cover image The Unusual Possession of Alastair Stubb

The Unusual Possession of Alastair Stubb

David John Griffin. Urbane, $14.95 trade paper (320p) ISBN 978-1-910692-34-9

This plummy pastiche of traditional gothic fiction is chock-full of the set pieces that make such stories so delectably dark: a poisoning, a parricide, a coveted inheritance, a whispering phantom, a raving woman in an attic, hypnotism, hallucinatory dreams, and murderous intentions. At the center of the story that they ornament is the title character, an emotionally frail young boy living in the imaginary English town of Muchmarsh early in the 20th century. His increasingly eccentric behavior suggests that he may be channeling the spirit of his (presumed dead) grandfather—who may also be his father. Griffin (Two Dogs at the One Dog Inn) pulls out all the stops, providing his grotesque characters with names such as Pump, Nuckle, Brood, Snippet, and Brittle and larding his narrative with richly overstuffed sentences that evoke the sensibility of the classic penny dreadful. Readers with a taste for old-fashioned thrills will find this sensational story to their liking. (Aug.)