COMMODORE by Philip Fracassi

I went into this prepared for a Stephen King-inspired coming-of-age drama laced with horror tones similar to Hearts in Atlantis or The Body, with its 1950’s small-town setting, and a story about a group of curious boys looking for adventure. What I did not expect was a mysterious and disturbing horror of haunting imagery, body trauma that will make you cringe, and inexplicable cosmic occurrences. 

The novella follows five young friends in the fictional town of Sabbath who head to a vast junkyard to find a fabled black car that’s become a town legend. The story is well-written and quick and easy to read, but what’s really exciting is realizing that this is one smaller story in a bigger mythos that Fracassi is building with the town of Sabbath. While the story here is creepy on its own, the hints at deeper horrors in the town were even more unsettling to me. Even at the beginning of this book, you get a sense that something isn’t quite right in this small town. And are the residents aware? Are they okay with this? Do they even have a choice?

And discerning Fracassi readers will recognize that the events in this story were referenced in the first Sabbath short story, “Soda Jerk,” which can be found in his latest collection, Beneath A Pale Sky, or as a bonus story at the end of his novella Shiloh. 

GRADE: B+