Ring Shout is horror mixed with magical realism and historical events. To me, it’s a perfect horror story: it uses horror to frame something bigger. It’s set in 1922 in Macon, Georgia and follows Black female monster hunters as they confront the evil and horror of racial hatred embodied in the KKK. They face the everyday racism of the Klan but fight what they call Ku Kluxes, demons from another dimension who feed off hatred.Only some people can see the demons for what they are. These demon Ku Kluxes were responsible for the Tulsa race massacre in 1921, a real event. In this world, D. W. Griffith’s 1915 film, the Birth of a Nation, carries a magic that expands its influence over the second rise of the KKK. In our world it was used as Klan propaganda.View on Amazon
Several things come together to make it a perfect horror:
The characters — the women in this story are fully realized, three dimensional characters with both strength and flaws. They show courage, heroism, self-sacrifice and strong bonds of friendship. There isn’t one I wouldn’t want to know.
Emotions — Ring Shout engenders heightened emotions as the women battle evil and face loss and defeat. There are others to affect the reader: the sensual atmosphere in a night club and the ecstatic power of music in the religious ring shout dance.
Language — the language used isn’t forced but a natural part of the characters. Spoken Gullah and Gullah culture are also used effectively.
Story — This isn’t a long book(192 pages) and I read it in one sitting but from the strong opening chapter through to the end it has a flowing narrative that pulled me into the story. The way it blends fact and fiction contributes significantly to the story.
Horror — There is intense visceral gore so beware but it is necessary to the story and well written
Clark is a terrific writer. If you can handle some gore I recommend this book for its story telling and the story it tells and the characters in the story.