By Matthew J. Barbour
Along with Robert Kirkman, Max Brooks, and others, Brian Keane is often credited as a pioneer in reinventing and revitalizing zombie horror in popular culture. Some have even hailed Keane as the next Stephen King. While these claims are debatable, Keane’s influence on horror fiction cannot be overstated. In the past decade, Keane has published more than a dozen novels, making him one of the most prolific writers in horror fiction today.
Urban Gothic This is not a zombie story. It focuses on a group of cannibalistic mutants living in the inner city of the Philadelphia/Camden area. Urban GothicA group of suburban teenagers head out in search of marijuana after attending a rap concert when their car breaks down in the slums. After an unnecessary run-in with the local African Americans, these white teens flee into an abandoned house where all sorts of horrors await them. Now the locals must enter the house and save them.
The mutants that inhabit it come in all shapes and sizes. Each has their own unique way of killing, which is mainly to keep the writing fresh and entertaining. Keen is no stranger to gore. Some of the death scenes are written in Urban Gothicincluding the face chewing and bloodshed scenes, are all fantastic. Keane’s writing is both beautiful and revolting while remaining concise and accessible.
This story is an homage to the splatterpunk and Southern Gothic works of the 1980s (and 1990s). In fact, the story is in many ways a pastiche of the early stories of Jack Ketchum and Joe Lansdale. The word “pasto” sometimes has a negative connotation. However, here, the author’s intention to imitate these early writers is quite obvious and even intentional. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as both Ketchum and Lansdale wrote some truly wonderful stories. After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and Keene has made an impact on the splatterpunk and Southern Gothic sub-genres with his own unique storytelling style.
Here’s another subgenre and writer to use as inspiration: cosmic horror and HP Lovecraft. Lovecraft’s influence is more subtle and nuanced, but just as pervasive. This isn’t unexpected. Many of Keene’s books contain elements of cosmic horror. Urban Gothic It can almost be seen as Jack Ketchum’s Off-season and HP Lovecraft The Shadow Over Innsmouth.
because Urban Gothic This book is so heavily adapted from other works that it is difficult to review it without making overt comparisons to other books. This novel is good, but not great. Keen reminds us of the classics of horror literature. Time will tell if Keen’s own work can compare to these early stories, but it is clear that he understands the horror genre and has a wide range of stories to tell.
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score: 3/5
