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chalkletters's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
I’ve talked a lot about my lack of experience with horror, most recently in my review of Mexican Gothic, and I’m thrilled to finally be adding a pure horror novel to my sidebar of genres. The Elementals was still nothing like I expected a horror novel to be. Despite the presence of such legitimate, traditional horror elements as ghosts and animated corpses, I wasn’t frightened by Michal McDowell’s writing, I was just fascinated.
What’s most surprising about The Elementals was how nice everyone is. While the characters certainly have their quirks, most of the McCray and Savage family members who stay at Beldame are genuinely pleasant people who care about one another. It’s unexpectedly wholesome. Of course, despite the interesting family dynamics, characters being nice to each other isn’t enough to make a story interesting, which is where the third house comes in.
The third house, slowly being consumed by sand, doesn’t map to the archetype of a haunted house, but Michael McDowell certainly made it psychologically interesting. The adult characters’ unease about it, stemming from what they try to dismiss as the result of a childishly overactive imagination, contrasts to Odessa and India, whose shifting relationship was cleverly handled. Despite the hints of darkness, the intense love the characters felt for their location kept the atmosphere of The Elementalsquite light — but perhaps that was part of the setting’s malevolence, that it made people want to stay.
Odessa’s rituals, both in Beldame and Mobile, felt like a window into another culture, adding to the intrigue. Michael McDowell weaved a lot of mystery around what Odessa was doing, raising questions as to where she’d learned it and whether it even worked. For visual, visceral readers there’s certainly more than just atmosphere to relish — the horror in The Elementals comes at you from all five senses.
I don’t know if I enjoyed The Elementals the way horror fans enjoy their horror, but I certainly had a good time reading it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, and Blood
Minor: Alcoholism, Drug use, Infidelity, Addiction, Cancer, and Pregnancy
whatathymeitwas's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Shew lord. I don't know what kept me from reading this book for so long, when I've seen it so highly recommended. However I'm glad I read it when I did, right at the end of May. I live in the south, in the Appalachians of Tennessee, and right around the end of May is when we start getting soup air and higher temperatures, made more intolerable by that suffocating humidity. Reading a book set so brazenly in the heat and sun of summer around the end of May is perfect timing.
This book managed to be as southern Gothic as it gets. Combine some old, old families, one with a disturbing history, some creepy houses, and a few well-fleshed out main characters... and I just don't know what more I could have asked for. This is a slow burn, deeply atmospheric horror novel, written very well and ultimately worthy of the title "literary." I imagine people who picked this up out of the paperback selections of horror in the eighties were mighty surprised— many similar novels would pale in comparison.
I'm not sure what I might could say about this that others haven't already. I deign to pepper my reviews with reinstatements of the plot itself, that's what the blurb is for and many other reviewers have done so before me.
What I will say, is that once this started ramping up the creepiness factor, it didn't stop. McDowell was fantastic at smoothing things out for you and creating a hesitant sense of peacefulness, calm, and realistic thought process; immediately after he thrusts you back into the sand and you're left half buried and gasping for air. This started really creeping me out while I was reading at night. You go through many nights and days with the characters, and feel you're right alongside and interacting with them, whether it's for a bizarre family funeral, an evening birthday party, a hot noon walk by the lagoon, or peering out the windows at the full moon, the breaking Gulf, and the ever ominous Third House and all that lurks within it, seething and breathing in the languid summer heat.
That connection to the characters, the place, the general setting, and the inherently Gothic aspects of southern Alabama really transport you, and you're with them as their feet sink into dunes and slide across wooden floors caked in the ever-present pristine white sand, wondering if something might reach out and grab your ankle.
This book managed to be as southern Gothic as it gets. Combine some old, old families, one with a disturbing history, some creepy houses, and a few well-fleshed out main characters... and I just don't know what more I could have asked for. This is a slow burn, deeply atmospheric horror novel, written very well and ultimately worthy of the title "literary." I imagine people who picked this up out of the paperback selections of horror in the eighties were mighty surprised— many similar novels would pale in comparison.
I'm not sure what I might could say about this that others haven't already. I deign to pepper my reviews with reinstatements of the plot itself, that's what the blurb is for and many other reviewers have done so before me.
What I will say, is that once this started ramping up the creepiness factor, it didn't stop. McDowell was fantastic at smoothing things out for you and creating a hesitant sense of peacefulness, calm, and realistic thought process; immediately after he thrusts you back into the sand and you're left half buried and gasping for air. This started really creeping me out while I was reading at night. You go through many nights and days with the characters, and feel you're right alongside and interacting with them, whether it's for a bizarre family funeral, an evening birthday party, a hot noon walk by the lagoon, or peering out the windows at the full moon, the breaking Gulf, and the ever ominous Third House and all that lurks within it, seething and breathing in the languid summer heat.
That connection to the characters, the place, the general setting, and the inherently Gothic aspects of southern Alabama really transport you, and you're with them as their feet sink into dunes and slide across wooden floors caked in the ever-present pristine white sand, wondering if something might reach out and grab your ankle.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, and Body horror
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Blood, Cancer, Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Racism, Animal death, and Child death
madarauchiha's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
0.25
✨🌠 my about / byf / CW info carrd: uchiha-madara 🌠✨
The first red flag was someone who enjoyed peter 'misogyny is great!' clines and dan '911 broke my brain so now i'm a huge islamophobe' simmons, and the second red flag was the endorsment from stephen 'racist as fuck' king.
Jsesus christ. Of all the reviews for this, why are there so few people mentioning how unbelieveably racist this is?
