Book Review: Charnel Wine – Author Richard Gavin

Charnel Wine by: Richard Gavin

“Richard Gavin’s debut collection was one of Horror’s sleeper hits of 2004. The rapid sell-out of its entire print run resulted in Charnel Wine becoming a highly sought-after title among connoisseurs of weird fiction.

Dark Regions Press is proud to present Charnel Wine: Memento Mori Edition, which contains the original collection in its entirety as well as four previously unpublished tales, a new Introduction by the author, and cover art by renowned illustrator J.K. Potter.”

Contents
Author’s Foreword to the New Edition
Charnel Wine
Reflections from the Abyss
Mrs. South
Fragments of a Primordial Gnosis
The Lodge
Berenice’s Journal
View from a Ghost Ship
The Tides That Bind
Parting the Veils
Heirlooms
Porcelain & Pretty Lace
The Physics of Unseen Puppeteers
The Folly
Forewarning: The Good Doctor’s Eternal Return
Flowers of Delirium
The Master’s Posthumous Sermon
Leavings of Shroud House: An Inventory
Acolytes of the Reaping
The Churchyard Chrysalids
Soiled Throats, or, The Littany of the Maggot
The Whimper of Those Long Lost
Fruit from the Barbarous Garden
Texts

Other Spirits
Feet of Clay, Head of Fire
Night’s Gran Mockery
The Clutch of Other
They Have to Take You
The Alchemy of Slumber

Apparently I must have been sleeping in 2004 when this hit the streets because I had never heard of it or the author until Dark Regions Press sent me a review copy. I will always be grateful they did.

All the reviews and information I’ve read about Charnel Wine are completely true and accurate, this is a stunning short story collection.

From the opening story Charnel Wine (which is my favorite story in the book ) this book will not let you put it down.

Page after page, story after story Mr. Gavin takes you on a nightmarish journey with a group of eclectic tales that will leave you breathless your nerves jagged and wondering just what that scratching on your window is.

I don’t know what it is about Mr. Gavin’s writing style, but he hooked me from the very beginning. His stories are haunting, his prose evocative and terrifying, with an imagination that is downright scary.

Reading this collection was like walking through a haunted graveyard on a moonlit night and just as delicious.

Dark Regions Press continues to publish outstanding books and Charnel Wine’s reprint is certainly no exception. Those of you who never had a chance to experience Charnel Wine on its first print run should go to Dark Region’s site and order this collection immediately. It is one of the best short story collections I have read to date and give it my highest recommendation.