The winner of a Bram Stoker award for poetry a few
years back, Corrine De Winter is a name that has – up until now – escaped me. Following a quick perusal of past achievements we find
a lyrical writer held in high regard by the collective tribe. In between
reading some of the more commercial fare over the course of a year, I like to
seek out those elusive gems: fiction not sliding easily into any well
defined category. Valentines for the Dead
- for all its intangible qualities - is an innovative collection that more than
satisfies this requirement.
And make no mistake: this is indeed the territory of
a poet. From the opening story Halo a
reader is granted prose that shies away from the nuts and bolts of story, favoring
instead a lyrical syntax told primarily in first person. Although the horror can
be difficult to find at times, Corrine keeps it waiting in the wings – a
small turn of phrase giving way to an unexpected twist where all that has come
before can be questioned. Whether it’s a child who grows up in a house of
thaumaturgy and eventually learns to fly (or a jealous sibling who dabbles in
fratricide for eternal love), Corrine has a powerful command of language with
just enough obscure story to perhaps warrant a second reading. If I could level
a certain criticism, it would be that each first person tale contains a
similar voice; with the run-off sometimes confusing. It was challenging, at
times, to ascertain where old territory ended and new characters began.
A few personal standouts would include Youth is Wasted – a modern Frankenstein
riff where a child pays the ultimate price for an elderly man’s broken heart. Watercolor is delightfully malign; a
domestic Village of Damned that, in
due course, brings forth new life from death. But taking out the top prize here
would have to be Dead Boys – an original
blend of fact and fiction centered on the subject of premature death in rock n’ roll's realm ... and the individuals who deal with our flesh after
expiration.
A short story collection that is mythic, thought provoking (and with just the right twist of gothic), Valentines for the Dead is an accomplished fictional début from a unique talent.
