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Quite by accident (I thought they were detective stories) I’ve started to read the Whyborne and Griffin series of books by Jordan L Hawk – for some reason I got bored with the fanfic I was reading and had a look what I’d got on the Kindle.
These are horror stories with a side order of m/m sex when the eldritch pseudopods aren’t reaching from beyond the stars, or, in one memorable moment, when the sandstorm is howling outside the tent and there’s nothing else to do.
The two protagonists are Dr Percival Whyborne, comparative philologist at the local museum and his friend Griffin Flaherty (I think it’s Flaherty – it’s something Irish beginning with an F) detective, thrown together by the events of the first book Widdershins, which is also the name of the New England town in which they live.
They’re both attractive blokes but the stories are mostly told from the point of view of Whyborne who suffers from a chip on his shoulder about his appearance so heavy he should be nicknamed Mr Chippy. Also along on the adventures is Christine, the museum’s Egyptologist, who seems as at home with a rifle and a swordstick if she has to as she is down among the mummies – skills which would come as a surprise no doubt to a real Egyptologist.
When I say these stories are horror, I mean a very specific kind of horror – anyone who’s ever read the stories of H P Lovecraft will recognise the milieu: Nylarthotep trying to reach from beyond the grave or from beyond the beyond, Yog-Sothoth worshipped by hooded cultists mostly from New England (sorry New England), Cthuhlu and the canning factory…you get the picture.
As such they’re about right for me – the horrors are not at all believable, to my mind – and anyway I run regular scenarios of the horror roleplaying game Call of Cthulhu, so I doubt these stories can dig up anything worse than the stuff I’ve encountered already in the game.
And they’re good page turners. They keep the suspense going and the action going. I recommend them if you’re looking for an adventure with a bit of loving thrown in and have a few hours to kill.
These are horror stories with a side order of m/m sex when the eldritch pseudopods aren’t reaching from beyond the stars, or, in one memorable moment, when the sandstorm is howling outside the tent and there’s nothing else to do.
The two protagonists are Dr Percival Whyborne, comparative philologist at the local museum and his friend Griffin Flaherty (I think it’s Flaherty – it’s something Irish beginning with an F) detective, thrown together by the events of the first book Widdershins, which is also the name of the New England town in which they live.
They’re both attractive blokes but the stories are mostly told from the point of view of Whyborne who suffers from a chip on his shoulder about his appearance so heavy he should be nicknamed Mr Chippy. Also along on the adventures is Christine, the museum’s Egyptologist, who seems as at home with a rifle and a swordstick if she has to as she is down among the mummies – skills which would come as a surprise no doubt to a real Egyptologist.
When I say these stories are horror, I mean a very specific kind of horror – anyone who’s ever read the stories of H P Lovecraft will recognise the milieu: Nylarthotep trying to reach from beyond the grave or from beyond the beyond, Yog-Sothoth worshipped by hooded cultists mostly from New England (sorry New England), Cthuhlu and the canning factory…you get the picture.
As such they’re about right for me – the horrors are not at all believable, to my mind – and anyway I run regular scenarios of the horror roleplaying game Call of Cthulhu, so I doubt these stories can dig up anything worse than the stuff I’ve encountered already in the game.
And they’re good page turners. They keep the suspense going and the action going. I recommend them if you’re looking for an adventure with a bit of loving thrown in and have a few hours to kill.
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