Nothing But Blackened Teeth

So, I'm going through a bit of an Asian History binge at the moment, and in my general sleep deprived state I decided it would be a good idea to try a bit of Asian themed horror. Sadly, this did not scratch that itch, as, to be frank, it's not very good. "Nothing but Blackened teeth" tells the story of a couple of flat characters who, despite apparently hating each other, decide to get together to get married in an old Japanese manor house with some spooky stories told about it. H. They go, they spend half the book doing very little, and then some very rushed spookyness happens. The book can't even make it to 150 pages long, and reads more like a first draft that the intern put in the "Publish with hardback pile" instead of the "Send back to author" pile. For me anyway, I would say there are three major things that are important in a horror story. Characterisation, so we care and feel invested about what happens, or at the very least some satisfaction when someone meats their fate. Atmosphere, to make one feel immersed, and Description, to allow us to visualise and soak in the awfulness. Sadly, the book fails in all three of these. The characters, as said before, are incredibly flat. We have a narrator who has had some vague psychological issues, their friend who is getting married, their fiance who hates everything that breathes, narrators' friend who apparently everyone hates but was still invited, and friend who is seemingly a sound guy who is willing to spend a fair amount of money to give some friends their dream wedding, but deserves to die because he's a rich white male. The idea at the heart here is good, that we have a couple of characters who have somewhat strained relationships and we can watch them crack under pressure and turn on each other, but the characterisation is so scant and the pace so rushed we get very little of it. It also doesn't help matters that once the spooky does start, they react incredibly strangely. You can probably get a lot of mileage out of someone suddenly finding out that the supernatural is real, shock, vilification if you were looking for it, utter terror and pending existential crisis when you realise the world is a much stranger place than you have believed all of your life. Sadly the character's main reaction here is to talk about horror films and what order they are going to die in. Ideally, if the author wanted to flip the familiar slasher formula on its head, they would make the parallels obvious without having to ram them down the reader's throat. All the characters talking about it really serves to do is break what little immersion there is. Ultimately why should the reader care about the situation if the characters don't? Atmosphere and description I will loop into one, as each is so scant there's little to talk about. I really want to get into this environment, but at the...

This was a quick read that was all about the atmosphere. An old haunted house. Lots of eerie legend including bodies of brides buried in the walls, reminiscent of Poe’s Cask of Amontillado. Full of Japanese folk lore and horror. Including favorites like the Kappa and the Tanuki. I really didn’t like any of the characters, but I’m guessing that was part of the story. They were all narcissistic and cared more about who was sleeping with who and bickering over petty grievances. I was confused why this particular group of people would even consider themselves friends. The atmosphere and brooding dread made up for the un-likable characters. The ending was clever and left me with a sense of foreboding. I thought on this one awhile and think I might notice different things on a re-read.

The reader of this book may not be able to relish what happens because of the tumultuous story! Presented with a small crowd of friends, we are told that much has happened through their five or six years together that might easily have caused upheaval, and perhaps even hatred in what seems to be a steady inter-play of star-crossed lover’s activity. At one time or another, almost all in the group have had an on and then off again relationship with each of their fellow protagonists! A great deal of history exists due to the inter play and entanglements they have enjoy. As the story begins, two of our players are making plans to be married, and have somehow decided that a “Haunted House” would serve as an exciting venue for their “Special Day”, so accompanied by their closest friends, they find the time to explore this troubled abode! Much occurs during the time the protagonists explore the house and their options. The bizarre atmosphere they encounter on that first day will certainly find a way to spill over into their wedding day. Many strange occurrences befall our unsuspecting group, too many to relate in this small space, so if your interest has been stirred, the book is just out, so available in all of the regular places.