Old Man Scratch - Rio Youers

I was at a standstill with my reading, hadn't read more than a few pages of anything since World Horror and needed to break the deadlock so I went to the stack and selected something short, to finish in an evening and get me back on track. I selected Old Man Scratch a novella by Rio Youers.

I can't really tell you what it's about except to say it's about the people in it, Johnny, Melinda and Scratch. What I can tell you is Rio packed a whole lot into a few pages. Using writing style, language and tone he manages to convey atmosphere, setting and emotion economically, allowing the story simply to flow forward.

What that atmosphere is alternately soft and affectionate or creepy and unsettling. The emotional journey is similar, we are drawn gently through the tenderness of Johnny and Melinda's love and then thrown up against the violence and aggression of Scratch. Then there is the other thing and that is pure down the spine creeps and holds sway over the whole story in someways, tinting it, even though it's not really directly addressed.

Are you intrigued? Old Man Scratch gave me a complete and satisfying reading experience in it's 57 pages and it's definitely recommended.