Night Film: Creepy, Intriguing--This Summer's Must Read

Have you ever been scared when reading a book? I’m not talking boogie man scared, not Freddy is going to get you in your sleep afraid, or hiding under the bed from the creepy clown in Stephen King’s It; I’m talking chills up your arms, tense back, and a definite notice of any and every noise in the house. No? Well get ready for it, because Night Film is coming and it is one book you do not want to miss this summer.

Marisha Pessl’s sophomore novel (after 2006’s Special Topics in Calamity Physics) is a gunshot of a book, firing from page one and blasting right through to the end. Told in the first person by disgraced investigative reporter Scott McGrath, Night Film follows Scott’s obsessive search for answers as he delves into the apparent suicide of twenty-four year old Ashley Cordova, the daughter of famously reclusive horror film genius Stanislas Cordova, the man responsible for McGrath’s downfall. As Scott follows Ashley’s trail into the rabbit hole, he is drawn deeper and deeper into the Cordova world, where the lines of reality are blurred, and the term “things that go bump in the night” has a far greater meaning than ever before.

What a book. Night Film was like a particularly addictive drug, easy to pick up and put down, but with each successive visit more and more difficult to let go of. Pessl’s world is frightening; not in the sense of the brutal and bloody horror that is so common today, but in the psychological pit she drops her readers in, making even the most skeptical of readers start to believe in the impossible. The illusive and enigmatic Kubrick-esque Stanilas Cordova is an odd mixture of 1960’s and 70’s horror directors like Polanski and De Palma with a collection of films similar to Sisters, Repulsion, and Seth Holt’s Scream of Fear. He has his own cult-like following of Cordovites, complete with a secret website called The Blackboards, conspiracy theories, and underground film showings. Cordova is an unseen enigma, leaving a path of destruction, death, and disappearances behind him, and a society begging for more, but too scared, or too sheltered to embrace him with open arms. McGrath’s compulsive investigation of Cordova borders on the fanatical as he races up and down the state of New York trying to deconstruct the life of Ashley Cordova, desperate to find answers to her haunted existence, answers that tie back to the mythical Cordova, the occult, murder, and abduction. New York ceases to become New York in Night Film, it instead becomes an extension of Cordova’s world, the inane taking on a sinister sheen, where nothing is normal, and everything and everyone is suspect.

I am almost at a loss at how to describe my reactions to this book and why I think it is one of those must reads for the summer. I can explain how I stayed up half the night to finish it, both out of a need to see where it would go, but also because I was so disturbed and fascinated by what was happening that I couldn’t stop myself. I was on the edge while reading this, and truth be told, Pessl’s writing was so good that I honestly didn’t think I could sleep unless I finished it, and once I did reach the conclusion I couldn’t let go. My racing heart, ensnared brain, and astonished emotions just needed to process what they had been through. Night Film was a juggernaut, destroying my piece of mind and preconceived notions of what a psychological thriller could and should be; it was just that horrifyingly good. I should also take a moment to note that Pessl quite brilliantly uses multimedia screen shots, pictures, and interviews interspersed throughout the text, so readers get to read and see what Scott McGrath does; we see his interviews, the scraps of paper he finds, photos of Ashley Cordova, and the chilling images of the Blackboards and it’s zealous occupants. Actually, I tried out the URL’s, sadly they didn’t work, but if they did, wow, what a mind blowing move by the author and publisher. A fully interactive site that ties directly to the book—a wasted chance to capitalize on the blending of text and tech (although I did read this in galley form, so perhaps the sites will be up at time of publication, I could only dream). This is a clever trick, utilized very capably, a perfect way to blend our tech savvy world with the literary prowess of Pessl’s written word. Another note, this is not a horror novel. It is horrifying, yes, but it is a thriller, a literary mystery, meaning it’s well-written and smart. Pessl is a talented writer, creating a unique world that sucks its readers in and holds onto them for dear life, kind of a black hole of literary virtuosity. This may sound like an overabundance of praise, but I finished the book a few days ago, and have since (reluctantly) read another book, and still find myself lingering over the details of Night Film, revisiting it helplessly. In truth, I haven’t wanted to read a new book, I just want to savor the terror of Night Film, but if I want to escape the psychological stronghold of Night Film, there’s no choice but to move on—with much lighter fare, and look toward revisiting the dark and mesmerizing abyss that is the world of Cordova in the near future. This one is a definite “read again”—the only way to really maneuver the nooks and crannies, the shadows and mysteries that make up Night Film.

