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A review by evavroslin
Spook Lights: Southern Gothic Horror by Eden Royce
5.0
It's very rare for me to devour a short story collection by a single author. Anthologies are hit or miss for me with some stories being my favourites but others not interesting me at all and in a way, collections are like that but there's more of a risk factor because a reader has to be quite invested in a particular author in order to have the best reading experience when it comes to single-author collections.
I'd heard of Eden Royce before a friend reviewed her collection, but I'm glad that came across my radar because this is one of the best, most well-written and amazing short story collections I have ever read. Period. If you are a fan of genre fiction that has Southern themes and, as an added bonus, features diversity in the form of the predominantly African-American characters (including one short story that deals with the loa or spirits of Haitian vodou which I absolutely adored to a few that involved the Gullah people).
Eden Royce's stories all have a very strong voice with a unique perspective as she is from Charleston, South Carolina. Her dialogue was stunning and amazing. It is incredibly difficult to write dialogue for any character with an accent but particularly characters who are from the Southern United States. It's very easy to butcher when writing fiction, so I applaud Ms. Royce greatly for her fantastic use of dialogue. Her prose drips with authenticity--everything from the flavour of the settings she described to the wonderfully powerful emotions she evoked from her characters was simply a delight to read.
If you are a fantasy and horror reader or if you love Southern fiction, PLEASE pick up a copy of Eden Royce's collection. Her stories are so full of quality, originality, authenticity and vividness that will make this book impossible for you to put down.
I'd heard of Eden Royce before a friend reviewed her collection, but I'm glad that came across my radar because this is one of the best, most well-written and amazing short story collections I have ever read. Period. If you are a fan of genre fiction that has Southern themes and, as an added bonus, features diversity in the form of the predominantly African-American characters (including one short story that deals with the loa or spirits of Haitian vodou which I absolutely adored to a few that involved the Gullah people).
Eden Royce's stories all have a very strong voice with a unique perspective as she is from Charleston, South Carolina. Her dialogue was stunning and amazing. It is incredibly difficult to write dialogue for any character with an accent but particularly characters who are from the Southern United States. It's very easy to butcher when writing fiction, so I applaud Ms. Royce greatly for her fantastic use of dialogue. Her prose drips with authenticity--everything from the flavour of the settings she described to the wonderfully powerful emotions she evoked from her characters was simply a delight to read.
If you are a fantasy and horror reader or if you love Southern fiction, PLEASE pick up a copy of Eden Royce's collection. Her stories are so full of quality, originality, authenticity and vividness that will make this book impossible for you to put down.