Rosemary Jones’ first contribution to Aconyte Books’ range of Arkham Horror novels, Mask of Silver blends the Golden Age of cinema and sinister mysticism in a subtly creepy combination of Hollywood and cosmic horror. Costume designer Jeanie Lin and her film star sister Renee Love are part of a close-knit crew working with director Sydney Fitzmaurice on his popular, chilling ‘nightmare movies’. For their latest production they set up in Sydney’s home town of Arkham, ostensibly to keep costs down, but it’s not long before the filming is best by unexplained accidents and strange goings-on in and around the creepy Fitzmaurice family home. As the shoot progresses, Jeanie is increasingly haunted by nightmares and worried about the toll that making this film is having on her and her sister.
Set largely in Sydney’s sinister Arkham home – a “house that pushed people away” – or its grounds, this is a slow-burn tale full of mirrors, shadows, smoke and fire, centred around two sisters determined to stick together come what may, whose shared struggle for identity and agency has brought them success but led them into danger. There’s a real sense of camaraderie amongst the film crew who pull together to make the shoot a success despite the pressure from the studio, with a great cast of believable characters who it’s hard not to want to spend more time with. As strange accidents begin to plague their efforts though, and the behaviour of their enigmatic director Sydney grows increasingly suspicious, the secrets many of the crew keep even from each other come to test the bonds of friendship (not to mention the characters’ sanity).
Jones’ obvious love of the cinema – and the Golden Age of cinema in particular – really shines through and imbues the story with a wonderful sense of wild imagination and innovation that balances brilliantly with the horror elements. At times the plot can be quite slow, which suits this sort of story, although perhaps not all readers will enjoy the gentle pace, but this is very much the slow, subtle build-up sort of horror, with lots of foreshadowing and a fair few “if only I hadn’t done…” moments of retrospection. Silent movies and quietly unsettling cosmic horror just seem like such a good match, and the pulpy but creepy Arkham Horror setting is a perfect place for this story to live – this isn’t a story concerned with jump scares, gore or anything outright nasty, but anyone interested in a creepy tale of life mirroring art in the era of silent movies is in for a treat.
Many thanks to Aconyte Books and Rosemary Jones for sending me a review copy of Mask of Silver in exchange for my honest opinions.
Check out my interview with Rosemary Jones talking about Mask of Silver.
Click here to read more Arkham Horror-related reviews and author interviews.
See also: the main Aconyte Books page on Track of Words.
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