Why should you read Night Film? Because it’s good. It’s chilling, it’s mysterious, it’s sad, it’s sweet, and it’s brilliant. This is not a book you want to bypass—unless you have no nerves at all—there’s too much to it, and it is too well constructed to miss out on. Get scared. Get sucked into this world. When you get out you will gulp for fresh air, and then dive right back into the muck for more. An addictive psychological thriller that has a death grip on anyone who picks it up, Night Film is one hell of a read.

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What I’m Reading, February 21, 2013

This week I tore through Benjamin Percy’s upcoming (5/7/13) alternate history/paranormal/horror novel Red Moon, only to be disappointed in the Justin Cronin-like ending ‘ala The Passage, that leaves more questions unanswered than answered. The general plot is intriguing—imagine that instead of civil rights marches in the 60’s, and groups like the Black Panthers, the world was dealing with an altogether different race battle, one between humans, and humans infected with a lobos prion that turns them into lycanthropes—yup, werewolves, or in the case of this book, Lycans. So, think Freedom Marches with Lycans, instead of African Americans and how that history would be reflected in the lived today’s 21st century Lycans.

I liked the alternative history angle, putting the Lycans into the place of African Americans was interesting, and Percy seamlessly ties that past into the stories of the three primary characters living in our current time. Percy integrates college sit-ins, holocaust-like settings and persecutions for Lycans, Occupy-like protests, genetic testing, and dirty politics into a rich and complicated plot. Unfortunately, once the reader has invested time into the 544 page novel; he/she is left hanging, with no real satisfaction. I actually threw the book on the floor in frustration upon finishing it. When you invest that much time into a book you want some sort of payoff, and books that leave you with frustration and not anticipation, rarely get the sequel picked-up by readers. Hence the copy of The Twelve that is still sitting by my bed—I think I bear some resentment to my Passage frustration. I liked Red Moon, but I just don’t know if I will read the next book (whenever it comes out, my guess 2014 or 2015) for fear that I will be just as unsatisfied by the ending, or lack thereof. If that’s a style you enjoy, go for it—the story is really good, but if you are like me, with too many books and too little time for that empty feeling at a book’s conclusion—take a pass on Red Moon.

Right now I’m reading Jennifer McMahon’s The One I Left Behind, a gripping novel that follows the aftermath of a serial killer in a small Connecticut town. Written more in a more literary manner than most serial killer books, The One I Left Behind deals not only with the horror of a serial killer; in fact, its primary focus is relationships; those between outcast teenagers, mothers and daughters, family, and how what we perceive is not always what is. A good one for Book Clubs, I’m a fan—I just hope the ending is written well.

Follow-up:

I mentioned in my last post two books I was reading, Gayle Forman’s Just One Day and Carlene Bauer’s Frances and Bernard here's my quick opinion:

Just One Day was a little bit of a disappointment, primarily because the book is clearly set-up for a sequel that is to be told from the perspective of the male protagonist (or antagonist depending on how you look at it), and that takes a bit of the sting out of the emotional impact. Also, perhaps it’s an age thing, but the character’s choices are so off the wall that the believability factor was a bit low. I’ll still read the follow-up, Just One Year, but it will have to be a miraculous piece of storytelling to win me over.

Frances and Bernard was very different than I thought it would be. Slow to start, this epistolary novel was a bit tough to get into. The opening letters were deeply philosophical discussions of faith, dry and dull, with insight into the characters intellects, but lacking the emotional tug that makes readers want to know them more. Yet, once I was able to get into the groove of a story told in letters, both Frances and Bernard’s voices became very clear, with Bauer creating rich and complex characters outside of the bonds of traditional storytelling. Instead, readers are treated to two multifaceted individuals, whose friendship, and complicated love story is both bittersweet and intellectually stimulating. Not my usual “cup of tea”, but highly satisfying in terms of character development and voice. In all, Frances and Bernard was a wonderful surprise of a read.


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