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Saturday, May 12, 2018

REVIEW: Blanky by Kealan Patrick Burke @kealanburke

Blanky
by Kealan Patrick Burke

The master of the novella has struck again!


Publish Date:  September 12, 2017
Kindle Edition
73 Pages
Standalone
Genres:  Horror, Novella


In the wake of his infant daughter's tragic death, Steve Brannigan is struggling to keep himself together. Estranged from his wife, who refuses to be inside the house where the unthinkable happened, and unable to work, he seeks solace in an endless parade of old sitcoms and a bottle of bourbon.


Until one night he hears a sound from his daughter's old room, a room now stripped bare of anything that identified it as hers...except for her security blanket, affectionately known as Blanky.

Blanky, old and frayed, with its antiquated patchwork of badly sewn rabbits with black button eyes, who appear to be staring at the viewer...

Blanky, purchased from a strange old man at an antique stall selling "BABY CLOSE" at a discount.

The presence of Blanky in his dead daughter's room heralds nothing short of an unspeakable nightmare that threatens to take away what little light remains in Steve's shattered world.

Because his daughter loved Blanky so much, he buried her with it.

My Review:


Grief works in mysterious ways.  Anyone who has lost someone deals with the sadness and emptiness left in their own way.  No way is more right than another.  Time actually does not heal all wounds and that gaping hole left by the person who is no longer with us feels endless.

The author takes us on Steve's journey after the death of his 11 month old daughter and that damn Blanky she seemed to adore.  Why does this keep showing up? They DID bury her with it, right?

This is one of those novellas that leaves you wondering what actually happened within the story.  Whose perspective is correct and just how far would your grief take you - or are you the sole cause of your own grief and you can NEVER EVER run away from THAT?

I love that this is set in Ohio and Burke's referencing the true nature of an OSU Buckeyes fan!  Little details like this are ones that really get to me sometimes. So thank you, Kealan, for that since I lived in Ohio for 16 years and TOTALLY get it.

Again, he packs a lot of story into a short amount of book and is clearly a master of storytelling.  Do yourself a favor and pick up some of his work.  Any horror fan would be smart in doing so ;)

★★★★

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