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Silk
Move over Thomas Ligotti and Poppy Z. Brite (just a little)...Caitlin R. Kiernan's "Silk" is an astounding piece of surrealistic supernatural fiction. Kiernan's debut puts her right up there with the best! So far, I've read "Silk" three times and it keeps getting better. Her exquisite prose (somewhat reminiscent of Kathe Koja) and skillful characterization make this a thoughtful and satisfying novel. I bought "Silk" after reading Charles deLint's review in "Fantasy and Science Fiction." He wrote that every now and then a book comes along that restores his faith in the genre and that "Silk" was one of those rare books. I couldn't have said it better!
Silk
Silk was the best horror novel I read in 1998 (and I read *everything*). I became a fan of Caitlin Kiernan's work through reading The Dreaming (her comic) and her short stories. Silk is everything I would have expected from her first novel and more!
Silk
I've gotten kind of jaded about books that have recommendations on the cover from other authors - they rarely ever deliver. Silk is a definite exception. I picked it up because I'd read some of Kiernan's short stories and liked them and although I was intrigued by quotes on the cover by Clive Barker, Neil Gaiman, and Peter Straub, it was standing in the bookstore reading the prologue that hooked me. Kiernan's prose is fabulous, her characters real. Silk is a very, very scary book (especially if you're afraid of spiders...), but it's also a thought-provoking look at subcultures and life in the modern South, as well (I used to live in Atlanta). You absolutely won't be disappointed by this book!
Silk
Before posting a review in which you claim that a book is disappointing, you should bother to learn how to spell disappointing...Or, at the very least, be consistent in your misspelling, if you're going to use the word twice.But, anyway, SILK is a marvelous novel and has been receiving numerous awards and accolades from the dark fantasy community. So far, the novel has garnered the B&N Maiden Voyage Award for Best First Novel *and* the International Horror Guild Award for Best First Novel, as well as tying for second place in LOCUS' online reader's poll for best horror novel of the year. It has also been nominated, in the best first novel category, for the Bram Stoker Award. Glowing reviews have appeared in LOCUS, F&SF, FANGORIA, CARPE NOCTEM, and many other zines and newspapers. This is not a book or an author to be dismissed lightly.A skillful blend of an older style of "ghost" story (there are echoes of such masters as M. R. James, H. P. Lovecraft, and Algernon Blackwood) and a distinctly modern prose (think William Faulkner or William Burroughs), this is an exceptionally creepy and touching book (even if you aren't afraid of spiders!).
Silk
Silk is a story centering around a group of younger adults whose lives take a turn toward the supernatural side after something inhabbiting the mind/body of a troubled shop store owner Spyder Baxter begins to come out into reality and cause dark, terrible occurences towards the people around her. The book carrys a very dark dreamlike feel throughout it's entirety, and has a great cast of characters highly relateable towards the more underground music lifesyle. While sometimes confusing in the supernatural aspect as to what is actually happening and what's due to the characters' drug use(hallucinagens and heroin to be precise}, the book's characterization and originality more than make up for it. While I am a big fan of Caitlin's work on The Dreaming from Vertigo comics, Silk is a solid novel that stands on its own and is well worth the read.
Silk
This would have to be one of the few truly Southern Gothic books that Ive read. Unlike some books that try to obtain a sense of fractured reality through semi-poetic verse and allegory, this one manages to keep the story cohesive. The story, however, is not the obvious one that it appears at first. At first Silk seems to follow the paths of a handful of young people in the underground southern scene, but by turns becomes the story of one woman's apparent insanity. The catch is the other characters are being dragged into whatever she is experiencing. Ms. Kiernan manages to create some rather troubling late night reading material with this.