The Gravedigger’s Tale by Simon Clark – book review

Grim, gruesome and great

Author: Simon Clark
Publisher: Robert Hale * 223 pages * £18.99
ISBN: 978-0-7090-9119-6 * 30 November 2010

A hoovering-up of Simon Clark’s short fiction, The Gravedigger’s Tale sports several pieces written for other anthologies and, as such, there’s a glut of tales that are direct tributes to other horror greats – mainly Lovecraft and William Hope Hodgson. While you’d be forgiven for groaning at the thought of yet more eldritch pastiches, Clark’s Rhode Island laudation “The Image Dissector” avoids the obvious pitfalls and purple prose and delivers a terrific clash between new technology and old gods.

Similarly terrific is “My God, My God”, one of two Hodgson pieces, which successfully echoes its inspiration’s obsessions with dreadful solitude and satanic swine without collapsing into mimickry. A second Hodgson salutation, “One Man Show”, is less effective, although not as throwaway as the weakest pieces here – the three-paragraph “Is It Still Raining Zombies?” and the goofy play on expectations of “A Dog’s Tale”.

The rest is largely superb, encompassing the gleefully gruesome EC Comics-inspired horror of the title tale, the evocative “Cemetery Wine”, the chilling “Swallowing A Dirty Seed” (which plays on a curious fear of trees) and the unusual post-apocalyptic parable “Engine of Vengeance”, in which invading giant robots destroy society and then apparently grind to a halt. It’s wonderfully atmospheric stuff.

It’s hard to believe it’s been almost ten years since the publication of what arguably remains Clark’s best-known work, Night Of The Triffids, but The Gravedigger’s Tale is further proof of his ability to spin a spooky yarn or three. It’s topped off by a disarmingly warm and open introduction that makes you think that the author can’t quite believe his luck, and adds a layer of charm to the grisly treats that follow.

Jes Bickham