Sometimes, there’s nothing like a good, old-school tale of something dark and sinister lurking in the woods. You know, the kind of story you sit around and tell each other as kids. Feeling wicked and bold, you sneak your parents’ liquor around the fire and laugh as you think of the goriest, nastiest things you can come up with. Afterwards, there’s a chill up your spine when the fire dies. You now realize you have to walk back to the cabin or tent alone with nothing to shield you from the darkness. Oh…maybe you have a flashlight. Or even a weapon—a gun or knife, perhaps? What good are such weapons against the forces of evil, the supernatural?
Did cat-like, glowing eyes just blink in the trees?
Was that a whisper in the night for help?
Did something just brush the skin of your neck?
Those were the kinds of tales I both loved to tell and read as a kid. It’s what draws those of us who are fans of the horror genre time and time again. I’m not speaking of the prevailing trend of “torture porn” or extreme gore, that doesn’t do anything for me. What I am speaking of is that visceral, pounding fear that makes you afraid to turn off the light, put the flashlight down, or look over your shoulder.
SD McGuire’s short story/novelette, The Final Cut, set in the shadow of Chernobyl, falls into this category. A simple yet visceral tale of the old versus the new. The brush of the modern world and the hazards it brings, versus ancient evils lurking within the woods that science and technology deny.
I regularly enjoy SD McGuire’s snippets and poems of gore, horror and sci-fi, so I was intrigued to see what he could pull off in a short story.
But first, lets delve into the setting, and how it plays a role in McGuire’s story and creating expectations, or rather derailing them.
The Chernobyl Disaster
A strange thing happened in on April 28th 1986. Radiation alarms went off at the Forsmark Nuclear Plant in Sweden. It was quickly determined that the radiation came from somewhere else. Through analysis of the contamination, they knew culprit was the Soviet Union. The USSR denied it at first, but soon acknowledged that an accident had occurred at the Chernobyl Power Plant, near Pripyat, Ukraine two days prior on April 24th. The Soviet Government did everything to down play the seriousness of the incident, but could not conceal the severity of the damage. It is considered to be the worst nuclear accident to date and still haunts the world to this day with its images of Pripyat turned overnight into a decaying wreck. Lives ruined and wrecked by poor reactor design and inadequate safety. If you would like to read more on the disaster, please see the link below:
I served in the US Navy as a Nuclear Electrician’s Mate. I have also now worked as an electrical engineer in almost every sector of the power and energy industry. I can honestly say, there is an incredible amount of fear and misinformation about not only nuclear energy, but electricity in general. It is a true tragedy, and I worry sometimes as we try to move forward and progress as a society, out lack of understanding of technology will be what keeps us mired in the past.
McGuire uses his setting to play well on the mystique and tragedy of the Chernobyl incident. Serge, a man who once worked at the plant is now tainted by the incident and carving a living as a woodcutter on the brink of the “exclusion zone.” Since the Chernobyl incident, there have been multiple horror and sci-fi type movies playing on the fears of radiation and mutation from the incident. McGuire starts down this route, making the reader believe he is going to play upon this theme, but then he diverts. It’s clear from the beginning, something in the woods stalking our ex-Chernobyl engineer Serge. As he labors, the woods grow eerily silent, causing Serge to pause, reminding him of a tale his father told him in his youth. A tale of a disappearance of close friends. A man of modern science who has been forced to return to a simple existence because of science gone wrong, he wants to brush off this occurrence. There must be a logical explanation. It must be wolves, or some other creature. Serge is native to this area, and knows it well. McGuire sets up Serge’s fatal flaw early on in the story. Serge’s overconfidence in his size, strength and knowledge of the modern world will be his undoing. You can feel his doom lurking in the woods.
This is something older, predating the tragic nuclear incident. It defies logic and modern science. An ancient primeval creature lurks in this forest, preying on human flesh, smelling of decay. This is a creature that doesn’t care about morality, or whether its victims are good or evil. Its only impulse is to feed. In a full-length novel, we typically demand a complex villain with deep motives. In the short, visceral horror fiction, the antagonist with no reason other than carnal instinct fills us with dread. The victims can’t reason a way out with the antagonist in these stories.
Many tales play upon the darkness lurking in the woods. The Brothers Grimm, with their tales gathered from Germany’s Black Forest, abound with dark and terrifying creatures. They are now synonymous with children’s stories, but were never meant as such. They were cautionary tales, warning people of the dangers lurking beyond civilization. As the layers of civilization strip away and the primal roots are exposed, what lurks beneath is man vs nature, man vs beast. These are the things humans left behind as we left our nomadic lifestyles for farms. Abandoning caves and tents for great cities. But the night and the woods are still there beyond the great lights and fires.
Writing Style and Characters
McGuire does a good job of pace setting in his story. He strikes a decent balance of both showing and telling. Drawing the reader in with a mixture of simple domestic joys between a couple trying to forget that they once had so much more, and a terror lurking in the woods beyond. His style of writing is gritty and direct.
From the beginning, you are wanting to shout to Serge, “Run, you idiot!” But yet, you can’t wait to see what’s going to happen to him. You hope that somehow, he will come out on top. McGuire gets the reader to invest in his characters in a very short space, making them human and relatable. All the while the sinking feeling is there. There’s no doubt these characters are doomed.
It’s not a question of: is going to get bad? The real question is: how bad is it going to get?
Big Spoiler Alert!
You will not find flowery, over the top prose in McGuire’s writing. Also, a fair warning about McGuire, he is a writer of classic, visceral horror. There will be blood, guts and gore. If you are looking for the sweet, happy ending where the hero saves the day, you’re going to be disappointed. If you are looking for that creeping-up-your-spine sensation ending, reminiscent of Tales to Tell in the Dark or even the Twilight Zone, this is more your speed.
Part of me felt he could have drawn the suspense of Serge’s encounter with the creature in the woods. Make the reader hope that Serge might survive, then dash it to bits. And he does draw it out somewhat, but appears to have been impeded by word count and pacing. Drawing this scene out too much would have potentially run counterpoint to the real apex of the story and interrupted the fast pace he set.
McGuire has set the stage for the wife and children to be next on the menu, with Serge having left a map to show the wife and kids EXACTLY where he was working (and exactly where the monsters would be). As manly Serge is ripped to shreds, you are biting your nails, knowing that more is coming. If Serge cannot stand against this monster with his powerful axe, what chance does a pregnant woman or her innocent children have?
Having read McGuire’s other snippets and short works online, I was surprised to not find more of his typical dark humor in this tale. His writing is usually full of dark jabs that make you think, I’m such a bad person. I really shouldn’t be laughing at this right now. Especially considering this is a tale set in Eastern Europe, formerly Soviet Union. Their tales are known for their dark humor and twists. But this makes me look forward to reading some of his other Tombstone Shorts, to see the different angles he will take on the horror genre.
Overall, a fun, short horror read. This is the kind you tell around the campfire at night, then walk back to your tent with goosebumps rising on your skin. You’re careful not to shine your flashlight too deep into the woods, for fear of eyes in the darkness blinking back.
Can’t wait to read some of his other longer works.
Thanks for reading. Stayed tuned for more reviews, snippets of my own writing, and adventures in Chicken, AK.