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Review: Crypt of The Moon Spider by Nathan Ballingrud

August 2, 2024 by George Dunn Leave a Comment

Rating: 3/10

Synopsis:

Years ago, in a cave beneath the dense forests and streams on the surface of the moon, a gargantuan spider once lived. Its silk granted its first worshippers immense faculties of power and awe.

It’s now 1923 and Veronica Brinkley is touching down on the moon for her intake at the Barrowfield Home for Treatment of the Melancholy. A renowned facility, Dr. Barrington Cull’s invasive and highly successful treatments have been lauded by many. And they’re so simple! All it takes is a little spider silk in the amygdala, maybe a strand or two in the prefrontal cortex, and perhaps an inch in the hippocampus for near evisceration of those troublesome thoughts and ideas.

But patients aren’t the only ones with trouble on their minds, and although the spider’s been dead for years, its denizens are not. Someone or something is up to no good, and Veronica just might be the cause.

Review:

“Crypt of The Moon Spider,” is a sci-fi horror novella that strikes down the reader with its exquisite prose, and ensnares us with its grisly passages, but ultimately fumbles the kill. When my ARC arrived (thank you Titan Books) wrapped in spider web, best believe this book excited me, and whilst Ballingrud’s writing continues to appeal, this one disappointed. Yes, “Crypt of The Moon Spider,” is a rollercoaster, however, it’s one with a few too many inversions built into it, and were it not so short, I would have wanted to get off. Whilst it certainly has its strengths, I found that there was far too much packed in, really like Ballingrud was trying to cram hotel towels into a suitcase. This is a story that requires the breadth and depth of a full length novel.  “Crypt of The Moon Spider,” releases August 27th. 

The year is 1923, and Veronica Brinkley is on the moon. Having admired it and its forests from afar for as long as she can remember, you would think she’d be thrilled by this, however, the circumstances are dire. “The Barrowfield Home for Treatment of The Melancholy,” seems far more humane and luxurious than the psychiatric units back on earth, and Dr Cull’s advanced and unique treatment promises to tackle Veronica’s depressive episodes, but something about the whole place seems rather off. Perhaps it’s something to do with the brutish attendant, the unconventional operations performed by Dr. Cull, or even the unsettling history attached to the land itself.

Look, ultimately, my fancy remains untickled; however I can recognise there’s lots to like. The prose, especially the body and insect horror, is particularly standout, and even in moments where I had lost track of what was happening, I was able to appreciate this. That being said, there were too many moments in which I was forced to resort to enjoying the writing as opposed to the actual imagery. I understand and appreciate ambiguity as a concept, with Tremblay’s “Horror Movie,” being a contender for my favourite of the year, and Catriona Ward being a permanent favourite. Other reviewers have disagreed, but I didn’t feel my confusion to be deliberately engineered (like in the aforementioned books), nor completely my own fault- it arose simply from the author doing too much. I can also appreciate that this is the first in a trilogy, but the general rule is to leave the reader excited for the next instalment, not wondering how there’s any material left given the amount that was shoe-horned into the first.

The themes I was able to detect, notably sex discrimination, seemed to be well explored, and were particularly interesting within the alternate universe constructed by Ballingrud. Furthermore, the characters were three dimensional, with Veronica making for an excellent protagonist even amidst the chaos. Charlie Duchamp AKA Grub brought to mind characters such as Rock from Aron Beauregard’s “Playground,” who pulled on my heartstrings this time last year. 

Overall, “Crypt of The Moon Spider,” spun a web of intrigue and terror, but in trying to catch too many flies, got tangled in its own threads- I hope that book #2 irons out the kinks and gives us the chilling clarity I craved throughout.

Filed Under: Bizarro, Fear For All, Reviews, Sci-Fi Horror, Weird Tagged With: Crypt of the moon spider, Nathan Ballingrud, Titan, Titan Books

About George Dunn

George is a UK-based book reviewer, who greedily consumes every form of horror he can get his grubby little hands on, although he particularly enjoys indie and vintage horror.

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