Anytime a Mark Steensland collaboration drops, I consider it a momentous occasion. When partnered with Silver Shamrock, go right on ahead and double that anticipation. After Steensland’s initial book with the press, In the Scrape, co-written with James Newman, this one had my attention from the word go. Glen Krisch is a new-to-me author, so I was anxious to see what the two could do together.

Coffin Shadows is a picturesque example of exactly what the novella offers in regards to the horror genre – a story with minimal set-up, dropping you directly into the action, and is able to keep the pace up for the majority of the run time. This story revolves around Janet. When we meet her there are certain peculiarities to her characterization, and we see the actions long before the explanations are unfurled. The most memorable part upfront is a clearly dead, pre-teen boy in a red sweatshirt that seems to show up everywhere she is, including, but not limited to, the coat closet at the school Janet works at.

That event causes a panic attack of epic proportions which results in Janet being given an unasked for and unanticipated vacation from work to get it together. She uses this time to return to her hometown, and from here we dig into her complicated past.

It feels like I just laid a great deal of exposition at your door, but that’s a pretty basic set-up, happening fairly quick in the book. It’s really the discoveries Janet makes in regards to her personal past and the people and places she grew up around that propel the narrative forward. There are some interesting elements that I won’t go into here, most I didn’t expect going in, or even after the first thirty pages or so. In this regard, the authors holding onto their secrets until the proper time is done fairly well.

I mentioned the pacing of a novella previously, and as much as I love the breakneck dynamics the novella had to offer, this one could’ve used just a bit more padding to increase characterisation. The reader doesn’t dislike Janet, but nor do they like her. They don’t really get to know her before she’s plunged into the action. We also could use a little more time spent with her partner, Brian, to figure out whether or not he has Janet’s best interests at heart and if we should be rooting for him.

On the flip side, regarding the mystery surrounding Janet, the reader not knowing every aspect of her personality allows the authors to experiment with dangling plot elements in front of the reader. We are invited to guess and wonder what’s real.

Overall, Coffin Shadows creates the literary equivalent of the 90 minute horror/psychological thriller movie, grabbing hold of the reader on page one and dragging you kicking and screaming behind the bumper fire almost 120 pages. With the exception of one plot element that I would’ve liked to see wrapped up, the story is very self-contained and allows for that one-sitting type of escapism I’ve really thrives in since the pandemic hit. I would recommend this fans of psychological horror.

I received a copy from the publisher for review conversation.