The Midnight Muse by Jo Kaplan
Description
When a metal band’s lead singer vanishes in the woods, the mushrooms in the forest might know more than they’re letting on in this mycelium-metal horror novel from Shirley Jackson Award-nominated author Jo Kaplan.
The dead collect in low places. That’s what Brynn Werner, lead singer of metal band Queen Carrion, wrote in her notebook before she vanished while staying at a cabin in Oregon’s Umpqua National Forest.
A year later, on the anniversary of her disappearance, the rest of her bandmates visit the cabin to remember her and find a way to move on. But tensions arise over who should be their new singer and who is responsible for Brynn’s disappearance—tensions that boil over as they realize not all is as it seems at Trail Creek Cabin.
Strange entries in the guestbook write about visions of a pale form that moves through the trees, figures wearing gas masks lurk in the distance, and there’s a strange fungus growing from the wall of a tunnel in the cabin’s basement. Then they hear Brynn’s voice echo impossibly through the forest—and the pale form that emerges from the trees is her perfect likeness. Is it her ghost…or something else?
Brynn knew there was a secret in these woods. It’s why she chased her muse here to finish her masterpiece. The Midnight Muse is an alluring and grotesque dissection of self and fungus. Kaplan delivers an ominous spiral of psychological torment as the members of Queen Carrion slip into a more natural skin.
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Review
A Metal music group. The disappearance of the lead singer in the woods. A final escapade between the last members of the group in the middle of a forest. Enigmatic and spooky fungus. A feeling of being spied through the woods... What a wonderful setting for a great story.
The cover and title caught my eye. The description promised a good read. And the promise was kept.
I need to admit I was a little lost by the multi-pov and the multi-time line, but I quickly got used to it. Once you are hooked, you definitely can't drop your reading until the final page.
The author manages to immerse you in her world, notably thanks to the imagery that was so vivid and detailed. I felt like I was really seeing the scenes, living what the characters were living.
I really enjoyed the fact the author put a musical touch into her story, it added really something extra to the story. The mystery and horror parts are well driven and surprising in a way that I didn't even expect the plot twists.
Jo Kaplan has a true writing talent and here you have a great horror novel that blends horror, botanical/science, music and mystery.
I recommend this story for those who want a horror story that stands out.