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Nathan Ballingrud's Shirley Jackson Award winning debut collection is a shattering and luminous experience not to be missed by those who love to explore the darker parts of the human psyche. Monsters, real and imagined, external and internal, are the subject. They are us and we are them and Ballingrud's intense focus makes these stories incredibly intense and irresistible.
These are love stories. And also monster stories. Sometimes these are monsters in their traditional guises, sometimes they wear the faces of parents, lovers, or ourselves. The often working-class people in these stories are driven to extremes by love. Sometimes, they are ruined; sometimes redeemed. All are faced with the loneliest corners of themselves and strive to find an escape.
Nathan Ballingrud was born in Massachusetts but has spent most of his life in the South. He worked as a bartender in New Orleans and New York City and a cook on offshore oil rigs. His story "The Monsters of Heaven" won the inaugural Shirley Jackson Award. He lives in Asheville, North Carolina, with his daughter.
- Sales Rank: #276554 in eBooks
- Published on: 2013-06-28
- Released on: 2013-06-28
- Format: Kindle eBook
Review
World Fantasy, British Fantasy, and Bram Stoker Award finalist.
"Pain has a rich and varied language, both mundane and transcendent, with infinite variations and many subtle flavours. Pain is one of the most private experiences people face, and yet a universal experience. North American Lake Monsters uses this palette to create most of its narrative hues and textures, to sharpen and heighten the characteristics of its profoundly human, deeply flawed characters. What sets this collection of short stories apart is the way the supernatural, magical and horrific are utilized like a light source, illuminating dark places while casting even deeper shadows. Ballingrud’s writing is piercing and merciless, holding the lens steady through fear, rage and disgust, showing a weird kind of love to his subjects, in refusing to turn away, as well as an uncompromising pitilessness. Angels and vampires are placed next to lost white supremacist boys and burnt-out waitresses. All are equally, horribly ugly and real."
—Toronto Globe and Mail
"Each one of these nine stories has the capacity to seduce and terrify you like any of the most heavyweight horror authors out there."
—Andrew Liptak, io9
"Ballingrud's work isn't like any other. These stories are full of sadness and sorrow, but they're not merely sad. Like Tom Waits, Ballingrud is an expert at teasing out every delicious shade and nuance, every fine gradation of misery and pain. It's a heady and fantastic cocktail mixed from roughnecks and down-and-outers and flawed people who find in their ordinary and terrible world monsters, magic, and the strange. Ballingrud's fantastic elements are never seen full on, but always out of the corner of your eye, and it makes them all the more haunting."
—Cory Doctorow, BoingBoing
"Nathan Ballingrud’s North American Lake Monsters is an exceptional fictional debut: It deserves a place alongside collections like Peter Straub’s Magic Terror, Scott Wolven’s Controlled Burn, Dan Chaon’s Stay Awake, Raymond Carver’s Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? and Denis Johnson’s Jesus’ Son. Like those works, Ballingrud’s stories delve into the damaged psyches of American men, with a distinctly twenty-first-century awareness of the world we now inhabit, itself as damaged as the shellshocked figures that populate it. Ballingrud’s tales are ostensibly tales of terror, meticulously constructed and almost claustrophobically understated in their depiction of an all- encompassing horror that, despite its often unearthly shimmer, is human rather than supernatural in origin; Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” or Charlotte Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” as reimagined by Robert Stone or Cormac McCarthy."
—Elizabeth Hand, F&SF
"Matched to his original ideas and refreshing refurbishments of genre set pieces, Ballingrud’s writing makes North American Lake Monsters one of the best collections of short fiction for the year.
—Locus
"The beauty of the work as a whole is that it offers no clear and easy answers; any generalization that might be supported by some stories is contradicted by others. It makes for an intellectually stimulating collection that pulls the reader in unexpected directions. The pieces don’t always come to a satisfactory resolution, but it is clear that this is a conscious choice. The lack of denouement, the uncertainty, is part of the fabric of the individual stories and of the collection as a whole. It is suggestive of a particular kind of world: one that is dark, weird, and just beyond our ability to impose order and understanding. These are not happy endings. They are sad and unsettling, but always beautifully written with skillful and insightful prose. It is a remarkable collection."
—Hellnotes
"Ballingrud’s language transforms known quantities into monsters again. . . .
"You Go Where It Takes You," the opening story of the collection, sets the tone and, with its shocking ending, frames the moral of North American Lake Monsters. Transformation carries a shocking cost.
