The Croning

The Croning follows Don Miller, a genial yet seemingly addle-minded older gent whose career in geology has trailed off, along with his mental acuity. Don's wife Michelle, though nearly the same age, continues jetting around the globe, exploring, conferencing, and occasionally vanishing in ways that seem both secretive and suspicious. Don keeps meaning to pin her down about mysterious past events -- where she went, who she was with, what happened to him, what it was all about -- but the gradual deterioration of his mental faculties means all such intentions to learn more about his wife, to understand what happened and why, eventually trail off and fade away.The book begins with an altered and mood-shifted version of the Rumplestilskin fable, which takes place in some indeterminate distant past, and also connects to the later story of Don, Michelle and their families. From there, the story moves from the 1950s to the 1980s to the present day. Time is not merely linear and forward-moving, in fact the looping, repetitive and continuous nature of time is a matter of repeated focus here.We encounter secret agents, corrupt police, weird rituals, and Barron's oft-present bored, wealthy decadents messing with things they oughtn't. The stories of Don, Michelle, their ancestors and the shadowy followers of Old Leach are full of dark mysteries, secrecy and possible betrayals. Don moves past these things, always affable and seemingly balanced despite the accumulated darkness trailing behind. He's essentially an unreliable narrator, whose unreliability becomes clarified as elements of his obscured history are revealed, both to him and to the reader.Much is made about the novella and novelette being the ideal length for tales of horror, the idea being that a short story is too brief to adequately develop a situation, yet a novel is too long to sustain tension for its full length. Recently, Laird Barron has done more with these mid-length forms than anyone else in the genres of weird fiction, horror and dark fantasy. He's also expressed a preference for the novella as his "sweet spot."At the same time, it's difficult for any writer to focus exclusively on short stories or novellas. Most readers are more interested in novels, which is the reason publishers want to see writers write them. It was inevitable that a writer as acclaimed and awarded as Barron would have everyone clamoring for him to write a novel. So how does he handle the larger canvas, hundreds of pages in length? And as a critic, even an informal one, do I compare The Croning against Barron's masterful shorter works, or against contemporary novels of horror and weird fiction by other authors?I'd say by any standard The Croning is a success. That's not to say The Croning eclipses such masterworks as "The Forest," "The Imago Sequence" or "Mysterium Tremendum" in craft, narrative impact or overall quality. Rather he equals the standard set by his own shorter works, and by doing so in the more widely accepted and commercially viable form of the novel, takes that necessary next step toward asserting a more general dominance over the horror/weird genre. Write a powerful novella, or collection of them, and you'll impress the critics, awards panels, fellow writers, and that narrow segment of the reading community that follows shorter forms. Show yourself capable of writing a powerful novel, and the mainstream of genre fandom will take notice, along with publishers who might not have known what to done with a writer like Barron until now.A few years ago, any mention of Laird Barron's work invariably mentioned the word "Lovecraftian," yet over time Barron's work removed any question that his brand of cosmic horror had more going on than emulation of Lovecraft. Barron is in the process of establishing his own mythos with its own geography, including complex legends and interlocking structures of cause and effect. Readers familiar with his previous stories such as "The Men From Porlock" and others, will spot elements in The Croning which echo, either explicitly or implicitly, names, locations or events from earlier stories.With The Croning, Laird Barron steps outside the short fiction arena and proves his style, combining the brisk energy of pulp storytelling with the dense richness of literary prose, translates well to novel length. This broader canvas allows Barron time to accumulate disorientation, build up a painful tension, and gradually lower the reader into cosmic, abyssal darkness. After reading the last page, I felt the need to reorient myself, the way a diver must decompress after delving into deep waters.This is a powerful, affecting work of fiction, and the fact that it's a first novel implies great things are ahead for Barron and his readers. This guy is doing work of the highest order, and any fan of weird fiction, horror or dark fantasy needs to check it out. If you've held off checking out Laird Barron because you don't like short fiction, start with The Croning.

