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A review by rsurban
Little Sister Death by William Gay
4.0
Little Sister Death is William Gay’s posthumously published attempt at writing a ghost story, and while it is definitely worth reading, and can be interpreted as a complete story if you try hard, what it seems more likely to be in an unfinished novel that was published as his last (or next to last if rumors are true) writings without the benefit a final edit or shaping. As such, it is a bit difficult to properly review, since as a complete vision it appears so…incomplete. Nevertheless, as with anything Gay wrote, his work here is a pleasure to read, even a luxury, so that, however fragmentary Little Sister Death seems in theme and plot, it is a fine, atmospheric story that any lover of good writing will appreciate.
Gay’s book is the story of a young author with writer’s block who, when urged by his publisher to try his hand at a horror story in order to sell some books and make some money, decides to excavate the Tennessee legend of the Bell Witch and use its narrative as the basis for a ghost story. The author, David Binder, disrupts the life of his wife and child by moving them into the very house in the Tennessee woods where the horrors of the Beale Haunting have supposedly played out over the preceding 200 years. From here, Gay devotes extended sections of the book to recounting the hauntings and manifestations of the supernatural that occurred at particular intervals, especially the years 1785 and 1933. While these sections are more straightforward in their recounting of events, they are also more satisfying as they give more concrete details as to historical events that occurred.
The sections of the book that deal directly with Binder and his family are more atmospheric and ambiguous, but also where Gay shines as a writer, for it is in these passages that the real beauty of the author’s writing takes wing. Also, he obliquely references past events in their present day echoes, deftly creating an eerie feeling of déjà vu that give the reader some real frissons of unease; we know more of the visitations than some characters may, so that the appearance of certain objects or individuals signal the presence of the supernatural, malevolent force.
There is absolutely no question that Little Sister Death is in some ways Gay’s homage to Stephen King’s The Shining. The inclusion of certain symbols and scenarios are just too obvious to not be intentional, and it is known that Gay and King were mutually admiring of each other. Both novels feature writers whose creativity has lapsed, who take a chance moving their family to an isolated, purportedly haunted house as a last ditch attempt to regain control of their careers and lives. The symbolic presence of bees/wasps, the historical tales of men killing their families at the house (Grady with a roque mallet, Owen Swaw with an axe), a menacing dog in Gay’s story that echoes the hedge animals of King’s, all point to a deliberate attempt on the author’s part to place his writing in context with King’s classic haunted house tale.
But in the novel’s supposed (one hates to attribute intention when the author cannot defend himself) denouement, Gay seems to be going for a horror both existential and internal, instead of reaching for the grand battle against an elemental supernatural force. While the perfunctory nature of the book’s ending leaves the true focus questionable, Gay appears to be setting his protagonist up as either an unwitting victim of demonic possession, a more complicit collaborator, or simply an ordinary man who comes to a horrific, yet mundane realization: he no longer loves his wife. Yet, after such a build-up of supernatural tropes and events, can this really have been the resolution that the author intended. Without access to his notes and other writings about this edition, we may never know. Nevertheless, there is enough of a story here to entertain and intrigue, and regardless of its state of completion, Gay’s Little Sister Death is an essential addition to his body of work.
Gay’s book is the story of a young author with writer’s block who, when urged by his publisher to try his hand at a horror story in order to sell some books and make some money, decides to excavate the Tennessee legend of the Bell Witch and use its narrative as the basis for a ghost story. The author, David Binder, disrupts the life of his wife and child by moving them into the very house in the Tennessee woods where the horrors of the Beale Haunting have supposedly played out over the preceding 200 years. From here, Gay devotes extended sections of the book to recounting the hauntings and manifestations of the supernatural that occurred at particular intervals, especially the years 1785 and 1933. While these sections are more straightforward in their recounting of events, they are also more satisfying as they give more concrete details as to historical events that occurred.
The sections of the book that deal directly with Binder and his family are more atmospheric and ambiguous, but also where Gay shines as a writer, for it is in these passages that the real beauty of the author’s writing takes wing. Also, he obliquely references past events in their present day echoes, deftly creating an eerie feeling of déjà vu that give the reader some real frissons of unease; we know more of the visitations than some characters may, so that the appearance of certain objects or individuals signal the presence of the supernatural, malevolent force.
There is absolutely no question that Little Sister Death is in some ways Gay’s homage to Stephen King’s The Shining. The inclusion of certain symbols and scenarios are just too obvious to not be intentional, and it is known that Gay and King were mutually admiring of each other. Both novels feature writers whose creativity has lapsed, who take a chance moving their family to an isolated, purportedly haunted house as a last ditch attempt to regain control of their careers and lives. The symbolic presence of bees/wasps, the historical tales of men killing their families at the house (Grady with a roque mallet, Owen Swaw with an axe), a menacing dog in Gay’s story that echoes the hedge animals of King’s, all point to a deliberate attempt on the author’s part to place his writing in context with King’s classic haunted house tale.
But in the novel’s supposed (one hates to attribute intention when the author cannot defend himself) denouement, Gay seems to be going for a horror both existential and internal, instead of reaching for the grand battle against an elemental supernatural force. While the perfunctory nature of the book’s ending leaves the true focus questionable, Gay appears to be setting his protagonist up as either an unwitting victim of demonic possession, a more complicit collaborator, or simply an ordinary man who comes to a horrific, yet mundane realization: he no longer loves his wife. Yet, after such a build-up of supernatural tropes and events, can this really have been the resolution that the author intended. Without access to his notes and other writings about this edition, we may never know. Nevertheless, there is enough of a story here to entertain and intrigue, and regardless of its state of completion, Gay’s Little Sister Death is an essential addition to his body of work.