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 trouble lurks in many a mind at this facility 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
A huge thanks to Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for the eARC!
A viscerally uncomfortable work of horror fiction, Nathan Ballingrud’s novella, Crypt of the Moon Spider, feels like a dreamy lullaby that promises sweet sleep, only to warp into a grotesque nightmare that is not soon to be forgotten. The year is 1923, and Veronica Brinkley has just landed on the moon. No, this isn’t a groundbreaking event in this world that Ballingrud crafts. Rather, it’s a typical trip for those who are seen as emotionally affected, a voyage to the Barrowfield Home for Treatment of the Melancholy (a little bit of a mouthful, but aptly named). Such a place is manned by Dr. Cull, an eccentric fellow with what seems to be a quirky approach to mental health, being on the moon and all that. This is for good reason though, as the basis of his treatment plans stem from the webs of moon spiders constructed directly into the human brain. Despite this bizarreness, there’s something even more sinister at play within the halls of Barrowfield, something that Veronica comes to know all too well.
Body horror has long been a unique subgenre of horror, often pushing boundaries of what readers can stomach. An argument could be made that psychological, existential horror sits on the opposing side of this spectrum, detailing the dread that comes with those elusive, hard-to-describe feelings of the mind. Nathan Ballingrud manages to very effectively combine these two to create Crypt of the Moon Spider thus executing one greatly uncomfortable reading experience. And I say this as a compliment!
The circumstances of Veronica’s voyage to Barrowfield are shaped by the horrors women are all too familiar with. The treatment she receives from her husband is the behavior of nightmares as she is dismissed, abandoned, and forgotten all before she falls into Dr. Cull’s hands. Barrowfield shows no love for Veronica either; she spends most of her time in isolation, receives little communication regarding her treatment plan, and then, worst of all, the treatment itself. Lack of control or loss of autonomy is unfortunately a fear all women have faced and is clearly expressed through Veronica’s character. This of course extends even further to fears of medical malpractice or experimentation for anyone at Barrowfield, women and men alike. Cue the Frankenstein-like scenes of mutilation and disfigurement.
To keep things spoiler-free, I’ll speak in generalities of the carnal horrors on display within the last few pages of this novella. The medical practices instituted by Dr. Cull fall nothing short of grotesque. The central idea of removing the sick part of the human brain to be rebuilt by the moon spiders is gut-churning in and of itself. Yet, this mangled attempt at curing mental disease in this manner feels allegorical of the mental health crisis plaguing our country, our world. Dr. Cull’s monstrous actions mirror the bumbling ways in which our world leaders, politicians, and even some physicians operate. It’s a dark idea that hallmarks the mistrust between patient and doctor, the vulnerable and the powerful. This is all driven home so starkly through Ballingrud’s unflinching gore and the repulsive reality of Dr. Cull’s treatments.
A quick 96 pages spent on this moon in some universe where spiders mend brains, Crypt of the Moon Spider exhibits masterful body horror to emphasize the dread of vulnerability and the evils of malpractice. Nathan Ballingrud manages to introduce a confounding world where all of these things are possible, setting the stage for the rest of his Gothic Lunar Trilogy with quite a bang. While the events of the next two books exist in a realm of mystery, the sense of absolute shock experienced with this novella was abundantly clear.
Crypt of the Moon Spider by Nathan Ballingrud releases on August 27th from Tor Nightfire.
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