A Lonely Broadcast: Book One

This reminded me of a gorier and more horror-centric version of Welcome to Nightvale.

Creepypasta

Tales from the Gas Station: Volume One by Jack Townsend

A Lonely Broadcast: Book One by Kel Byron

The Neverglades: Volume One by David Farrow.


Wiki defines “creepypasta” as:

“A creepypasta is a horror-related legend which has been shared around the Internet.[1][2][3] The term creepypasta has since become a catch-all term for any horror content posted onto the Internet.[4] These entries are often brief, user-generated, paranormal stories that are intended to frighten readers. The subjects of creepypasta vary widely and can include topics such as ghosts, cryptids, murder, suicide, zombies, aliens, rituals to summon entities, haunted television shows, and video games.[1] Creepypastas range in length from a single paragraph to extended multi-part series that can span multiple media types, some lasting for years.[4]”

The three books I picked out seem to fit this category. They started out as internet blogs, are in the horror genre, and are part of a series.

Tales from the Gas Station was the most entertaining by far. It occupied a horror zone adjacent to the weirdness of “Welcome to Night Vale.” Night Vale is a podcast that features developing news reports from a small town in the American Southwest. It has secret police, para-dimensional visitors, UFOs, and every other kind of conspiracy that the tin-foil hat brigade imagines emanates from Area 51.

The Gas Station in Townsend's story sits in the woods outside an unnamed small American town with dark, spooky forests. It is an area where cultists have compounds in the neighborhood, eldritch gods build enclaves, and the odd serial killer might wander in for a slushie. Jack is the protagonist of the story. He's dying of some odd ailment, so he doesn't engage much with his life. Things happen around Jack, who refuses to admit surprise or much interest because it would involve him in the life he is shortly to exit.

The existential weirdness and the nonchalant attitude of Jack are a great part of the charm of this story.

In addition, a plot, character development, conflict, and growth emerge in the story, which was a pleasant surprise. I enjoyed this story. It wasn't great literature, but it was entertaining.

I found A Lonely Broadcast less worthwhile. Evelyn McKinnon returns to Pinehaven to work in a radio station in an old first tower on the outskirt of another small American town surrounded by dark, spooky woods. This story has no humor, as Evelyn discovers that the forest is haunted. The haunting seems to be composed of equal parts of The Fog by Stephen King and Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer. Dead things don't stay dead in the forest. They come back mutated and kill the living. The townspeople seem to know this to a greater or lesser extent but it is kept mostly quiet. The radio station where Evelyn works is a warning station against the macabre.

I found the story far beyond my tolerance for willing suspension of disbelief. Evelyn is the twenty-eighth person to work at the station – the others having been killed – but station management is still sending in people to get killed? Evelyn grew up in the town, and her father was killed fighting the mystery, but Evelyn knew nothing about what was going on? There was no orientation for Evelyn about what to expect? The government hasn't evacuated the entire area and sent in a pacification force? In the first part of the book, Evelyn gets a call on the air from somebody who it turns out was her best friend, but she didn't know the person when she got the call?

The Lonely Broadcast series seems to be well-received. It is now in multiple sequels. To me, though, it was not original enough to hold my interest.

Likewise, I did not finish The Neverglades by David Farrow. In this book, we have another secluded, remote, small American town hiding in the pine forests of the Pacific Northwest. The main character is a local police detective who runs into weird deaths. He's helped out by a seven-foot-tall being who wears a fedora, smokes a cigar, and goes by “the Inspector.” This being is from another dimension. It turns out that the “Neverglades,” as the area is called, is an arena for interdimensional incursions.

I didn't find the mysteries very compelling. It seemed like the stories I read were designed to bring in the Inspector, who can then unravel the mystery. There was nothing wrong with the stories. I didn't find the characters or plots compelling. Though, if Scoobie Doo is your kind of thing, this might be your kind of thing.