An Occasional Review Journal
You've probably noticed there are no new reviews here. I simply haven't time for reviewing and writing recently, and reviewing has had to go. For now, this journal is closed. Apologies.
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The Great Old Pumpkin, by John Aegard - Strange Horizons, 25 October 2004
The Great Old Pumpkin, by John Aegard
John Aegard creates an unlikely blend of H.P. Lovecraft and Charlie Brown in The Great Old Pumpkin, the seasonal offering from Strange Horizons. It's a story that really shouldn't work, but does, and gloriously.
In this story, our hero, like so many of Lovecraft's protagonists, is drawn into horror and madness when his investigations into the eldritch (in this case, The Great Old Pumpkin) lead him to seek out this lord he has chosen to serve.
The greatest fun for the reader of the story comes in the word-perfect parody of Lovecraft and in teasing out the various Charlie Brown references. Too ofen in humour, the writer allows the jokes to interfere with the story, but Aegard has avoided this well, and in any case, the humour is not mainly in one-liners. Instead, he keeps the story rolling along at a fine pace to its inevitable end.
This is (obviously) a light-hearted piece, something to read by firelight. Share it with your friends. It's hard to imagine that anyone won't like it.
--Patrick Samphire, 29 October 2004
John Aegard creates an unlikely blend of H.P. Lovecraft and Charlie Brown in The Great Old Pumpkin, the seasonal offering from Strange Horizons. It's a story that really shouldn't work, but does, and gloriously.
In this story, our hero, like so many of Lovecraft's protagonists, is drawn into horror and madness when his investigations into the eldritch (in this case, The Great Old Pumpkin) lead him to seek out this lord he has chosen to serve.
The greatest fun for the reader of the story comes in the word-perfect parody of Lovecraft and in teasing out the various Charlie Brown references. Too ofen in humour, the writer allows the jokes to interfere with the story, but Aegard has avoided this well, and in any case, the humour is not mainly in one-liners. Instead, he keeps the story rolling along at a fine pace to its inevitable end.
This is (obviously) a light-hearted piece, something to read by firelight. Share it with your friends. It's hard to imagine that anyone won't like it.
--Patrick Samphire, 29 October 2004
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