Horror is a pretty diverse category. Today there exists
books that are exactly what Becky Spratford refers to in her definition of
horror from her amazing Powerpoint on the subject,
but there are still others that are in the horror category simply because they
use a convention or trope that is typically associated with horror. The Sookie Stackhouse novels have vampires, werewolves, and even fey, but
they don’t typically evoke a series of terror, not in the way ‘Salem’s Lot or The Wolfen will, hence the
category of paranormal romance. There are also books that are considered horror
that achieve that feeling of unease and do more, like Micah Dean Hicks’s Breakthe Bodies, Haunt the Bones, which veers heavily into the
fantastic but doesn’t shy away from the violence and emotional anguish
associated with horror.
To understand this novel, it’s important to know the
background of Swine Hill, its setting. The Southern town of Swine Hill is known
for the pork processing plant, but it’s also known for ghosts. These ghosts are
not from the typical ghost trope. They have practically infested the town and
its citizens, granting them X-men like abilities. Jane’s ghost can help her
read minds, and when Henry’s ghost overtakes his body, the both of them create
biological and technological marvels.
But these ghosts aren’t all about superpowers, and what they
do to their hosts is where the horror lies. Jane is often forced to know the
private thoughts and dirty secrets of others. Jane’s boyfriend Trigger is
haunted by his younger brother’s ghost, an angry spirit that wraps its brother
in a barrier of icy cold. Henry and his ghost create something that ends up
jeopardizing the fragile stability of Swine Hill. The fact that ghosts exist in
this world is treated as mundane but the damage they inflict is very human and
horrific. Swine Hill is awash with tragic characters and their respective
ghosts add their own baggage to their hosts’. Swine Hill, loaded with not only
ghosts but racial and socioeconomic tensions, becomes a powderkeg of a town
that eventually explodes. The use of the supernatural, the violence inflicted
on these characters, and the traumatic circumstances they endure makes this
tale, one that blends ghosts and mutated pigs with the real-life horrors, a
clearly modern example of Spratford’s definition. The sheer originality of this
novel and its brave look at issues that are sadly relevant to today shows
ultimately what horror can be and is a great addition for a library/bookshelf
who likes their horror outside of the typical trope.
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