Two recent, disastrous transformations of the American landscape reverberate through the book: Katrina and the financial crisis. New Orleans is felt as a lost love. So is the American Dream, which seems now to have vanished for good along with Bear Stearns’s collateralized debt obligations. The transformations of Ballingrud’s characters echo these cataclysms. And yet–despite all the blame that’s flying around the landscape, and in the teeth of our contemporary hysteria about anything resembling reckless behavior–he refuses to judge them. These people do some really terrible things. They suffer. But there’s no sense of comeuppance earned, much less deserved.
This is the most striking quality of this extraordinary collection: the compassion of Ballingrud’s gaze. He makes no excuses for his characters, never comes near to glorifying their bad choices, and yet never looks down on them. The reader is left with the scarcely bearable knowledge that in the end, the subjects of North American Lake Monsters are human."
—Amazing Stories
"What Nathan Ballingrud does in North American Lake Monsters is to reinvigorate the horror tradition."
—John Langan, Los Angeles Review of Books
“Dark, quirky stories.”—Charlotte Observer
"A good horror story stays with you long after reading it. A great horror story doesn't simply stay with you, it haunts you, and Nathan Ballingrud's fiction does just that. He breathes life into rough, blue-collar characters and places them in some of the best dark fiction being written today. Every single story in this collection is an emotional gut punch. The despair that saturates these tales is rich, and often it is not the supernatural elements in these tales that is horrific."
—Arkham Digest
"For those willing to go down the dark road that’s laid out here, and those willing to feel complex patterns of sympathy, disgust, and horror for (often bad) people, this is an interesting collection. Uncomfortable a read as it is, it has the tinge of reality to it: a reality that often we’d rather not look at."
—Brit Mandelo, Tor.com
"A diverse, highly-engaging collection from a grossly under-appreciated author. "
—Twilight Ridge
"It's Raymond Carver territory, beautifully written and right on target for today: construction work, waitressing, tattoos, and white supremacists. And shattering each story is the luminous, the terrifying, the Lovecraftian otherness that reveals what it really feels like to be alive in this moment in time. Ballingrud's fantastical werewolves and human skins and Antarctic staircases evoke the truth of our own fears about life."
—Maureen F. McHugh (After the Apocalypse)
"One of the best horror short story collections published during the last couple of years."
—Rising Shadows
"Nathan Ballingrud is one of my favorite short fiction writers."—Jeff VanderMeer
"Nathan Ballingrud's 'The Way Station' is another story of the sort I've come to expect from him: emotionally intense, riveting, and deeply upsetting in many ways. It deals with loss, with the aftereffects of Katrina on a homeless alcoholic who's haunted by the city itself be-fore the flood, and in doing so it's wrenching. . . . It's an excellent story that paints a riveting portrait of a man, his city, and his loss."—Tor.com on The Naked City
"But the two most remarkable stories in Naked City are by relatively new authors: 'The Projected Girl' (Haifa) by Lavie Tidhar and 'The Way Station' (New Orleans and St. Petersburg, Florida) by Nathan Ballingrud are both heartbreakers."
—John Clute on Strange Horizons
About the Author
Nathan Ballingrud: Nathan Ballingrud was born in Massachusetts but has spent most of his life in the South. He's worked as a bartender in New Orleans and a cook on offshore oil rigs. His story "The Monsters of Heaven" won the inaugural Shirley Jackson Award. He lives in Asheville, NC, with his daughter.
Most helpful customer reviews
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful.
Character-driven, disturbing, and AMAZING!
By Kristopher Kelly
Nathan Ballingrud's debut collection of short stories sank its claws deep into my brain and refused to let go until I'd read the whole thing. He writes clear, powerful tales, where the monsters in question flush out his characters' humanity in traumatic clarity. Most of these don't end well, but they're all gorgeous pieces.
Often, the obvious monster of the story is not the worst monster. Take, for example, the story "Wild Acres," where an early, bloody attack suggests an obvious sort of supernatural tale. Yet Ballingrud doesn't go down that road, instead taking the reader through the emotional consequences of surviving the ordeal and the choices made during such an event. Or the eponymous "North American Lake Monsters" itself, where an unidentifiable beast washes up on the shore of a lake and yet remains only a lightning-rod metaphor for the things going on within the family that discovers it.
In another standout piece, "Crevasse," about a sled team in Antarctica running into trouble, Ballingrud manages to concoct a Lovecraftian story that challenges even the best of Lovecraft's work.
My favorite story in the collection is, unexpectedly, "Sunbleached," which is a story about a young kid's relationship with a vampire in his basement. I'm sick to death of vampire tales, and yet this one bowled me over. The details were captivating, and I still can't shake the ending.
