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A review by dmguay
Blackwater: The Complete Caskey Family Saga by Michael McDowell
5.0
The Blackwater Saga is a collection of six novellas: The Flood, The Levee, The House, The War, The Fortune, and The Rain.
The stories follow the rise and fall of a prominent Alabama family at the hands of a dangerous river monster. The story begins when young, handsome James Caskey finds a beautiful well-dressed woman in the ruins of a hotel during the flood that nearly obliterated Perdido, Alabama, on Easter Sunday in 1919. I’m not going to give spoilers here, but yes, this story is about a controlling mother-in-law, the intricate social rules of affluent Southern women, and yes, a river monster.
Let’s just say that even after you know who and what the river monster(s) is and can do, it never becomes formulaic or predictable. That monster keeps you on your toes wondering what it’s gonna do, to whom, how and why, for the entire six-book series. And at several points, you’re actually rooting for the monster!
McDowell, who died tragically too young at 49, was a rare talent. His books make me 1. Not want to stop reading because I absolutely have to know how it ends, and 2. when the book is finished, I feel sad that it’s over. Like, really sad. Yes, he’s that good.
His writing is impeccable, firmly rooting you in a place, often small rural towns near the Gulf Coast. And no one else writes about family relationships, particularly Deep South families, like McDowell. His monsters are always original, as well. And if you’re like me and you’ve seen hundreds of scary movies and read lots of horror fiction, it’s rare that a monster surprises you. He manages to create new boogeymen, and make their existence and actions seem real, natural, and inevitable no matter how over the top the monster might seem at first.
I am very thankful that Valancourt, an excellent horror small press, has revived his work and saved it from obscurity.
Michael McDowell wrote dozens of paperback horror novels in the 1980s, at the height of the horror fiction craze, but those works (without Valancourt) would have been largely forgotten. You won’t find his books on bookstore shelves and maybe only a couple on your local library shelf, which is a shame. Because if you love stories with supernatural elements and you haven’t read Michael McDowell, then you’re totally missing out. Even Stephen King loved him, calling him the “the finest writer of paperback originals in America.” (Stephen’s wife Tabitha even finished one of McDowell’s books,Candles Burning , for him.)
You are probably already familiar with McDowell's work, even if you haven't read any of his books. He wrote the screenplay for Beetlejuice. He also wrote screenplays for the Tales from the Darkside television show and the Tales from the Darkside movie segment “Lot 249,” about an Egyptologist who reanimates a mummy to take revenge on people who’ve slighted him. (Christian Slater, Julianne Moore, and Steve Buscemi star in this segment.)
The stories follow the rise and fall of a prominent Alabama family at the hands of a dangerous river monster. The story begins when young, handsome James Caskey finds a beautiful well-dressed woman in the ruins of a hotel during the flood that nearly obliterated Perdido, Alabama, on Easter Sunday in 1919. I’m not going to give spoilers here, but yes, this story is about a controlling mother-in-law, the intricate social rules of affluent Southern women, and yes, a river monster.
Let’s just say that even after you know who and what the river monster(s) is and can do, it never becomes formulaic or predictable. That monster keeps you on your toes wondering what it’s gonna do, to whom, how and why, for the entire six-book series. And at several points, you’re actually rooting for the monster!
McDowell, who died tragically too young at 49, was a rare talent. His books make me 1. Not want to stop reading because I absolutely have to know how it ends, and 2. when the book is finished, I feel sad that it’s over. Like, really sad. Yes, he’s that good.
His writing is impeccable, firmly rooting you in a place, often small rural towns near the Gulf Coast. And no one else writes about family relationships, particularly Deep South families, like McDowell. His monsters are always original, as well. And if you’re like me and you’ve seen hundreds of scary movies and read lots of horror fiction, it’s rare that a monster surprises you. He manages to create new boogeymen, and make their existence and actions seem real, natural, and inevitable no matter how over the top the monster might seem at first.
I am very thankful that Valancourt, an excellent horror small press, has revived his work and saved it from obscurity.
Michael McDowell wrote dozens of paperback horror novels in the 1980s, at the height of the horror fiction craze, but those works (without Valancourt) would have been largely forgotten. You won’t find his books on bookstore shelves and maybe only a couple on your local library shelf, which is a shame. Because if you love stories with supernatural elements and you haven’t read Michael McDowell, then you’re totally missing out. Even Stephen King loved him, calling him the “the finest writer of paperback originals in America.” (Stephen’s wife Tabitha even finished one of McDowell’s books,Candles Burning , for him.)
You are probably already familiar with McDowell's work, even if you haven't read any of his books. He wrote the screenplay for Beetlejuice. He also wrote screenplays for the Tales from the Darkside television show and the Tales from the Darkside movie segment “Lot 249,” about an Egyptologist who reanimates a mummy to take revenge on people who’ve slighted him. (Christian Slater, Julianne Moore, and Steve Buscemi star in this segment.)