Rock-a-Bye Baby

 

I haven't read much Joe Hill, but what I have read has been pretty much hit or miss with me, but I needed a couple of short, quick reads to put me a little further along toward my Goodreads goal for the year, and since Amazon had launched this new collection of Creature Feature novellas, I thought they'd be perfect. I mean, creature features? Count me in.

When I started The Pram, I felt I was going to be in for a disappointing read, as it started out with a young married couple wallowing in sorrow over the miscarriage of their child and seeking a fresh start, hoping a change of environment would be just what the doctor ordered. I perked up a bit with the couple happened to be from Brooklyn, NY, and I happened to be a native Brooklynite. So the couple moves from Brooklyn to the Middle of Nowhere, Maine. Talk about culture shock. But I figured I was going to be in for a Burnt Offerings, Bethany's Sin type story, and I figure to be closer to Bethany's Sin, at least what I can remember of it.

I can't really say much about this without giving too much away, but suffice it to say this has all the trappings of a folk horror piece. A creepy old couple, ancient woods, old-time religion, and based on the title alone, a creepy baby.

For a such a short read, I would have expected more of a hook at the beginning to catch the reader's attention, but The Pram starts off slow and moves at a snail's pace for just about three-quarters of the novella. I mean, it dragged, and I was tempted a time or two to chalk it up to a DNF (did not finish), but I hate letting a book get the better of me, so I persevered, and I'm glad I did, as it didn't go in the direction I thought it was heading.

Besides the pacing, I didn't really care for the characters, as they're kind of flat. I couldn't decide if I felt sorry for them or wanted something bad to happen to them. Their backstory is focused on the miscarriage, so other than that sad aspect of their lives, which I guess is supposed to make them sympathetic, you really don't learn that much about them to care one way or the other. So you just accept them and let them carry you along for the ride.

For a story that dragged for a major part of the narrative, the ending made it all worth while, fast paced, suspenseful, and gory. Gore is always a good thing. Had the pacing for the majority of the piece been a bit faster and the characters given a bit more depth, this could easily have been a four-star read, but I need to take a star for those issues. With that said, if you don't mind a slow burn and you have an hour or two to spare, this is one that's worth checking out.