Review: Nevermore Squirrels by Terrance M. Craft

Dark humor with a decidedly animalistic twist makes for a provocative read in Nevermore Squirrels by Terrance M. Craft.

Aval and Evel are vampire squirrels who also happen to be married, with their marriage now dull and insufferable. They’ve degenerated into ordinary commoners, having forsaken their interest in bloodsucking for blood sipping.

Then there’s little Vincety, a small rag doll that can never grow, such that he can ever fulfill his wish to become an ultimate monster of gore. Evel, suffering from maternal qualms and unable to bear children of her own, decides to steal herself a little boy – only to have him resist her at every turn until he finally does the unthinkable…

“Squirrel of Frankstein,” “Bundle of Joy,” “Tye, the Tortured Tarantula,” “Joy of Junk Food,” “Gloomy Sunday,” “See, Hear, Speak with Evil” are just a few of the tantalizing titles given to the twenty-five short stories and a collection of poems that are far more dark than their titles imply. The cute illustrations of the squirrels are deceptive as well, as the book is truly a work of macabre horror.

Nevermore Squirrels is, without a doubt, written well, with the narrative flowing easily and engagingly. Craft states that Nevermore Squirrels is dedicated to “all who are different; who like the strange and not the ordinary,” and his brand of dark humor certainly fits the bill. Dark humor often forces readers to consider new perspectives or, more importantly, creates unsettling feelings or even vestiges of shock and other baser emotions that can shock people out of complacency, and that seems to be intent of this collection.

It’s fair to say that what constitutes offensive to some won’t even make another blink, and the line separating offensive from something that’s not is a very thin line indeed, which is occasionally crossed in Nevermore Squirrels, especially if one goes in expecting lighter fare, as the cover might imply. Arguably, the author is using his humor as a tool to explore serious issues in order to incite serious thoughts in his readers. The imagery of open scalps punctured with nails, eyes that bleed black blood, heads that explode with black goo, head bashing and giving nuns wedgies will work for some readers and not others, but it goes to the limits of horrific imagery.

The dark illustrations, both in subject matter and in presentation, range in scope from innocuous to almost frightening in their intensity and are very well done, complementing each of the respective stories perfectly. Perhaps the fact that Craft has chosen to represent his stories with cartoon characters is the author’s way of conveying some psychological relief from the blood sucking, flesh ripping, bone crushing, pools of blood and scattered limbs populating his stories, but this confusing mix of tones affects the prose as well, as if the book isn’t quite sure of its audience.

Simply stated, there’s nothing ordinary in Craft’s offering of Nevermore Squirrels – but then, it was never meant to be, and it succeeds as being one of the more unique books you will ever read.