Before The Croning, his first novel-length effort, Laird Barron was known for his short work, with a number of award-winning short fiction collections that demonstrated his gift for literate, inventive, nightmarish, Lovecraftian horrors. So it’s not really a surprise to find that two novellas Barron has released, Man With No Name and X’s For Eyes, are probably even better and stronger than The Croning in many ways. They’re tighter, more focused, and no less terrifying and surreal when they want to be. What is surprising, though, is how much they each find Barron dabbling in other genres, all while never leaving behind his horror roots.
Man With No Name is subtitled “A Nanashi Novella,” a line that certainly implies this is the first in a series. Exactly how that will work is something I’m quite curious about, because, without spoiling anything, to say that this doesn’t exactly lend itself to a traditional sequel is an understatement. That being said, the setup here undeniably feels like the first in a long-running crime series, revolving around a man named Nanashi, a loner adopted into the Japanese Yakuza. Nanashi is a man of action, and a valued employee, but little more; he often feels more like a mascot than a made man, despite the fact that he’s more controlled, and more dangerous, than many of those he works for.
That’s a good, pulpy setup, and Barron continues that feeling as the men get orders to kidnap a once-famed wrestler with ties to another gang and hold him hostage. Then the wrestler shows Nanashi his famous magic trick, one that allows the viewer to see the face of a deity – or perhaps, something darker. And then things start to go off the rails, as time becomes unhinged, and reality begins to fold up around Nanashi…
Man With No Name is deliberately confounding, often leaving the reader a bit in the dark intentionally, since Nanashi is left equally confused. It’s an effective technique, but one that can make the story sometimes difficult to parse, as we try to piece together what’s happening from our knowledge of horror tropes, elliptical clues, and late revelations. The idea that Barron might be setting up some longer story here is fascinating, although I’m not certain that he is; it’s quite possible that this is just a standalone horror tale, one whose weirdness will never be satisfactorily explained. As it is, though, Man With No Name is compelling, weird stuff; it’s crime fiction that becomes a surreal nightmare, all without losing its crime roots, and all while being told in Barron’s solid, craftsman-like prose. If it’s a little confusing and strange, well, it earns that strangeness and makes it work for the mood of the whole thing. (Oh, and if that’s not enough for you, there’s a pretty great bonus story attached to the ebook of Man With No Name that finds Barron playing around with Frankenstein in ways both funny and truly original. It’s a great capper to the book.) Rating: ****
But even better than Man With No Name is X’s For Eyes, which finds Barron writing an elaborate homage to Jonny Quest and/or The Venture Bros. that also manages to dabble in his usual cosmic horrors. Now, if you’re thinking that that sounds like an uneasy marriage, or one that might lead to some weirdly comic juxtapositions…well, you’re right. X’s For Eyes is offbeat and funny even before things beyond the veil of sleep start appearing, and even then, Barron makes his horrors wholly more entertaining and odd than you would expect from a traditional story.
Of course, it goes without saying that X’s For Eyes has all the usual writerly craft and astonishing prose that you normally expect from Barron; what works so well about X’s, though, is that he marries that to the tale of two brothers raised by a brilliant father, taught by educational pods, protected by wisecracking explorers, and constantly immersed in corporate espionage. Indeed, for a bit, it’s not even clear that X’s For Eyes is going to become a horror story; for a while, it’s about these boys and a confusing rocket experiment gone wrong. But Barron is just throwing you off balance, because when he kicks off the horror elements, trust me, he does so quickly, brutally, and nastily.
From there, things get stranger indeed, in typical Barron fashion. But, again, what makes X’s work is that it never feels like his other works; yes, there may be nightmarish beings beyond our own dimension, but the creatures of X’s feel…more human, somehow. Or, perhaps, just less inscrutable – but no less horrifying. Then again, things have a way of sneaking in under the surface…
Whatever the case, none of it keeps X’s from being a blast – it’s fun, then it’s unsettling, then it’s horrifying, and yet somehow always feels of a piece. And that it does all of this while never losing its grip on that Venture Bros. feel? Just fantastic. Rating: *****
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