I have been an Elizabeth Yon fan ever since I read her short story in the compilation Echoes in Darkness. Now she has a book out all her own, and it is an atmospheric feast. Blackfern Girls stands as a testament to Yon’s ability to create a world which surrounds you in total macabre believability. As you read the four stories that make up this collection, you are drawn into the characters, the stories, and the overall feel of what is going on in this haunted rural area.
The delectable stories in Blackfern Girls range from the slightly creepy to the totally unnerving. What they have in common is not only a regional basis, but an expert’s characterization and world building. You will be drawn in by sweet little girls only to be repulsed back by their seeming evil. The shock of the evil would not be possible if you failed first to believe in the innocence. You will start to agree with a disbeliever, only to be shocked at the depth of her belief. Again and again, what you have come to understand will be turned on its ear.