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A review by ojtheviking
Plunge Hill: A Case Study by J.M. McVulpin
3.0
This was another interesting read from this six-novella collection!
One of the things that set this book apart from the other Eden Book Society releases, is the premise. It doesn't present itself as a novella by an author named McVulpin. Instead, this takes on the guise of being a collection of found letters and diary entries, presented - and commented on - by McVulpin who is a psychologist. The story is told through the personal accounts of Bridget, as well as her predecessor Anouk, and their experiences at Plunge Hill hospital, with McVulpin occasionally commenting on the story along the way through various footnotes.
I often find the epistolary format interesting; it's like a written version of found footage horror. (Then again, one could say that found footage is more like a film version of the epistolary format)
Many elements help create a tense atmosphere in this story. Paranoia, isolation, the feeling of living in a town where everybody looks at you the same way and appears to know some of your dark secrets, and the possibility of something almost Lovecraftian in nature existing there. Anouk has already been through it, as described in her diary entries, and now we have her replacement, Bridget, having very similar experiences, and trying to uncover the truth about the town she has mysteriously been invited to live and work in.
One of my few, small gripes is that due to the nature of this plot, McVulpin's interjections come across as unnecessarily dismissive and sarcastic. The fact that he is quick to pin Bridget's writings on mental illness is fine due to the context, but some of his footnotes are not much more than a snary remark in the vein of "yeah, sure", as opposed to offering a clinical analysis of her alleged mental disorder. It just comes across as counterproductive to what he otherwise appears to intend to achieve through this so-called case study, and his professionalism becomes questionable.
Also, another thing that was borderline cheesy, was how Anouk would exclaim Swedish phrases simply because she's Swedish. Especially how the word "fuck" was directly translated into Swedish. This assumes that English profanity is worded exactly the same in other languages. But in Swedish, that just sounds like she is exclaiming "Procreate!" (only with a ruder choice of word). Again, it's a minor gripe, but for someone who understands Swedish, this stood out to me.
Either way, the overall novella was well-written and made for a suspenseful mystery. A thing I have loved about these Eden Book Society releases so far, is that the novellas are short enough that you can read through them within mere hours, but the storytelling is usually still as immersive and gripping as full-length novels. And this installment was particularly a creative one.
P.S.: Just a trivial observation... At the top of every page, it says the name of the author on the left side (the even-numbered pages), and the book title on the right side (the odd-numbered pages). However, on page 165 in my copy, the book title instead randomly says "Starve Acre", which is another Eden Book Society release. A funny bit of editing blunder, I suppose.
One of the things that set this book apart from the other Eden Book Society releases, is the premise. It doesn't present itself as a novella by an author named McVulpin. Instead, this takes on the guise of being a collection of found letters and diary entries, presented - and commented on - by McVulpin who is a psychologist. The story is told through the personal accounts of Bridget, as well as her predecessor Anouk, and their experiences at Plunge Hill hospital, with McVulpin occasionally commenting on the story along the way through various footnotes.
I often find the epistolary format interesting; it's like a written version of found footage horror. (Then again, one could say that found footage is more like a film version of the epistolary format)
Many elements help create a tense atmosphere in this story. Paranoia, isolation, the feeling of living in a town where everybody looks at you the same way and appears to know some of your dark secrets, and the possibility of something almost Lovecraftian in nature existing there. Anouk has already been through it, as described in her diary entries, and now we have her replacement, Bridget, having very similar experiences, and trying to uncover the truth about the town she has mysteriously been invited to live and work in.
One of my few, small gripes is that due to the nature of this plot, McVulpin's interjections come across as unnecessarily dismissive and sarcastic. The fact that he is quick to pin Bridget's writings on mental illness is fine due to the context, but some of his footnotes are not much more than a snary remark in the vein of "yeah, sure", as opposed to offering a clinical analysis of her alleged mental disorder. It just comes across as counterproductive to what he otherwise appears to intend to achieve through this so-called case study, and his professionalism becomes questionable.
Also, another thing that was borderline cheesy, was how Anouk would exclaim Swedish phrases simply because she's Swedish. Especially how the word "fuck" was directly translated into Swedish. This assumes that English profanity is worded exactly the same in other languages. But in Swedish, that just sounds like she is exclaiming "Procreate!" (only with a ruder choice of word). Again, it's a minor gripe, but for someone who understands Swedish, this stood out to me.
Either way, the overall novella was well-written and made for a suspenseful mystery. A thing I have loved about these Eden Book Society releases so far, is that the novellas are short enough that you can read through them within mere hours, but the storytelling is usually still as immersive and gripping as full-length novels. And this installment was particularly a creative one.
P.S.: Just a trivial observation... At the top of every page, it says the name of the author on the left side (the even-numbered pages), and the book title on the right side (the odd-numbered pages). However, on page 165 in my copy, the book title instead randomly says "Starve Acre", which is another Eden Book Society release. A funny bit of editing blunder, I suppose.