The term "quiet horror" gets thrown around everytime you read any review of a Charles Grant story. What exactly is quiet horror. Simply put, its a moniker created by Charlie himself, as a way to describe his writing style. Quiet horror is a slow crescendo of dread that builds in the story. It's subtle, not in your face. Its a creepy feeling that something isn't right. It's also not for the person who has the attention span of a highly caffeinated squirrel with ADD. You're not going to find blood spattered on every page of a Grant story. Nor will you find non-stop action. This isn't a Marvel comic. Grant's stories are all about the ride and not necessarily the destination. Patience is key. If you have it, chances are you'll see what he's trying to create and you'll enjoy it. Now, is every one of his stories a hit? No. But, there is always a certain level of quality in every Grant tale. For Fear of the Night is no exception. Is it his best? No, again.

 

 

As Labor Day nears, a group of teenagers are preoccupied with the big changes that have already shaped their lives and the ones that are about to. Going off to college looms in around the corner. Couples are about to become apart and wonder whats in store for them. Career decisions have to be made. Their friend, Julie, was recently killed in a fire that happened in a building near the pier. Devin, the groups older photography friend, receives a message on his answering machine from their dead friend. Was it really her? Is it some sick prank? He doesn't know, but it sparks off the mystery of what really happened to Julie.

 

 

For Fear of the Night is not Grant's strongest story. Very little action happens for the first 100 pages. It's his typical slow burn. The storytelling and atmosphere are still there. The ending strikes me as a bit muddied and leaves more questions than answers. If I were looking to read Grant for the first time, this wouldn't be the one I'd start with. But, if you're looking for that quiet horror that he specializes in, you could do a lot worse.

 

 

3 Popped Balloons out of 5

 

 

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My random book-picker program selected two Grant books back-to-back. I'm a little surprised, especially since both books were purchased on the same order, back in the spring. It's a little eerie and strange, which is really perfect when you think about the sort of fiction that Grant tends to write.

A Quiet Night of Fear is more science fiction than horror (despite the fact that the publisher classified this as "Fantasy Horror"), and is at its heart a mystery, but it's still a bit dark. Grant did excel at horror, after all. The story is set in a future where televisions have been replaced with comunits, and androids are becoming commonplace among the rich. A well-known comunit journalist takes a vacation at a resort where a string of murders is starting to take place, and despite not wanting to get involved, she does.

The story was lacking in Grant's usual atmosphere, but it did have some good character studies. It even touches on bigger themes than I've seen in his previous works, as he looks at discrimination and profiling through the androids. As far as the mystery goes, I figured it out about halfway through the story. Maybe it was because I was already familiar with Grant's storytelling style, but it seemed obvious to me how the story would end.

The book was peppered with typos, which was annoying, but nothing was quite as bad as seeing the author's note following the novel titled the "Afterward". I can accept a few typos in a book, but some editor had to fall asleep to miss that one.

The afterword of the novel explains how the novel came to be. It's based on an award-winning short story that he was attempting to turn into a television movie, and when the deal fell through, he had enough of a new story to write a novel for another deal. It's a short book, and a quick read, and feels like a Grant novel, but it doesn't quite compare with his other works. Hardcore Grant fans should read it, just to experience a different kind of story from him, but I'm not sure I would recommend it to general readers.

Really not very good attempt at Jamesian ghost stories for the mid-20th century. The stories seem to all be in a typical Jamesian setting but the plotting is so predictable and dull that you just end up wanting the stories to be over. Most are blessedly brief. Mildly atmospheric and might be fun around the campfire once and then into the bin.

 

The only story I see anthologized much is the Punch and Judy one and it isn't even very good, albeit slightly gory. The dust jacket is outstanding though; much better than the book.

Puppets, dolls, marionettes, ventriloquist dummies, mannequins, are all scary.  The Punch on this cover is one of the scariest.  Unfortunately the stories so far don't creep as much as the cover.

 

Not one of Grant's best works, it lacks his heart and suffers from a sense of disconnect on his part.
Still, a less than stellar Grant still sets the bar pretty high.