Introducing us to a young woman named Kara, the story then thrusts her into a world-shattering scenario when she discovers a hidden bunker with portals to alternate realities behind a wall in her uncle's house. However, those realities might also carry invaders keen on crossing over into our own world.
T. Kingfisher Opens the Realm of Nightmares
The existence of worlds and realities beyond our own hasn't been proven yet, and no matter how unlikely it might seem, it hasn't been disproved either. We can only marvel with the power of our imagination at the terrors and wonders such worlds might be capable of holding, as does T. Kingfisher in her horror novel, The Hollow Places.
The novel begins by introducing us to Kara, a young woman who has recently gone through a divorce and is now living back at home, for the foreseeable future at least. Though she thinks her world is shattered beyond repair, she is soon about to learn the true meaning of this thought.
Her uncle's house has a hole in its wall, and Kara's insatiable curiosity drives her to find out what's on the other side. She discovers a mysterious and hidden bunker, with the words “Pray they are hungry.” being her sole clue to unravelling its purpose. Like any young person with too much time on their hands trying to escape trauma, she engorges herself in this puzzle.
Unfortunately for Kara and her tremendous sense of exploration, the bunker turns out to hold something much more groundbreaking than anything she could have imagined: portals to alternate dimensions and realities. Though the doors have been opened for her to peer into those worlds, whatever lives there now has the chance to gaze back.
As it turns out, some truly terrifying creatures inhabit those worlds, obeying very different laws of reality: they can hear thoughts and are made stronger by the fear of others. With the pain of her divorce now seeming like a long-gone distant memory, Kara is forced to contend against the otherworldly unknown invaders before her blunder spells doom for the rest of the world.
The Tranquil Horror of The Hollow Places
Though the horror genre might have begun in literature, in recent decades people have largely moved on to movies to get their fill of the genre. After all, the audio-visual medium is an easier way to get horror across in comparison with stimulating people's imagination through the written word. Nevertheless, I think the best fictional horror still comes from novels, and The Hollow Places makes a good case for it.
To begin with, there aren't any cheap attempts at emotional manipulation, nor are there any prominent “jump scares” worth discussing. Personally-speaking, I find these two elements a little too prevalent in modern horror in all mediums, and was happy the author strayed from the easiest paths walked by countless others before her.
On the contrary, this book is much more of a slow burner, and for me, the horror elements came from the superposition of our perfectly normal protagonist with hostile and otherworldly dimensions which aren't inherently evil, just naturally-antagonistic.
There are quite a few horrifying tableaux depicted by Kingfisher throughout the novel, and I must remark on her exceptional descriptive talents for conjuring places which by their very nature inspire doom for humanity. Though I don't know if anyone can surpass Lovecraft for this talent in my book, Kingfisher sure comes as close as I've seen anyone in a while.
Now, did this story actually scare me?
In my opinion, good horror doesn't seek to inspire fear, something best-left for cheap movie-screen jump-scares with loud sound cues. A good horror seeks to inspire dread by stimulating the reader's imagination about what might be possible and its implications. In this regard, The Hollow Places succeeded with me.
The Banal Nature of Terror
So far I've only written about the horror aspect of this novel, which I assume might give you the idea this is what it's all about. However, this novel is far more layered than this, starting with the widespread comedy elements, sprinkled rather evenly throughout the story.
While the author doesn't outright make laugh-out-loud jokes for our pleasure, there were plenty of moments which brought a smile to my face, stemming largely from the ridiculous context the protagonist, Kara, has found herself in.
What exactly do I mean by this?
Kingfisher is also quite a fantastic writer when it comes to superimposing the terrifying supernatural with the banal realities of our world and existence. Though Kara might be fighting for her life against evil extra-dimensional entities, the world must keep on turning, and all the minute and meaningless things with it.
Speaking of those “evil” entities, I only qualify them as such because of their opposition to our main character. In and of themselves, however, they are not bad; their existence is incompatible with humans, and they are simply uncaring for the lethality they pose to us. This makes them more than just the bad guys or evil aliens; it makes them characters we can have nuanced thoughts about.
The one thing which I thought was a bit out of place where the author's personal political comments, something I see more and more of in modern literature. However, I suppose this might be a mere reflection of the times we live in, and in the end they didn't hinder my enjoyment one bit once the surprise element was taken out of them.
The Final Verdict
The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher is an elegantly-written and intelligently-nuanced, slow-burning horror novel which can inspire both dread and amusement when necessary. If you're looking for a truly high-quality horror novel capable of stimulating your imagination, then I strongly recommend you give this book a shot.
 | T. KingfisherT Kingfisher is the pen name used by the American freelance writer Ursula Vernon for the purpose of writing books, such as The Twisted Ones and The Hollow Places, which deviate from her principal domain: children's literature. She has won the Hugo Award as well as the 2013 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature for her graphic novel Digger. Her novella, Minor Mage, was also a finalist for the 2020 Lodestar Award. |
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