For all of his influence on a generation of horror writers, there may be no writer who's inspired more lackluster imitations - or whose followers so often miss the point - as H.P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft specialized in horror on a cosmic, utterly alien scale - a world just beyond ours, where angles didn't align, where colors we had never seen might exist, and where horrific elder gods slumbered - luckily for us. They were stories more about dread and unease than anything else, which has made it more and more difficult for modern writers to mimic his style - we need our payoffs, we need our plotting, we need our confrontations, and Lovecraft had no interest in any of those.But one of the rare exceptions to that rule lays in the work of Laird Barron, whose work is undeniably Lovecraftian, yes, but also wholly his own, bringing Lovecraft's command of tone and unease into the modern world, telling more "conventional" stories without ever compromising on the alien, malevolent force just beyond the range of our vision. But while Barron cut his teeth on short story collections, the question raised by The Croning - his first novel - is whether he could manage that same feat in a longer, full-length story?Oh, yes he can. Make no mistake, though: The Croning demands your patience. It will keep you uneasy for a long amount of time, even anxious, but it's going to make you wait for the payoffs - but when they come, there's no holding back. Mind you, the payoffs don't only come at the end of the novel; in keeping with his short story roots, Barron writes The Croning almost as a series of eight connected short stories, albeit ones which tell a single, ongoing story.None of which, however, will prepare you for the opening chapter, which finds Barron retelling the legend of Rumpelstiltskin as something more haunting, something darker, something more nightmarish and primal in its intentions. It's an odd opening to a book that's otherwise set in the modern day, telling the story of an academic named Don whose relationship with his wife constantly skirts the edge of darker, more sinister mythologies. For Michelle, his wife, is an anthropologist, and her fascination with some ancient tribes seems to have had an impact on Don's whole life - something that he is only beginning to understand. And as Barron leaps back and forth throughout several key incidents in Don's life, we start to understand the wider pattern, but only as we also realize that there won't be much to be done to prevent any of it from unfolding.Barron's pacing here is a thing of beauty. Yes, for some readers, The Croning may feel slow and lethargic, but for those who can appreciate his work, The Croning unfolds like a nightmare - relentless, uncertain, and indescribable. Barron's patience makes his payoffs and resolutions all the more powerfully effective, giving them an anxiety and a tension they couldn't otherwise have. But helping that along, in no small way, is Barron's incredible writing, which is literate and thoughtful in a way that few genre writers bother with:"Neither light nor heat could withstand it; to gaze into that nullity and to comprehend its scope was to have one’s humanity snuffed. Only the inhuman thrived in out there in deep black.""For they were the stuff of nightmares; maggoty abominations possessed of incalculable and vile intellect that donned flesh and spines of men and beasts to shield themselves from the sun and enable themselves to walk upright instead of merely slithering."Those quotes give you a sense of Barron's writing, but can't quite convey what it's like to lose yourself in his words - and, more importantly, in the nightmarish visions he can convey. More than anything, Barron's prose builds a world - both a real one and one beyond the veil - that has a way of overwhelming you, suffocating you with horrors until there's no escape.In short, it's horror for horror connoisseurs. It's not for casual readers, and it's not for those who can't handle their horror unflinching, unblinking, and nightmarish. But for those brave enough to handle its pages, you're in for something unforgettable. Just don't plan on having easy dreams for a while.

This is the first work I’ve read by Laird Barron but I can emphatically say that it won’t be the last. Admittedly, I was a little put off by the stiff Kindle price but after a nice bottle of red I wisely concluded it was a mere pittance for such a promising item so I downloaded it.Don Millar is a successful geologist and regular family man whose loving and strong headed wife Michelle is a respected and published anthropologist. They have two grown children whom they rarely see yet who figure strongly in this narrative. Both Don and Michelle spend a considerable amount of time apart on separate field expeditions but this actually suits them both. Don sometimes believes it helps keep their happy marriage stable.The weird thing is that Don regularly, accidently, encounters various sinister types in unsettling and disturbing situations when he’s off on his field trips… yes, very strange…and when he’s back home again, safe and sound, his cellar door has a habit of opening all by itself. Hmm…The Croning is that not-so-common thing: a beautifully written horror story with a brain. I would class this as literature. As well as the general narrative and pace, the author nails natural conversation very well and I imagine that Stephen King, who tends to be overly folksy with his dialogue, both inner and spoken, could learn a thing or two by reading this.Fans of Lovecraft will like this intelligent, slow burn story of creeping terrors capering insanely just outside of our peripheral vision. With tentacles. I look forward to reading the rest of Mr Barron’s stuff because The Croning is a good chilling read.

It's lazy, I know, but I'll review by cooking analogy: mix together Stephen King and Ramsay Campbell and season generously with HP Lovecraft and a pinch of Neal Stephenson, and you'll get Laird Barron. This is a rough gem of a horror novel, disjointed and lacking real flow plotwise, but quite fascinating, imaginative, and original. It's the first thing of his I've read, and -so far as I can tell- he usually keeps to the short format (this may be why the structure of The Croning is a bit off) - I will be reading his collections.

A solid 5 stars for this one from Laird Barron. A rip-roaring horror tale with enough long-leggedy beasties (or should that be no-leggedy beasties?) and things that go bump in the night to raise the hair on the back of your neck and keep it there. The revision of Rumplestiltskin works perfectly and the hallucinatory, cosmic dread that develops and enfolds the protagonist, Don, as well as the reader, builds to an exciting and worthy climax. Well worth picking up.

I discovered Laird Barron when reading a horror anthology on my daily commute. Wading through the average stories of this anthology I started to read Laird Barron's contribution and was instantly grabbed by his use of language. Believable characters in an intelligent well written story "The Croning"oozed class and unique imagination. This is a fantastic novel and I would highly recommend this to any horror buff who's looking for intelligent writing with real characters. A must read, not for just horror fans but anyone seeking to read some excellent literature.

Hate reviewing books, too time consuming but had to mention this one. Thoroughly enjoyed this, beautifully written, really exciting and tense in places. Don't often get a feeling of dread in my stomach whilst reading but this book managed it. Well done.