Speculative Fiction Junkie

Orrin Grey

I came across Orrin Grey's first novella, The Mysterious Flame, while perusing the website of its publisher, Dead Letter Press. I'd arrived there as a result of trying to learn more about the object-of-my-desire-which-I-often-nearly-breakdown-and-purchase-even-though-it's-really-expensive called Bound for Evil. The story seemed intriguing as did the prospect of owning a softcover chapbook, a book format that was new to me at the time. I've since concluded that the softcover chapbook is the least desirable type of book one can own: either the story told fails to impress and the purchaser feels buyer's remorse for having spent a considerable sum on what are essentially some sheets of paper stapled together, or the story is good and the purchaser laments the delicacy and impermanence of the aforementioned stapled papers. The Mysterious Flame was a pretty good tale and I certainly wish that it existed in a more durable format.

The Mysterious Flame tells the story of Barnabus, a clay golem created centuries earlier by a man who was consequently executed for his involvement in such dark arts. When the inquisitors discovered Barnabas, one of them, Narthos, lost his faith in God and sought to learn all he could about these forbidden arts. In the process, he learned to preserve his own existence and is therefore more or less lying in wait when a group of modern day amateur archaeologists accidentally free him from an abandoned Spanish tower. Once unleashed, Narthos immediately resumes his hunt for Barnabus.

Despite its brevity, The Mysterious Flame manages to include an awful lot of action and disparate elements. Whether it's Narthos being awakened from the Spanish tower, Barnabus and his friend taking up residence in an abandoned movie theater, Barnabus hanging out in an isolated diner just to be around others for a bit, the raising of an army of reanimated corpses, or countless other things, this short book packs as much into its forty-four pages as is humanly possible without in any way feeling like it is overreaching or attempting to force too many disparate elements together.

Additionally, for a book with such a potentially heavy subject matter, The Mysterious Flame manages to maintain a surprisingly light tone for the most part. Mr. Grey makes some welcome serious points about the nature of the mysterious flame by, among other things, contrasting the relationship between Barnabas and Daniel with the relationship between Narthos and Joy, but the book simultaneously remains a whole lot of fun.

Mr. Grey is a capable writer with occasional flashes of brilliant description. I haven't seen any other works from him but I will be keeping my eye open for him in the future.

Rating: 7/10

The True First

The Mysterious Flame was originally published by Dead Letter Press as a softcover chapbook. Only 100 signed copies of the book were ever released.

[This review was not based on a review copy]