is intricately entwined with that of Wildham, and her arrival will spark a conflagration of murder and mayhem unlike any the town has seen before.
Told in verse and prose poetry, Mason A Haunting Catskill Elegy is an epic serial killer yarn; a tragedy; an exercise in monstrosity and brutality that culminates in an achingly human story.
My Review
Mason Gorey: A Haunting Catskill Elegy is quite a unique book, a slasher told in verse that is innovative in many aspects, written by Shane Keene and Stephane Ellis, published by Cemetery Gates Media. A summer camp area cursed by generations, with a killer that has mastered using nature, and only the descendants of the original families can stop it.
A story that takes a big inspiration from the classics of the slasher genre, remembering by moments to Friday the 13th, playing into that camp hunted by a killer; however, that decision of combining verse and some brief moments of prose gives a fresh air to this perspective.
We have a really distinctive first part, building the folklore and the lore that haunts this place; it's slower, introducing us to the elements that will be behind the slasher part of the story. In comparison, the second part, which combines short articles in prose with the own verse, it's faster and more visceral, with more actions, but not a great amount of kills "on page".
I recommend Mason Gorey if you are looking for something different but with a familiar taste; I was a bit doubtful if this kind of concept could be executed, but Ellis and Keene nailed it. Come for the slasher, and enjoy a rich and vast lore!
The Author/s
Stephanie Ellis
Stephanie Ellis writes dark speculative prose and poetry and has been published in a variety of magazines and anthologies. Her longer work includes the novels, The Five Turns of the Wheel, Reborn and The Woodcutter, and the novellas, Paused and Bottled. Her new post-apocalytpic/sci-fi/horror novel, The Barricade is due out this year!
She is a Rhysling and Elgin nominated poet, co-authoring the poetry collection, Foundlings, with Cindy O'Quinn, Lilith Rising with Shane Douglas Keene and solo work Metallurgy.