Plot
“A Lovecraftian horror tale inspired by Native American Myths and colonial times.” This is the description given for Ahmed Alameed’s horror novella Harvest Nights. When comparing to anything, immediate expectations are set and comparing to Lovecraft sets those expectations to lofty heights. With that said, Harvest Nights meets and surpasses those expectations.
This unpredictable historical fiction is based in Native American Lore and woven into a gory, twisted, journey into unearthly and unnerving darkness. Based around the famous Comet of 1822, the cosmic event thins the veil between our world and the supernatural world releasing creatures who will do anything to eat. The plot is experienced and told through the young boy Chua (Snake), who teams with a group of people who will do anything to survive.
Characters
The characters in this story are built exceptionally well. Using both fictional and historical characters, it is a challenge to blend both fictional and historical information…Alameed does this seamlessly.
Chua, as a child, has many of the flaws of youth mixed in with his bravery. He grows and develops as he tries to survive and figure out the nightmare world of this story in a very powerful way. It is always impressive when characters feel real and Alameed succeeds with making Chua feel real, even when compared to characters who were actually real people.
One of these real people in the novel is John Colter “America’s First Mountain Man.” Colter was such a great choice of person to use in this novella because of his own nightmarish experiences with Native Americans. In the 1800s, Colter escaped from his enemies in what is now known as Yellowstone National Park. “Colter’s Hell” is park of American history and to build this survivalist into a story based on surviving at all costs was not only brilliant, but extremely well done.
Writing
Harvest Nights is an amazing, suspenseful, gory, exciting story that sets an amazing atmosphere of terror. I enjoy when horror ties in many types of horror (gore, suspense, adventure, monsters, supernatural) and Alameed, as a gifted writer, ties these all together in a perfect little bundle of horror.
There is pretty extreme gore in this novella and, just like the rest of the writing, it is presented in a unique and deliberate way. Never just presenting the gore for gore’s sake, the mutilations are important to the story and the development of characters. It is so realistic and traumatizing for both the characters and readers that each event really packs a punch and makes the story stronger. The gore is there, but the book is a perfect mix of suspense, mystery, adventure, and the recipe Alameed cooks up results in a near-perfect story
The story is perfectly organized into a novella..the pace, the amount of description, the information, the plot itself is suited perfectly to a novella that feels like so much more. Despite the comparisons to Lovecraft, using historical events and people, and ancient lore, this book provides something completely unique and new.
Critique
I wholly admit that it was very difficult to find a critique here. What it came down to was that, with how amazing the scene-setting is, and with how amazing the story-telling of the plot is, it fills time that could be used or dialogue. The dialogue that is there is great, but I would have liked more just to see more connection between the characters on a personal level along with the connection build by the traumatic events they are living through.
Eulogy
This is an amazing book. Plain and simple, you will enjoy it. The novella is a tale full of twists, horror, gore adventure, humanity, monsters and whatever else appeals to you in horror. I highly recommend going here and buying your copy immediately. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and look forward to reading more of Ahmed Alameen’s work.
