Review - Memorials by Richard Chizmar

Memorials by Richard Chizmar is a solid horror read, hitting a lot of my favorite tropes, like creepy symbols,  old gods, and cults. 

The story follows three York College students, Billy, Troy, and Melody, as they take a roadtrip through the Appalachian region of Pennsylvania to complete a project for their American Studies Class entitled “Roadside Memorials: A Study of Grief and Remembrance”. What starts out as a the fun adventure of three unlikely friends, soon becomes a fear-filled trial as the group encounters an ever darkening series of weird totems, threats, and signs as they investigate various Memorials they encounter on the roads.

While it may not be for some, one of the bestthings in the novelis the slow build-up of dread and paranoia as the trio investigate each memorial. It’s a slow peel of an onion leading to an ever darker, more dangerous black rotten core. The setting and time period hit hard as well. 

As these sinister happenings build in momentum like stones rolling down a mountain side, Chizmar skillfully weaves in meditations on grief and subtle — sometimes not too subtle — reflections on racism and being an outsider.

While the book doesn’t tread any new ground with regard to its occult aspects, horror fans are sure toenjoy the references to the Satanic Panic, and cosmic horror. It brough to mind films like The Devil’s Rain and the original Dunwich Horror starting the great Dean Stockwell.

However, one thing I found clunky are the interludes where we are “watching” video footage of the events. While I applaud the author for experimenting with these sections, I felt pulled me out of the story a little bit. The  exception being at the end with the footage of the three friends smiling and clowning at the beginning of their project. In this instance, the narrative distance  gave an extra tragic poignancy to the tale creating a nice capstone to their journey.

The preceding non withstanding, I devoured this book. The pacing and character development are excellent - all three protagonists felt real and sincere  -- their paranoia and terror ringing with truth.

Read Memorials— Not only will you enjoy it -- I guarantee you won’t look at a roadside memorial the same way again.