Epeolatry Book Review: Draw You In, Volume 3 by Jasper Bark
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Title: Draw You In, Volume 3 – Behind the Mask
Author: Jasper Bark
Genre: horror fiction, horror fantasy, conspiracy thrillers
Publisher: Crystal Lake Publishing
Publication Date: 5th July, 2024
Synopsis: Draw You In Vol.3 – Behind the Mask is the explosive finale to this mind-bending trilogy.
Is the whole of history a convenient lie?
That’s how it’s beginning to look to Linda, Richard and Agent McPherson as they hunt for Tales That Draw You In, cartoonist R. L. Carver’s legendary lost work. The key to finding it could lie in a memory Linda’s repressed, from when she was a captive of the serial killer Henry McLaughlin.
The sinister cabal known as the Shadows in the Cave is also keen to retrieve Linda’s memory. Their reasons are linked to a military compound in the Chihuahuan desert and a clandestine psychic espionage program. Linda, Richard and McPherson learn that more than their own lives hang in the balance. The program’s terrible purpose could bring about the end of the world as we know it.
Described as “Kavalier and Clay meets Clive Barker,” it contains stories within stories that explore horror in all its subgenres, from quiet to psychological horror, from hardcore to cosmic horror.
Experience the epic conspiracy thriller that redefines the genre for a new generation.
So here we are, from the high of Volume 1, to a slightly disappointing Volume 2, how will Volume 3 fare?
The trio – Linda, Richard and FBI Agent Macpherson have progressed in their search and realise that the answers they need are held within Linda herself. Something hinted at very lightly in the preceding volumes. These answers include the nature of the being – the Midswégan – that the Shadows of the Cave seek to control and which has been guiding the three on their search via the elusive Tales that Draw You In, the comic strips drawn by R.L. Carver.
In Volume 3 we find Linda herself coming more into direct contact with elements of Tales that Draw You In as its figures step even further out of the pages, she is betrayed deliberately and also unwittingly (a couple of great twists here) and we watch her own transformation as she uncovers the truth about herself and the Midswégan.
There is also more about the belief system of the Shadows of the Cave which I did not really mention in the previous reviews. But it’s role in driving the story comes to the fore in this volume. Here we see who the Shadowcasters (the members of the Shadows of the Cave) are and more about their desire to join with the Midswégan and so carry out the purpose of their god (the Weorold Cyning). And this is where I lost sight of Linda again. She was there, needed by the Shadowcasters for conversion purposes, tethered to them, but she is observing only and is kept in the background. The focus is on the Shadowcasters and each stage of their transformation and some of these members were men who had not been in the forefront of the story (compared to others) so I had little interest in them. What I will say is that the imagery of the writing was almost a comic strip in prose – it was so easy to visualise and imagine the action in that format. I also felt there was a nod to writer China Mieville with regard to some of the creatures created, they were truly weird!
When the narrative focussed on the Qu’rm Saddic Heresy, the philosophy system of the Shadowcasters and more about the Weorold Cyning and the Midswégan, I would find it occasionally hard to follow or retain. This applied to all volumes. I think that’s partly because I’m not a cosmic horror type reader in general – I prefer to follow the ‘human’ in the narrative. If you’re guided as a reader to establish a connection with the main character then having that disrupted via diversions can make the story feel disjointed. What I did love was the use of Old English in their chants and terminology! (I intermittently pick up study of this language when I remember.)
But finally, Linda returns to her central role and we are led to her true identity – another twist and one which though surprising was not, actually, completely unexpected.
Overall, Volume 3 proved itself to be a unique and highly imaginative conclusion to Linda Corrigan’s quest, and, despite my dislike of the tendency to push the main character back into the shadows at times, still enjoyable.
/5
Complete Trilogy Rating:
/5
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Stephanie Ellis writes dark speculative prose and poetry and has been published in a variety of magazines and anthologies. Her longer work includes the folk horror novels, The Five Turns of the Wheel, Reborn, and The Woodcutter, and the post-apocalyptic/horror/sci-fi The Barricade, and the novellas, Bottled and Paused. Her dark poetry has been published in her collections Lilith Rising (co-authored with Shane Douglas Keene), Foundlings (co-authored with Cindy O’Quinn) and Metallurgy, as well as the HWA Poetry Showcase Volumes VI, VII, VIII, and IX and Black Spot Books Under Her Skin. She can be found supporting indie authors at HorrorTree.com via the weekly Indie Bookshelf Releases. She can be found at https://stephanieellis.org and on Blue Sky as stephellis.bsky.social.
