Synopsis
When her Mum dies unexpectedly, Allyson thinks her world has hit rock bottom — until she goes to live with her estranged Uncle Otto at his country mansion in Germany. The gardener and the housekeeper make her feel anything but welcome, and her cousin Martin gives her the creeps. Then, after a child’s empty casket is unearthed in the backyard during a violent storm, people close to her uncle start turning up dead. And a man with ice-blue eyes seems to be following Allyson.
As the noose tightens and murders draw closer to the mansion, Allyson and her new boyfriend discover a dark, long-hidden truth and realise that nobody is safe. Their lives will be at stake if they don’t learn the twisted reason why each broken body is decorated with a bloodstained doll.
Review
As far as homages to the Giallo genre go, you won’t find a more authentic one than The Bloodstained Doll. It’s a creepy slasher that plays out in your mind like the classic Italian movies of the 1970s.
John Everson is best known for writing horror. But when he turns his hand to this particular brand of gruesome mystery thriller, he really goes all in. You’ve got to admire the gusto that he puts into what is, admittedly, a niche genre, and his passion for it really pays off.
What is a Giallo story? It’s a psychological-slasher-thriller reminiscent of the movies of Mario Bava and Dario Argento, containing stylised violence, a particular visual flair, and harping back to the Italian paperbacks of the 1920s and 1930s with their distinctive yellow covers. If you can picture a faceless killer sporting black leather gloves poised with their knife over the flesh of a beautiful woman, then you’ve got the atmosphere of what a Giallo story should feel like.
This is exactly what The Bloodstained Doll is all about — creating that atmosphere. It feels familiar because it’s supposed to. It follows the tropes because it needs to. That’s the whole point of it. These types of stories had a heyday, but fans will always crave new content, and John Everson has decided to give it to them.
The story itself hinges on the killer’s trademark — scattering a broken a doll over their victims. The conceit works on a surface level to draw you in, and provides a really impactful visual, and if that’s enough to satisfy you, then this book will go down easy. But if you crave a little more substance from your killers, then you may find it a tad difficult to swallow.
It all kicks off when an empty coffin is unearthed during a storm. The protagonist —Allyson — is a young girl who’s grieving the loss of her mother and goes to stay at a gothic mansion with her extended family. They’re all a bunch of creeps, which is necessary because the killer is most likely among them. The reason for this is that the deaths all surround the empty coffin, the missing remains, and the secrets they hold.
In terms of mysteries, it’s pretty straightforward. But this isn’t designed to be a head-scratcher. The appeal of the story is all about the aesthetics and the atmosphere, and in this regard, it’s an utter triumph. Did I guess who the killer was? Yes. Did I figure out the big secret in advance? Also yes. Does it matter? Not at all. You don’t go into this book for the twists and turns — you go in for the style.
There’s an indulgence about the way this unabashedly hits almost every beat you’d expect from a Giallo homage, and for fans of the genre, it’s one to be relished. There are a couple of sub-plots that are well worth their time on the page — one being a romance element, and the other being a conspiratorial blackmail. It all adds up to a climax of reveals that plunges Allyson into deeper trouble, all the way to a typically bloody final confrontation.
This book could have been very different. It could have delved more into Allyson’s grief at having just lost her Mum. It could have been a richer coming-of-age drama as she navigates life independently in a new country. But it’s all the better for steering clear of too much emotional heft. Sometimes, all you want from a piece of entertainment is for it to be slick, stylish, and suspenseful. And if you’re in that zone, you can’t go wrong with this.
The Bloodstained Doll may not be a perfect mystery, but it’s the perfect take on a modern Giallo B-movie in book form. If you prefer style over substance and you’re ready for a slasher with gothic creepiness, then get ready for a book that slays.
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