Woom - Duncan Ralston
Please note that this book is classified as extreme horror and will not be suitable for all audiences. If you are interested in reading this book, make sure to check out the trigger warnings beforehand.
What is it about?
In the Lonely Motel, Room 6, Angel has found his home. He was born there, he will end there.
Angel is full of strange and violent secrets and on this night, he is going to share them all with the open minded prostitute Shyla. Listening intently, Shyla begins her journey with Angel, not entirely sure where either of them are going to be when the stories come to an end.
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What’s good about it?
The main narrative takes place in Motel Room 6 with Shyla and Angel forging a somewhat respectful and easy relationship. Shyla is smart, intuitive and sassy; an extremely likeable character. Her profession does not diminish her at all. She understands Angel, his fetishes and his mental anguish, and patiently listens and engages with him as he weaves his disturbing tales, all the way manipulating Shyla’s body in any way he sees fit at that moment. They’re both very well written characters, engaging enough that the audience is captivated by their introduction and keen to find out more.
What Ralston has done with Woom is create an anthology of sorts; Several disturbing and violent stories, all of which our narrator Angel has been privy to or made aware of in one way or another. Each “chapter” is given its own subheading, leaving the audience to guess what the next story could possibly be. It puts each story into bite sized chunks, making it a quick and easily digestible read. It’s also great for anyone with a slightly weaker stomach, who might need some time away from the book.
The actions are calm, controlled and deliberate, which heightens the tension in each story. For the reader, we’re appalled by each tale. For the narrator, it’s just life to him now, and doesn’t require large bursts of emotion. It’s a very effective psychological technique that draws the reader into the narrative while keeping us at arms length from our main character- With good reason. We aren’t privy to his motivations and are along for the ride, just like Shyla.
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What’s not so good about it?
The Amazon summary is misleading as it suggests that the Motel room itself is evil, but the room itself is only relevant to the book in that multiple horrific events have taken place there. It’s not a haunted house story by any means, but more of a study of trauma and the impact that this can have on a person's life.
In fact, in some ways it is a bit of an odd book and, due to the way it is written and the word around it, might not reach some people’s expectations. Varying on how you approach reading, or how you approach the “extreme horror” genre will very much have an impact on how you feel about Woom. This book can be crass in places and the plot or the mini stories featured within will not be to everyone’s taste. If you’re into extreme violent horror, the content in this book isn’t very high on the scale and you may find it boring.
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Why should I read it?
Woom is a masterpiece in storytelling. The world that Ralston has created here is a kaleidoscope of the strange and disturbing, a fairground ride that pulls you through each segment with rapid pace, seamlessly jerking to the next tale at full speed until the delightful final drop towards the end. It’s a tragic yet thought provoking book, with horrific scenes that will stay with you long after you’ve closed the back page.
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Should I read it?
I first read Woom as an introduction to the extreme and splatterpunk sub genres of horror fiction, when I wanted to branch out and try something new. It didn’t disappoint. The trigger warnings for this particular book didn’t resonate with me, so I thought that this book was the perfect introduction into that world. It wasn’t scary by any means, nor was it as violent as the then- delicate version of me was expecting. There were several things that surprised me when I first read this book:1) The characters were excellent. I could picture them easily and found myself invested in their story. Shyla I liked, and though I didn’t think I could have a drink with Angel, his story was compelling enough that I wanted to hear more of what he had to say.
2) The setting was genius. The story is set at the Lonely Motel, but the main bulk of the prose takes us out of the room, which I thought was really clever, and helped to keep me engaged with the story.
3) The mini stories were inventive. There is one in particular that still stands out to me. It’s been a while since I’ve read this book and honestly I can still remember how sick to my stomach I felt when I read the Man(nequin) section.
So yes, you should definitely read this book. Ralston is a fantastic writer and Woom is the book where you could tell he was a writer that had finally found his voice. Any book that can make your stomach churn as you tentatively turn the pages with one eye closed needs to be read at least once.
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