5 out of 5 stars
Available from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com
Greg and Quinn decide to tackle a challenging climb up Mount Terror, a place where many strange disappearances have taken place. Later, Ellie the ranger is asked to carry out a search and rescue for Greg, but there is something more terrifying than the powers of nature lurking in the glacier next to Mount Terror…
This novella starts straight off with good sensory descriptions of the icy Pickett mountain range Travis is climbing, with visual, olfactory, and audio descriptions. The author did plenty of research into (and has first-hand experience in) the art of climbing with ice-axes and crampons. Introverts and lovers of nature’s solitude will relate to the characters of Greg and Quinn, Travis and Ellie. It’s a pity about what will happen to them, which is something bizarre, inexplicable, and so terrifying, your skin will want to slip off and creep under the door to somewhere safer.
The mountain and its glacier are a separate character in “Crevasse”, affecting the different scenes either in a direct or indirect way. Clay Vermulm does this through subtle metaphor and imagery, which he also uses to portray Greg and Quinn’s relationship, using the climbing ropes and what Quinn and Greg are doing with them as a physical symbol of their relationship, one always supporting or “belaying” the other, even as they’re in the midst of a quarrel.
Ellie has an unusual relationship with Greg and his parents, Roger and Rachel, being something of a mentor to Greg and a gooseberry to his mother and father. However, they are all still friends after the rocky road of their previous relationships, and it lends more depth to the characters.
All the characters have a weird feeling of anxiety and dread they can’t fully explain. That, coupled with the danger and isolation of the Pickett range and the absence of natural sound at certain moments, adds to the slow-burn horror building throughout the story.
Warning: this novella does not have a happy ending. At least, not for the human characters… but in a way, their memories will live on.
Nightwalks 