Noctuidae (Book)
MF Wahl
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Written by
Published by King Shot Press
Noctuidae by Scott Nicolay is a dark story of magical realism following a group of hikers. Ron, Sue-Min, and Pete set out on a hikers’ double-date that quickly goes awry. Pete, a creeper in every sense of the word, failed to actually bring a date along. He and Ron, his BFF, soon leave Sue-Min, Ron’s girlfriend, playing the part of third wheel. Forced to go off-plan, the hikers venture into territories unknown.
This novella was an easy, quick read, and the hundred or so pages went by too quickly. The author has a talent for building tension and knows when it’s best to leave things to the reader’s imagination. It’s a dark tale, with decided horror elements. Tame enough for the feint of heart, but with enough edge for die-hard horror fans.
Noctuidae probes the reader’s very instincts of fear with a horror-tinged fantastical narrative. It also plays with the tangible real-life monsters that lurk beneath the guise of friends and acquaintances. These two elements complement each other perfectly, raising the stakes in the story to spectacular heights.
Nicolay is an author brimming with raw talent, and although this is plainly obvious in Noctuidae, his writing is not without flaw. My first bone of contention is the lack of traditional quotation marks. For reasons beyond my understanding, Nicolay has forsaken the tried and true in favor of a system of quotation em dashes. Although quotation dashes are common in other cultures, with a few notable exceptions, it’s generally not seen in English writing.
While experimentation is key to innovation, such a break from common format should be for a good reason. To me, the dashes in lieu of quotations gave the read a muffled feeling — as though the characters weren’t actually speaking, but rather thinking their dialogue. I kept expecting to discover that this was all a dream or some psychedelic experience. This is because in English writing em dashes signal a pause to the reader. To have a pause and dialogue denoted at once is tricky to a brain adapted to quotation marks. Other readers may have a different experience, but I for one didn’t see the point of such blatant deviation from standard story formatting. It’s a stylistic choice I can’t get behind for this book.
In terms of story and character, I didn’t find any of the characters, especially Pete, to be particularly believable. It was hard for me to imagine that these people would act the way they did in the situation they were in — even if one was an innate dickhead. It didn’t seem authentic. Although the situation around the characters is beautifully weaved, they are an area that could be improved.
Despite my perceived flaws with the characters, I would have loved to have read more of this story. A testament to how good Nicolay at his craft. It’s also a double-edged sword. I really enjoyed what there was of this story, but it’s short and feels decidedly unfinished. It seems like a first act, setting up bigger and greater things, but those things never materialize, leaving us with the reader’s equivalent of “blue balls”.
Noctuidae is well worth the read, and despite its shortcomings, it’s a story I enjoyed quite a bit. I actually hope to see the author expand on this idea and pen an entire novel based on this story.
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