Genre: Magical
Realism/Ghosts/Young Adult
Description:
“In his dreams, Louie begins visiting an alternate reality where he
meets his father, who died when Louie was still a baby. At first, it seems like
a wonderful opportunity for Louie to finally get to know his dad. But things
aren’t exactly what they seem, and great horrors loom very close by.
The place Louie enters in his sleep—called Dreamland—is only a small
part of the dreamworld. All around it lies The Outskirts. That’s where
nightmares come from. And the creatures who live there are constantly on the
lookout for new prey. Someone they can lure in and catch. Someone they can keep
as their prisoner for all eternity.
Will Louie lose himself forever in dreams? Or will he manage to wake
up in time?”
Author:
“Nick Clausen writes chilling horror and apocalyptic tales so that he
doesn't need to work a real job. He lives in a tiny country far, far away and
he grew up on rye bread porridge and Stephen King books.
Published in four different languages, he has written several popular
books, including They Come at Night
and Human Flesh, and is right now
working on ending the world one day at a time in his zombie series Dead Meat.”
To learn more about Mr. Clausen please visit his website.
Appraisal:
Louie is a twelve-year-boy who has started having dreams that take him
to a realm of dreams he learns to call Dreamland.
The colors are off, but it looks like a small town with a park, a railroad, and
stores. However, the only person there is a man in a blue suit and Louie. The
blue suit man stays at a distance until he feels like he can approach Louie
without scaring him. Blue suit man aims to earn Louie’s trust above all else.
Blue
suit man shows him around Dreamland. It’s a small contained perfect world which
is surrounded by the outskirts. The outskirts are gray and gloomy. It is where
monsters and nightmares live. Blue suit man tells Louie he is his father who
died when Louie was one year old. Stories his dad tells Louie turn out to be
true when he fact checks with his mom. So Louie uses his time in Dreamland to get to know his father.
Louie is totally enthralled with his dad, and he feels safe escaping to Dreamland.
Louie’s mom, Ellen, still mourns her husband’s death from cancer
eleven years ago. She has a fear of commitment, which manifests in moving every
few months, but not out of the town they live in. Louie locates the house they
used to live in as a small family. It’s abandoned, run down, and is rumored to
be haunted, which Louie dismisses. When Louie starts spending too much time in Dreamland things start to go sideways. Louie
is losing control and tension goes into overdrive as the darkness starts to
move around and claim Louie.
The rich description of Louie and his mom’s world put you in the
story. Dreamland is easily watched
from afar, and the darkness is all consuming and unrelenting. So hold on to
your wits, and your seat for this wild ride.
Format/Typo
Issues:
Only a few proofing misses, nothing that threw me out of the story.
Rating:
**** Four Stars
Reviewed
by: ?wazithinkin
Approximate
word count: 35-40,000 words
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