{"id":6633,"date":"2012-11-27T10:44:24","date_gmt":"2012-11-27T15:44:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scifisaturdaynight.com\/?p=6633"},"modified":"2012-11-27T14:11:32","modified_gmt":"2012-11-27T19:11:32","slug":"horror-fiction-as-a-mobius-strip-crabapples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/scifisaturdaynight.com\/?p=6633","title":{"rendered":"Horror Fiction as a M\u00f6bius Strip – Crabapples"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Crabapples by Rob Watts<\/p><\/div>\n

Rob Watts<\/a>‘\u00a0 series, The Crooked Roads Through Cedar Grove is an ongoing project of\u00a0 combination novellas\/albums by writer\/composer Rob Watts. Each of the four titles is to be\u00a0released in a limited edition of 250 signed and numbered volumes available until all 250 are sold\u00a0out. At the conclusion of\u00a0all four books the author is planning to compile all four into a bound edition.<\/p>\n

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After reading the first volume, Huldufolk<\/a>, I was intrigued to see where volume two would lead. If you are expecting Crabapples<\/a>\u00a0to be\u00a0a continuation of\u00a0the first be forewarned, not only is it not, it bears little resemblance to volume one.\u00a0 However, this story is not without the requisite elements of good horror fiction. The end result\u00a0is everything a reader of horror wishes it to be. As in the first novella, the story centers around a specific character, 17 year old Kathleen. In what starts out as an ordinary story of a troubled teen, the story spirals downward quickly into horrific turns upon nightmarish twists in the town where a trolley runs through the cemetery. What occurs is the stuff of teenage outcast nightmares compounded by the specter of every Halloween terror. When one finishes this story, is is by the sweet twist of the literary\u00a0m\u00f6bius strip that we are deposited right where we began.<\/p>\n

From a musical standpoint, the accompanying CD is once again significantly\u00a0different from the first outing. With Huldufolk, the CD was presented\u00a0as though performed by the fictitious Icelandic Trance group The Traffic Lights, who themselves appear in that book. This time around, the music is described\u00a0as a\u201dsoundtrack\u201d and in that way it most amazingly succeeds providing the listener with an aural companion to terror.<\/p>\n

Halfway through The Crooked Roads Through Cedar Grove saga, I am finding this an most satisfying and original project as a reader\/listener. Rob brings a freshness of execution and style in both the written word and music that is just plain fun to read\/listen to. Bringing them both together in a single ongoing project is just plain enjoyable as I wait to see what episode three brings.<\/p>\n

For the purposes of full disclosure, this book was a review copy sent to SFSN. No other remuneration was given or implied.<\/em><\/p>\n

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