Brian J. Showers
Publisher: Mercier Press
Hardback, 160 pages

Review by John Reppion

The Bleeding Horse and Other Ghost Stories (Mercier Press [www.mercierpress.ie]) is Wisconsin-born author Brian J. Showers’ first published full-length work of supernatural fiction. Prior to working on the volume, Showers wrote a series of acclaimed short works in a similar idiom, as well as numerous reviews, interviews, articles, and even a few comic book scripts. The author’s non-fiction Literary Walking Tours of Gothic Dublin (published in 2006 by Mercier’s sister company Nonsuch [www.nonsuchireland.com]) is one evident source of inspiration for the collection, another being the writings of Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu and indeed the Victorian Gothic movement in general. Showers has been a resident of the Rathmines area of Dublin for several years, having relocated to Ireland at the turn of the millennium. This locality provides the setting for the various tales of The Bleeding Horse (originally set to be titled Ghost Stories of Rathmines) and it is Showers’ familiarity with the district’s ancient buildings and thoroughfares which lends his stories an uncanny credibility.

Opening with an introduction from Le Fanu devotee and scholar Jim Rockhill ([www.prairienet.org/~almahu/jrock.htm]) which meditates upon the nature of ghost stories and the volume’s place within the tradition, The Bleeding Horse feels like a “classic” work from the outset. Indeed, though Showers’ prose can be almost conversational in tone and is agreeably easy to read, the author still manages to evoke that very distinct and yet somehow indefinable atmosphere which one normally associates with writers such as M. R. James, Bram Stoker and, dare I say, Edgar Allan Poe. Showers’ pleasant and matter of fact narration acts as the perfect cover for the many chilling twists and turns of his tales, lulling the reader into a false sense of security and normality. The individual stories are subtly linked in a queasily realistic manner; there are coincidences and hints but nothing too neat or overt as to drive things home inelegantly.

The Bleeding Horse is a work of metafictional psychogeography; Showers himself acting as our guide not only through the streets of Rathmines but through his own investigations and adventures. In the hands of a lesser author such literary devices could easily have seemed contrived but Showers pulls the whole thing off in a suitably understated manner. As mentioned earlier, I assume that having previously worked on a factual guide book of the city was a big influence on both the author’s desire to write in this manner and his ability to do so with confidence and ease.

I have no hesitation whatsoever in recommending The Bleeding Horse to lovers of classic ghostly tales and modern fiction alike. One word of caution though; having read the book, should you then be tempted to enter into the complex game of trying to separate Showers’ fiction from matters of fact, you would do well to heed the words of psychic and one time stall holder at Blackberry Fair, Molly Crowe. “Do your research, but do it from a safe distance”, lest you end up in the same tragic condition as those inquisitive ghost hunters Messrs Liebl, Kendes and Ensine.

The Bleeding Horse and Other Ghost Stories is available to order now at www.brianjshowers.com and www.mercierpress.ie.