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A review by drskspawn
The Haunting of Harry Peck by David-Jack Fletcher, David-Jack Fletcher
4.0
“The Haunting of Harry Peck” is a brisk horror novella the jumps between the present day, focused on the titular Harry Peck, and past events that are the subject on ongoing superstition and debate, such as the mysterious event at Roanoke and Australia’s Great Emu War, in which the book’s absolutely bonkers theme of animals returning from the grave for vengeance is framed. This is the situation poor Harry Peck finds himself in after being encouraged by this Uncle John to “man up” and kill an innocent chicken. The fowl’s vengeful spirit really gives the story a bizarre edge through a masterful balance of comedy, horror, and homage to horror films. The chicken’s ruthless targets Harry’s crotch whenever it bursts to unlife, forcing him first to turn to veganism and then the mysterious “Vegan Shaman” to try and appease the spirit.
This is all intercut with the aforementioned flashbacks in with other unjustly killed emus, raccoons, and rats return to take a bloody revenge and the gory details are presented unapologetically throughout. The concept is very intriguing and the book’s message is clear: cruelty to animals is inhumane and carries a heavy toll, though obviously this is taken to a horrific extreme with even the use of shampoo evoking the chicken’s wrath. Still, this was certainly an entertaining read throughout; Harry’s character has enough quirks and backstory to be likeable and relatable, and I found the gory imagery and horror tropes evoked to be both familiar and imaginative, so I’d absolutely recommend “The Haunting of Harry Peck” to fans of the genre or as a pallet cleanser between longer reads.
This is all intercut with the aforementioned flashbacks in with other unjustly killed emus, raccoons, and rats return to take a bloody revenge and the gory details are presented unapologetically throughout. The concept is very intriguing and the book’s message is clear: cruelty to animals is inhumane and carries a heavy toll, though obviously this is taken to a horrific extreme with even the use of shampoo evoking the chicken’s wrath. Still, this was certainly an entertaining read throughout; Harry’s character has enough quirks and backstory to be likeable and relatable, and I found the gory imagery and horror tropes evoked to be both familiar and imaginative, so I’d absolutely recommend “The Haunting of Harry Peck” to fans of the genre or as a pallet cleanser between longer reads.