The Revenant of Rebecca Pascal by David Barker and W. H. Pugmire was published by Dark Renaissance Books in June 2014.
Information about the authors:
David Barker has been a hardcore Lovecraft fan since his college days. He began writing short horror fiction in the mid-1980s, publishing widely in that era's small-press magazines, and edited three of his own Lovecraftian journals before leaving the field in the '90s to focus on literary fiction and poetry. In 2011, his comic surreal novel, Death at the Flea Circus, was published, and in 2012, David returned to horror with the publication of a serialized novel, Electro-Thrall Zombies. David lives in Oregon with his wife and has four grown daughters and two grandsons.
Click here to visit David Barker's blog.
Wilum Hopfrog Pugmire is an obsessed Lovecraftian who writes book after book of weird fiction in the Lovecraft tradition. His newest books are Bohemians of Sesqua Valley and Encounters with Enoch Coffin (with Jeffrey Thomas). He and David Barker are now writing new stories for Spectres of Lovecraftian Horror, to be published next year; and he is writing his own wee novel of 43,000 words, In Ye Gulfs of Night.
Click here to visit W. H. Pugmire's official website.
Information about The Revenant of Rebecca Pascal:
In witch-haunted Arkham, the restless spirit of the narrator's great-aunt, the notorious poetess Rebecca Pascal, takes possession of an innocent woman and brings havoc to all who encounter her. Richard, to whom she bequeathed her house and wealth, is less fortunate than his expectation has led him to believe; his inheritance is something unholy – and he is no match for the machinations of Rebecca and her acolytes. Inspired in part by Lovecraft's "The Thing on the Doorstep," The Revenant of Rebecca Pascal takes you to ghostly houses and sinister Arkham burying grounds, where alchemy and madness join forces with a daemonic entity aroused from beyond the wall of sleep.
A REVIEW OF THE REVENANT OF REBECCA PASCAL (WRITTEN BY DAVID BARKER AND W. H. PUGMIRE)
The Revenant of Rebecca Pascal by David Barker and W. H. Pugmire is a beautifully written and atmospheric weird fiction novella. It's a hauntingly effective story that grows on you as the events begin to unfold in a true Lovecraftian manner.
The Revenant of Rebecca Pascal is a charmingly old-fashioned yet modern novella that reads like a story written by H. P. Lovecraft. It is set in the fictional city of Arkham that Lovecraft created for his eldritch stories and is partly inspired by Lovecraft's "The Thing on the Doorstep", which is a classic weird fiction story and one of the old master's best stories.
What separates this novella from many other Lovecraftian stories is the fact that David Barker and W. H. Pugmire genuinely seem to love Lovecraft's stories and have done their best to create their own kind of tribute to Lovecraft by writing a story that closely resembles many of his stories, but also differs from them by having modern elements in it.
Before I write more about this novella, I'll briefly mention that I had previously read stories by W. H. Pugmire, so I was familiar with his writing style and knew what kind of stories he writes, but David Barker was an almost unknown author to me. I had heard of David Barker and - if I'm not mistaken - I remember reading a couple of stories written by him, but I wasn't fully aware of what kind of fiction he writes. That's why it very interesting for me to read this collaboration.
Here's a bit of information about the story:
Richard Pascal travels to Arkham, because he has inherited his aunt's (Rebecca Pascal) house. When he spends time in Rebecca's house, he begins to have vivid and unsettling dreams about Rebecca. Richard finds a hidden room and Rebecca's occult library that consists of notorious and rare occult books. Soon Richard meets Rebecca in a surprising way, because she takes possession of a woman's body and begins to prepare herself for an unholy ceremony...
This is the beginning of one of the best Lovecraftian stories ever written. The story flows beautifully from start to finish, and the ending is unforgettable, because the story ends in one of the best and most memorable summoning scenes ever written by weird fiction authors. The authors write so well about the madness and incantations involved in the opening of the gateway that you can't help but admire how they've managed to build the whole scene so perfectly.
It's very difficult to put this novella down once you've started to read it, because the story grabs hold of your attention and almost forces you to read it in one sitting. This - in my opinion - is a clear sign of the addictive nature of the story, because only the best stories have this kind of an effect on the reader.
David Barker and W. H. Pugmire have done their best to match their writing style with Lovecraft's writing style and they have succeeded in it. They have even managed to emulate the long sentences, evocative descriptions and the vocabulary that Lovecraft used in his stories. The only other author who has succeeded in writing this kind of stories is Daniel Mills.
The authors have perfectly managed to create the same kind of creepy atmosphere that can only be found in Lovecraft's stories. This is quite an amazing and remarkable achievement, because not many authors are capable of writing this kind of old-fashioned weird fiction that contains eldritch terror and eeriness.
It's great that the authors have been able to create a story that gradually becomes more threatening, sinister and disturbing. The dreams that Richard sees highlight the weirdness of the story and build up tension in an excellent way, because the dreams are restless and filled with occult happenings that cause Richard unease and make him curious about certain things.
The cast of characters is fantastically quirky and eccentric. It was fascinating for me to read about Julia and Mr. Lorne, because they were well created characters and their characteristics were vividly brought to life by the authors. Rebecca was also a fascinating character, because she had her own motives and purposes that drove her to do unholy things.
This novella contains many Lovecraftian elements from bizarre dreams and quirky characters to Necronomicon and weird cults. The authors also mention a few characters whose names are most likely familiar to all who have read Lovecraft's stories. These elements will delight all fans of Lovecraft's stories.
The authors write expertly about cults, spirit possession, occult elements etc. It was thrilling to read what happened to Julia and how Mr. Lorne was obssessed with Rebecca Pascal and her powers. Rebecca's devotion to the dark arts was handled well, because she was fascinated and obsessed by occultism. She was a powerful woman who was able to cheat death.
The descriptions of the places are beautiful and evocative. It's easy to see how much both authors love H. P. Lovecraft's stories and enjoy storytelling, because well written descriptions of the places, characters and happenings are an essential part of this kind of literary weird fiction stories.
The ending of this novella is sophisticatedly sinister and Lovecraft fans will be delighted to read about the incantations used to summon something unholy to Arkham. The authors write fluently about cosmic horror and have paid attention to small details that are important to this kind of horror stories.
The preface by Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. is one of the best and most atmospheric prefaces I've read to date. It beautifully captures the hauntingly compelling atmosphere of the witch-haunted Arkham where many strange things have happened.
The illustrations by Erin White are beautiful and fit the story perfectly.
There is a reason why W. H. Pugmire is considered to be one of the best Lovecraftian dark fantasy and horror authors, because he writes perfect Lovecraftian fiction and is aware of the subtle nuances that are needed to make the prose flow effortlessly. His prose is beautiful, eloquent and nuanced. All the trademarks that have made his previous stories memorable are present in this novella. I think it's great how easily he and David Barker have managed to combine their literary voices, because there are no faults in the story or in the prose. Everything is perfect - the prose is eloquent and the happenings are fascinatingly macabre.
The Revenant of Rebecca Pascal by David Barker and W. H. Pugmire is one of the best weird fiction novellas of the year and also one of the most terrifying cosmic horror novellas ever published, because the atmosphere is wonderfully eerie and macabre and full of eldritch menace that can only be found in the best Lovecraftian stories.
Very highly recommended to all readers who enjoy reading weird fiction and Lovecraftian horror stories! (If you love Lovecraftian stories, this novella is essential reading material for you.)