GOTHIC by Philip Fracassi

It's been amazing to witness the rise of Fracassi's career as he has steadily planted his flag among the crowd in the literary horror genre. I've been reading his work since I discovered his short stories and novellas early on and he has quickly become a priority author for me. He's recently been on a roll with his novel releases and this one does not disappoint!

The setup is simple, introducing Tyson Park, a washed-up horror novelist with writer's block, who is gifted a new desk that ends up being a bit more than just new furniture. Turns out that the desk is made of material from an ancient occult altar and Tyson begins to succumb to its influence. It's pretty unnerving to witness Tyson's gradual corruption, rotating between seeing it from his POV and the view of others around him. I felt dirty being in his head with his thoughts as they became more and more disturbing until I realized that the person that I was reading about is not the same person I was introduced to earlier. 

There are effective horror sequences in this book as well, right up there with the best of the best. So if you're looking for engaging classic King-style horror storytelling, by an author flexing his powers, check out this great novel.

GRADE: B+