This collection represents some of the finest literary horror I've read since devouring Shirley Jackson's short stories. I'm an instant fan of Ballingrud, and North American Lake Monsters is a powerful, disturbing beast.
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful.
Excellent, disturbing and bleak horror stories
By "Seregil of Rhiminee"
Nathan Ballingrud's North American Lake Monsters is the author's debut short story collection and what a debut it is! It's one of the best horror short story collections published during the last couple of years.
There are certain short story collections that are so spectacular and unforgettable that you can't help but wonder how the author has managed to write all the stories. This collection is one of those collections, because it's a work of art in terms of storytelling, characterization and atmosphere. I have to admit that I was very impressed by this collection. It's one the highlights of the year and should be read by everybody who loves horror and dark fantasy stories.
I've always loved good dark fantasy, horror and especially weird fiction (and cosmic horror). These dark stories intrigue me much more than any other stories, because there's something in them that makes me want to read them in one sitting. This short story collection also caused this kind of a reaction in me, because the stories were fascinatingly dark and I couldn't stop reading them. If I should describe this collection with only one adjective, the adjective would be "AMAZING", because all the stories in this collection are simply amazing in their bleakness.
Before I begin to review and analyze the contents of this collection, I have to mention that it's amazing how many good and talented new authors have emerged during the last couple of years (I think it's fair to say that this is the new golden age for horror and dark fantasy). Nathan Ballingrud is one of these good authors and I think that he has a bright future ahead of him as an author. I sincerely hope that he will continue to write more horror stories, because he's an extremely talented author.
North American Lake Monsters contains the following nine stories:
- You Go Where It Takes You
- Wild Acre
- S.S.
- The Crevasse (co-written by Dale Bailey)
- The Monsters of Heaven
- Sunbleached
- North American Lake Monsters
- The Way Station
- The Good Husband
Here's a bit more information about these stories and my thoughts about them:
You Go Where It Takes You:
- The protagonist of this story, Toni, is a single mother who's a waitress. When Toni meet Alex, her life changes, because Alex has a secret.
- In my opinion You Go Where It Takes You is an intriguing story about life, family and difficult choices.
Wild Acre:
- In this story Jeremy sees something that disturbs and scares him. Afterward he struggles with his guilt.
- I think that the author writes surprisingly well about Jeremy's feelings and guilt.
S.S.:
- This is a disturbing story about a young man, Nick, whose mother suffers from depression. Nick tries to find his place and gets involved with a nasty group of people.
- It's been a long time since I've read anything this disturbing. It's amazing how well the author writes about Nick's life and his choices.
The Crevasse:
- This story was first published in Lovecraft Unbound (edited by Ellen Datlow), so it was familiar to me. Now that I read it again, I liked it even more. It's one of the finest Lovecraftian horror stories ever written.
- I think it's great that Nathan Ballingrud and Dave Bailey write about what happens in the Antarctica, because it's a perfect remote setting for Lovecraftian horror.
- In my opinion The Crevasse is the best and most chilling story in this collection (I admit that I may be a bit biased in my opinion about this story, because I love Lovecraftian horror and dark fantasy).
The Monsters of Heaven:
- The Monsters of Heaven is the winner of the Shirley Jackson Award.
- This short story is a powerful and sad story about Brian who has lost his son.
- The author writes about Brian's life and marriage in an excellent way.
Sunbleached:
- Sunbleached is one of the best and most impressive vampire stories I've ever read. It's a brilliantly dark story about Joshua and his relationship with a vampire.
- The author writes excellently about Joshua's life and feelings.
- It's great that the author avoids typical vampire clichés in this story.
North American Lake Monsters:
- In this fantastic story a weird looking monster is found on the shore.
- This is an excellent story about family life and relationships between family members.
The Way Station:
- The Way Station is a strong and well written story about a homeless man who is haunted by the past.
- I enjoyed reading this story, because it was a good story and the author wrote well about the happenings and the protagonist's confusion.
The Good Husband:
- This is an amazing and haunting story about Sean and Kate and their problems.
- I liked this story very much. It's one of the best and most powerful stories in this collection.
Nathan Ballingrud's stories are disturbing and sad, but all of them are beautifully written stories. Each of these stories has a deep emotional impact on the readers, because the author writes about the happenings in a touching and disturbing way. I think that everybody who reads these stories will be moved (and also shocked) by them.
The author paints vivid and stunning images with his words about life, love, loss and loneliness. He writes fluently about complex human relationships and all the emotions related to them, and he also writes boldy about domestic problems. He has added so much emotion to his stories that the readers will be able to feel what the protagonists feel and how the problems affect them.
