by Laura Mauro

Absinthe Press, available now

There are worse things waiting in the snow than just human enemies…

PS Publishing’s new imprint, Absinthe Press, edited by SFB contributor Marie O’Regan, gets off to a good and spooky start with this novella from Laura Mauro, which uses a folklore that many will be unaware of as its basis. Mauro wears her research lightly – you never feel as if you’re having a load of necessary information dumped on you, rather that as events begin to spiral out of control, you’re learning possible causes.

It’s set during the Finnish Civil War when White and Reds were at each other’s throats – and begins with what seems to be a literal interpretation of that. Mauro takes time to introduce us to the members of the unit, and the deprivations that they are all undergoing for what some – but not all – deem to be the greater good of their country, before things start to go seriously wrong… And the arrival of a young girl is the precursor to a darkening horror. Mauro creates the atmosphere of the forest well, and you’re quickly drawn into the characters’ lives and fates.

Verdict: An unfamiliar setting and mythology makes for an unsettling tale. 8/10

Paul Simpson

Click here to order from PS Publishing