Star Winds at Dusk

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The Rundown

Star Winds at Dusk

An inescapable dreamscape. An alien garden. An ancient vampire. These are just a few of the terrors awaiting in Star Winds At Dusk, a formidable horror filled with more than its fair share of darkly fascinating moments. Seemingly an anthology of stand alone spine tinglers, the tales are woven into an overarching narrative that reveals a vast and dark conspiracy.

In this Lovecraftian love letter, fractured tales of impossible beasts, alien landscapes and dark madness collide in an overarching story that transcends time and space. Horrors both ethereal and visceral creep through every page, and deep mysteries abound. In short, lovers of good fantastical horror have plenty to fall in love with.

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The Recommendation

Flinging a respectful salute to Lovecraftian lore, the novel carefully recreates the poetry of familiar cosmic horror and secret history, and scatters easter eggs about liberally. But Robert DeFrank is no copy cat, and he overlays his stories on Lovecraft’s cherished backgrounds in his own confident, elegant (and to be honest, much more accessible) way. Here is good horror, written well, and for genre afficiandos that alone should be enough to click the purchase button.

The tales of Star Winds at Dusk are anchored around a respect and dedication to building a solid supernatural mythos, providing the cozy depths to lose oneself in that is so necessary to a good horror tale. Though the book is filled with outlandish beasts and no small amount of the occult, Robert DeFrank pulls off that Lovecraftian trick of presenting the inexplicable with academic credulity, and really pervades the sense that a world of the inexplicable lies close by… for those that know how and where to look.

All this talk of H.P Lovecraft may be off-putting to some, but those of you who don’t know their Shoggoth’s from their elbows won’t feel put out. Star Winds at Dusk isn’t a fan fiction, and at the core of the cosmic musings is a solid thread of story filled with intriguing characters. It’s an original twist on time-tested concepts.

I thoroughly enjoyed Star Winds at Dusk. It was pleasingly intriguing, sometimes disturbing and shot through with a quiet dread and tension you’d expect from a seasoned horror writer.

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The Rating

5 Stars (out of 5): Highly recommended. This book did exactly what it set out to do, with originality, style, and maybe even a twist. It stands out next to popular, traditionally published novels in its genre.

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The Pros & Cons

Pros: Characterization, Dialogue, Plot, Prose, Strong World-Building

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The Comparisons

For readers who liked these books and authors: H.P Lovecraft, Stephen King

Author’s Summary

A father searches through the woods for his missing daughter, and confronts demons of the past in an abandoned cottage.

A vampire recalls his sanguine birth into the society of the undead, an immortal life that has seen the rise and fall of empires, and an attempt to bring forth the Old Ones.

A brilliant but disgraced professor and hunter of the supernatural experiences déjà vu in an accursed town where death stalks victims in their dreams. He must decipher the meaning of his premonition to have a hope of survival. All the while his foes have set deadly snares for him.

A young man is trapped in a witch’s enchanted garden that becomes carnivorous with the rising of the moon.

A young woman interviews a man who tells a story of his boyhood during the Depression, when he is hired to help bore a well and instead brings eldritch horrors to the surface.

And a man scarred from war and loss enters a haunted pharos that broods over all realities, to bargain for the power to save his world.

Each plays a role in a greater story than they can imagine in this mosaic novel of dark fantasy adventures set in a Lovecraftian cosmos.

These are stories that take place at the edge of things, at dusk, at the changing of the seasons, in places where the walls have thinned and the immutable laws of reality have become mere suggestions. These are stories of people who find themselves at the borders and discover heroism – or horror.

There is no peace at the gate.

Short Description

A sequence of interconnected novellas of dark, Lovecraftian fantasy. Stories of people who find themselves at the borders of reality and discover heroism – or horror.

Catchphrase

Dreams borne to us on the star winds

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