What
Gets Left Behind
by
Mark West
SpectralPress (2012)
28
pages
I may not have grown up in England in the
80s, but I very well could have from reading this latest chapbook
from Spectral Press. Growing up in rural Nova Scotia during that
decade, the last decade really before the information age found its
footing, killers and predators were like urban legends: they existed
on the six o'clock news and to hear there was one locally was like
discovering there was a Sasquatch in the backyard. There is a sense
of that in Mark West's What Gets Left Behind, as two young
boys revel in the idea of a serial killer lurking in their hometown,
yet still venture outside in parks and back lots for their own
adventures.
The atmosphere of early 80s, small town
Britain is captured about as crisply as one could ask for. Despite a
few mentions of local trivia, this Canadian was able to get swept
right up in the tale.
While the story begins in present day,
its heart lies in 1981, when a serial killer called the Rainy Day
Abductor stalked the town of Gaffney. Mike and his best friend,
Geoff, are undaunted by this threat, since the killer seems to focus
on young women, and only when it rains. Following a downpour, the
boys are sent outside to play--a near foreign concept in present
day--and run afoul of their schoolyard bully. In a dash for their
lives, they hole up in an abandoned building only to discover they
are not alone.
The first act of the story took a little
bit in getting off the ground, but it did create an immersive
backdrop and really took off once the story delved back to the
fateful day in Mike's childhood. Perhaps nostalgia was the flypaper
to my buzzing imagination, but whatever the case I was hooked by this
story, as my memories of gallivanting through the woods with friends
flooded back. The boyish mix of naivety and intrepidness came through
with remarkable clarity, to the point that it rivals any Stephen King
yarn like The Body.
If you can get your hands on this one, I
wholly recommend it. As for me, I'll be keeping my eyes open for more
Mark West stories.
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