I have been a fan of the writing of John Claude Smith since I first came across his work through an anthology we appeared in together (Heavy Metal Horror, published by Rymfire eBooks) a little over three years ago. My contribution was titled "Invocations To Death's Black Kiss". It was my first published piece, under the name Vince D. (Yeah, that was a shameless plug -- so what). John Claude Smith's was called "Headbangin'". I found his tale to be the most unique one in the book, something about the way it was written and presented really stood out. And it also seemed this fellow knew his stuff about music as well!
Anyway, I decided to friend the gent up on facebook, and continued to follow his work over the next couple of years. Our stories even appeared a couple more times together within the pages of the FREEZINE Of Fantasy And Science Fiction. So when I found out JC was releasing a collection of his short works, I was more than ecstatic.
The Dark Is Light Enough For Me (Martin Brown Publishing, 2011) contains twelve tales of heartbreak and resilience, of sublimation and destruction. John writes with depth and philosophy, a genuine love and passion for the fine art of the weird tale, knowing both when to hold back and when to kick it into overdrive. With synesthetic sweeps of his unrelenting and no-holds-barred prose, the true potency lies within the flawed and wholly identifiable characters he creates (and some of whom which may even create themselves). Their psychological idiosyncracies bring our lead characters into touch with all the ugly on both the inside and the out, creating complex and soul shattering confrontations within the headspace of their world from which there is no escape.
Most of the stories involve love and loss, obsession and redemption (or more appropriately the lack thereof). Rampaging ids, punishment of self and others, hurt and deceit, soul (and soulmate) death, long lost love growing even moreso, guilt. The intense and true fear in the uncertainty of knowing. Make no mistake about it, this is not light reading. This is balls-out, confrontational transgressive horror in its finest form.
Pieces like "Black Wings", "The Perceptive One" and "The Dark Is Light Enough For Me" are all psychological sucker-punch delights that bury themselves especially deep in the nooks and crannies of your grey matter, refusing to let the darkened tenacious grip release as you process what you have just subjected yourself too. I was haunted for days on end after reading many of the stories locked away within this tome.
The only tale that seemed to elude me was "Gladiatrix". While not a bad piece by any means, I just feel that it didn't flow well with the rest of the tales in the book. Without giving anything away, it's more of an actioner. By no means is it any lighter than the rest of the book, but it just really didn't pack the same philosophical punch. It's also, I believe, the shortest piece in the book, and again, not a bad story.
With all that said, John Claude Smith's The Dark Is Light Enough For Me is a superb read for the thinking fan of horror/transgressive lit. This book is a must have, that's all there is to it. Seriously, this comes with my highest recommendation and you will not be disappointed, I can guarantee you that.
It is available in both Kindle and print formats. I have mine in print and it looks great. Below are links to purchase the book on Amazon, as well as links to John Claude Smith himself.
To purchase The Dark Is Light Enough For Me:
http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Light-Enough-Me/dp/1937070107/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352912591&sr=1-1&keywords=john+claude+smith
John Claude Smith's blog The Wilderness Within
http://thewildernesswithinbyjohnclaudesmith.blogspot.com/
John Claude Smith on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/#!/jcsmith0919