Odessa Red is the one prominent Black character. There are two others, her daughter [deceased] and her husband. Odessa speaks in broken english, the author's attempt at AAVE. She is a servant and, were this back in the 1800s, would have been a House Slave. She is 'content' in her role as servant and is shown uncomfortable with the liberal attempts to integrate her into the white family as a member rather than servant. I can understand this as the second a Black person or PoC in the deep south gets too 'out of line' with the deeply racist US South society bad, violent things start happening.
note yes this happens everywhere, I won't say this is exclusive to the US South at all.
Odessa is also a Magical N*gro. She performs magic, so to speak, in an attempt to protect the family. The family, not just the 13 yo child, also berate and harangue her for explanations of the supernatural shit happening in the house.
Odessa's arc ends with her brutal off screen death, wherein the 13 yo white girl cannibalizes her eyes in order to gain Odessa's magical eye sight.
Yes that's right, the rich white girl from a rich white familyeats the poor Black woman's body. And then leaves her body there to rot. Odessa gets no respect even in death.
Her husband, mr Red, is a mooch, a drunk, a low class tactless jobless stereotype of a Black man. The one time he's shown on screen is begging for money frm a rich white man. Neither he nor Odessa get any depth.
Her daughter appears onceas a monster to scare the rich white girl.
At this point I don't give a shit about the writing. It's southern gothic, haunted house, supernatural shit happens and there's no damn reason for it. It's never explored either. So there you have it. Doo doo kaka dog shit of a book.
note. the word n*gro is used one time.
minor pregnancy, drug abuse, ableism towards people who use drugs, child death, drowning, physical abuse, child abuse, murder, sexual content, xenophobia, death, stillbirth, cancer,
medium animal death, gore, blood, cannibalism, alcohol, infidelity, car crash, sinophobia, racism, child death,
major gore, blood,death, murder, fatphobia context being fat equal bad evil monster horror trope, arson, fire, bone fractures, injuries, body horror, blood, antiblack racism context being us south post civil war society, addiction ,alcoholism, toxic relationships,
Here's some examples of antiblack racism.
▪ “When I’m dead, you make sure that Johnny Red don’t get a folded dollar of that money!”“I promise,” said Dauphin, but he was already scheming charity—trying to think of how he could take care of no-good Johnny Red in the unlikely case that that alcoholic loafer survived his common-law wife.
Dauphin is the rich white man who employs Odessa Red, wife to Johnny Red.
▪ India had always thought of herself as politically liberal—as Luker was—and with that liberalism came a discomfort with servants. Other appurtenances of the rich didn’t bother her, and she had often benefited from the largesse of some of Luker’s friends: weekends in large houses, rides in limousines and private planes, Beluga and Dom Perignon, private screenings and empty beaches—and had enjoyed them all without guilt. But servants walked and talked and had feelings and yet weren’t equal, and India thought that to deal with them was a practical impossibility. She asked nothing of Odessa, and would have prepared all her own food rather than be waited on by the black woman—except that Odessa insisted that she have the kitchen entirely to herself. India could not use the kitchen at the McCray house, for there the gas and the refrigerator had not even been turned on.
India is 13 btw.
The first red flag was someone who enjoyed peter 'misogyny is great!' clines and dan '911 broke my brain so now i'm a huge islamophobe' simmons, and the second red flag was the endorsment from stephen 'racist as fuck' king.
Jsesus christ. Of all the reviews for this, why are there so few people mentioning how unbelieveably racist this is?
Odessa Red is the one prominent Black character. There are two others, her daughter [deceased] and her husband. Odessa speaks in broken english, the author's attempt at AAVE. She is a servant and, were this back in the 1800s, would have been a House Slave. She is 'content' in her role as servant and is shown uncomfortable with the liberal attempts to integrate her into the white family as a member rather than servant. I can understand this as the second a Black person or PoC in the deep south gets too 'out of line' with the deeply racist US South society bad, violent things start happening.
note yes this happens everywhere, I won't say this is exclusive to the US South at all.
Odessa is also a Magical N*gro. She performs magic, so to speak, in an attempt to protect the family. The family, not just the 13 yo child, also berate and harangue her for explanations of the supernatural shit happening in the house.
Odessa's arc ends with her
Yes that's right, the rich white girl from a rich white family
Her husband, mr Red, is a mooch, a drunk, a low class tactless jobless stereotype of a Black man. The one time he's shown on screen is
Her daughter appears once
At this point I don't give a shit about the writing. It's southern gothic, haunted house, supernatural shit happens and there's no damn reason for it. It's never explored either. So there you have it. Doo doo kaka dog shit of a book.
note. the word n*gro is used one time.
minor pregnancy, drug abuse, ableism towards people who use drugs, child death, drowning, physical abuse, child abuse, murder, sexual content, xenophobia, death, stillbirth, cancer,
medium animal death, gore, blood, cannibalism, alcohol, infidelity, car crash, sinophobia, racism, child death,
major gore, blood,death, murder, fatphobia context being fat equal bad evil monster horror trope, arson, fire, bone fractures, injuries, body horror, blood, antiblack racism context being us south post civil war society, addiction ,alcoholism, toxic relationships,
Here's some examples of antiblack racism.
Dauphin is the rich white man who employs Odessa Red, wife to Johnny Red.
India is 13 btw.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Death, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Animal death, Infidelity, Cannibalism, Alcohol, Blood, Car accident, Child death, Gore, and Racism
Minor: Animal death, Murder, Ableism, Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Xenophobia
kazik's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Violence
Minor: Excrement and Vomit
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