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THE SHAFT
David J. Schow
Without question, David J. Schow is one of the finest writers of contemporary short horror fiction. The Shaft plunges the reader into a nasty, atmospheric tale of a grotesquely dilapidated apartment building, or rather, of a cancerous living organism and its parasites.
The Kenilworth Arms is a rotten subdivided nightmare of a dwelling. Walls move, windows seal themselves and tenants disappear, leaving body parts behind. Its extended-play soundtrack is the pulsing heartbeat that rises from the septic depths of its ventilation shaft. Outside, the relentless snows of a Chicago winter “shrouds the city in the deceptive numbness of a lethal injection.” Inside, the snow is even deadlier in the violent world of cocaine politics.
This is a book where romantic aspirations continually slam into the pavement of reality. Life is painful. But often it’s a “cleansing pain, like the cauterization of a wound.”
Above all, read for the words. Schow’s gooey prose is protein-rich and good for you. Get it from a dealer or specialty store, and give someone you love The Shaft.
— Linda Marotta
Shakespeare & Company Bookstore
Here's what the critics are saying:
The London Times:
Schow is a humdinger of a writer who can twist the standard schlock-horror situations into a series of character sketches, all of them delivered so energetically that his words practically pogo off the page
Ed Bryant / Locus Magazine:
A somewhat surreal novel about contemporary urban hyper-reality. What the novel is really about, then, is romance and alienation, drugs and violence, sex and survival. All are described graphically. All are pumped up with manic intensity and shoved right into your face. It works.
Alan Morrison / The List:
A lethal combination of good writing and sheer bloody terror, it maliciously subverts as many of the genre’s conventions as it is willing to embrace.
Mike Baker / Afraid Magazine:
It’s raw, it’s rough and it’s not for wimps. A novel of unquestionable power … rarely have I encountered a book that surprised me as much as this one did. An extremely well-written novel that dares to cover new ground.
Gordon Young / Jersey Evening Post:
Let me assure you that until you have read this book, your education in horror literature is not complete. The really strange thing about this book is that it has a superb drug / murder / gangster story as its theme; it would stand up on its own as a powerful novel without the horror, which is a bonus.
John Scoleri / B. Dalton Newsletter:
Schow writes in a razor-sharp style, creating believable, and in this book, unthinkable characters. Real people, real situations. This book packs one hell of a punch that will leave you floored.
Necrofile:
The Shaft is a triumph for its keen character portrayals, its magnificent atmosphere of oppressive horror, its dismally effective etching of lives crushed by poverty and drugs, and the unrelentingly vivid evocativeness of its brash, tight-lipped, yet strangely poetical prose.
Here's what readers have to say:
Coming soon: The Shaft T-shirts, tanks, totes, aprons, posters, cards, calendars, and even a lunchbox (now that's a scary idea!) at our CafePress Shop
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