"A Special Place: The Heart of a Dark Matter"

by Peter Straub, AF, 2010, 136p, rating=3
read:  12/15/10

"A Special Place will come to stand as one of Peter Straub's most deeply unsettling works of fiction.  A rumination on the nature of evil, the story centers on a boy, Keith Hayward, who is drawn by his nature to an irresistible fascination with death and the taking of life.  His father's brother, the good-looking, suave Uncle Till--the infamous Ladykiller, who has led a shadowy career as a local celebrity of dubious and dangerous repute--recognizes his nephew's innermost nature and gleefully tutors him in art of doing ill without getting caught.  Even a cold-blooded sociopath must learn some lessons in survival, in seems, and Uncle Till is only happy to provide a tutorial, in the latest imaginative and disturbing work from one of America's most celebrated horror writers." (book's front flap)

Horror is definitely out of my comfort genre zone but this is a short book so I was figuring it’d scare me quickly and I’d move on. And perhaps the scare will get me out of my reading rut! Well, it was intriguingly sickening. As I understand it, this is a background on a character in Mr. Straub’s novel A Dark Matter. Having not read the full length novel (and most likely won’t since I’m too much of a wuss) and thinking that A Special Place is a good indication of what that novel would be like, so no thank you! Again, I’m not into horror so I say this but if you are, then this is definitely your book! It’s a quick well written novella. Incredibly fascinating in its own right.

Oh, by the way, it didn’t get me out of my reading rut! I haven’t figured out what’s wrong with me. Something in the air? Ugh.  And it doesn't help either to be having Internet problems!!  Double ugh.