The August Derleth Award is the British Fantasy Award for Best Horror Novel, and The Hollows has been shortlisted for it. I decided to read the other shortlisted novels and post my thoughts about them, so here goes. First up: Miracle Growth by Tim Mendees.
More Humus than Human
Bizarre things are unfolding in a sleepy Cornish town right in the middle of the annual fruit and vegetable show.
What was once a fun and enjoyable affair of roots, assorted pies, and blue ribbon pickles, has rival green-fingered neighbours turning to an untested miracle fertilizer to win the coveted Rosette. But all hell is about to break loose and it’s up to a team of bumbling locals to put an end to the insidious horror that threatens not just the town, but the whole world.
Can they stop the contamination before it spreads or will the vegetation prove to be un-beet-able?
You won't find any bland veggies in this book. Man-eating marrows and vicious vines are just a few of the nightmares that lurk within the idyllic countryside in this novella of cosmic horror. Weird, disturbing, and brilliantly funny.
Disclaimer: It should, of course, go without saying, but this is my personal opinion and nothing more. Yours may be different, and that's cool.
Daniel's thoughts:
I was surprised to see this one make the shortlist, but very pleasantly so. One of the things I love about horror is that it’s so varied – it can be anything from a Jamesian ghost story to an ‘80a slasher movie, from cosmic horror to psychological horror. Gothic or pulp. I don’t like the term ‘elevated horror,’ with its implication that there's a class of horror writing that's somehow superior to ordinary genre fare, because the joy of the field is that it can do so much. It can appeal to the intellect, or the emotions, or both. Or it can just be fun.
Miracle Growth is unabashed, unashamed fun, and a delight to read. In film terms, it’s like a hugely entertaining B-movie. I don’t know if the presence of a brawny police sergeant called Finch is a sly tribute to Paul of that ilk (an ex-copper and author of punchy, immensely-readable horror and crime tales,) but he’s a great character nonetheless, if somewhat overshadowed by his mother Ivy, an indomitable horticulturist from the Women’s Institute with occasional pyromaniac tendencies.
No, this definitely isn’t ‘elevated’ horror: it’s high-energy pulp fiction. It's horror as entertainment, and a terrific example of it. And sometimes that’s exactly what you need. In genre terms, it’s comfort food, and as someone who enjoys far more pizzas and Chinese takeaways than is really good for him, I bloody loved it.
There are shades of Wyndham's Day of the Triffids and Lovecraft's The Colour out of Space, and the classic Tom Baker-era Dr Who serial The Seeds of Doom, shot through with a good deal of tongue-in-cheek humour, all of which put me in mind of the stories of John Llewellyn Probert, and that, also, is a very good thing. Miracle Growth is above all fun, and I’ll be adding Tim Mendees to my list of writers I go to when the world feels messy, scary and miserable and I want to visit somewhere else.
Buy Miracle Growth here.
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