The horror that rises from domestic problems is real horror and it creates an unsettling atmosphere. When horror is rooted in reality, the result is often stunningly shocking, because the readers feel a connection to the darkness. The author shows that bad things can happen to anybody and under the right circumstances all of us are capable of acting in strange and unexpected ways that may cause grief and suffering to ourselves and also to others. He also shows that other people may hurt us and their actions may affect us greatly.
Difficult relationships and domestic problems create a realistic atmosphere that will linger on the reader's mind. These things aren't easy, and you may feel sorry for the characters for what they must endure. The characters in these stories feel realistic and the choices they make are made out of love, necessity or desperation. The choices that the protagonists make may break the reader's heart, because for example, in You Go Where It Takes You the protagonist does a difficult and heartbreaking decision at the end of the story.
One of the best things about this collection is that the author doesn't sugarcoat the happenings and lets readers read about real problems (there are supernatural elements in these stories, but almost everything is connected at least partly to reality). You won't find easy and comfortable stories in this collection, because the author isn't easy on his characters. It's great that the author has had courage to write bleak and grim stories, because they feel refreshingly different when compared to horror stories written by other authors.
There are monsters in these monsters, but the real monsters are people. The people in these stories are capable of all kinds of monstrosities, because they're driven to desperate acts by difficult circumstances. The author shows that people are capable of doing all kinds of things in the name of love and loneliness.
Nathan Ballingrud's stories remind me a bit of Christopher Barzak's literary stories, and also of certain stories written by Laird Barron, but they're totally original stories. Nathan Ballingrud has a voice of his own and he uses it in a perfect way. His stories are sad, grim, bleak and unsettling, and they will both shock and surprise you.
North American Lake Monsters is an essential collection for everybody who likes quality horror, dark fantasy and speculative fiction. This short story collection is literary and dark speculative fiction at its best and it can be recommended for horror readers who want to read quality stories.
Very highly recommended!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful.
Excellence: Literary Realism meets the Profound Horrific
By C. D. Varn
Nathan Ballingrud’s North American Lake Monsters seems to be best summarized a consist voice looking at the intersection of human tragedy with the arbitrarily alien. The monsters in Ballingrud’s stories are always on the peripheral and even when they enter directly, they are not the main focus of the tale. The South lingers in this book as does the recession, and being from the blue collar South of the US, Ballingrud’s world seemed as real to me, which I also sometimes inhabit.
The depressing mood of the book also mirrors a lot of literary realist and horror fiction, but likewise, these are as much stories of love and transformation as stories about monsters. All the love stories in the book are strained by things beyond any lake monster or vampire, but the occurrence of an outside force breaks the relationships up into their rawer elements. Also the looming monster of the novel is not only human, bestial, or supernatural, but also the economic circumstances that rendering things down to the bone.
Most of the stories have monsters, but not all of supernatural. “S.S.,” about a young man in poverty being recruited by a teenage call to a white power organization, has no supernatural element. The transformation is something you could find in Herbert Shelby, Jr. or Raymond Chandler as much as any genre fiction, and it was one of the most truly disturbing stories in the book. The masculinity of these stories is macho but broken and floundering about in some times tender and sometimes horrifying ways. This does create a weak spot in the book in terms of female characters, who do have lives of their own in most of the stories and who function within the limitations of their class, but with few exceptions cannot be fully realized because of the perspective of the narrator.
In stories like “The Way Station” and “The Crevasse” the natural world takes an equally horrifying role in the unsettling of individual lives. Indeed, Ballingrud’s one fault may be that he seems to portray the universe as almost a conspiracy against his already assaulted characters. Like Ogawa, Ballingrud suffers from understanding a pattern too well and the emotional impact of shattered lives can start to feel repetitive in the stories as a whole. It would help the reader to break up her reading of this collection so the pattern does not weaken the impact from over-exposure while keeping the stories fresh.
The two best stories in the collection in this reviewers opinion are “S.S.” and “Sunbleached.” The former I have already spoken about briefly. The later is another vampire story and one based on fairly conventional limitations to the genre, but the motivation and outcomes are entirely fresh. Casual misogyny, racism, and general unpleasantness invests many of the characters, even the jealous teen at the center of “Sunbleached,” but Ballingrud never denies the protagonists our sympathy nor does he make false excuses for them. Ballingrud is like a tragedian as much as weird fiction author: “the cosmos may be against you, but you are still responsible for your faults” is the droning reframe of his chorus.
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