In the Light (Skillute Cycle) Paperback – October 12, 2014

I wasn’t planning to read this book right away. There’s a stack of books I’m supposed to read asap. But the package arrived from Amazon while I was on my way out the door, so I took the book with me to the library. I sat down for what I thought would be a few minutes, and I flipped it open just to see how it begins. A little while later it was dark out and I was reading the last page. I should have known better. In the Light is an S.P. Miskowski book and I should know by now that her style is so smooth and engaging that it draws me in with every book and the hours of the outside world (as well as their accompanying deadlines) fly right by while I’m transfixed by the world on the page.In the Light is the last of four books in Miskowski’s The Skillute Cycle, a story of a region in Washington which has been psychically scarred and mirrors that damage to its inhabitants, the characters in the books. I think that any of these stories would read well on their own, but they are certainly enhanced by reading them in order. Each of these: Knock Knock, Delphine Dodd, Astoria, and In the Light, are incredibly captivating atmospheric horror pieces. Miskowski’s prose is so effective and she is so potent at establishing mood and a rising sense of eeriness that although I read In the Light in a public place, the reading area in a library, I had to stop several times and look around and locate the other people to reassure myself that I was there, grounded in reality, and that some nameless evil wasn’t inching ever closer to the back of my neck.I won’t give away the ending, though I will say that some might find it a little abrupt. I would call it a present to those of us that do not like lengthy denouements.I understand that this is the final chapter in the Skillute Cycle. I cannot wait to see what Miskowski writes next.

(copied from Goodreads Nov 11, 2018 review)This is the third, and last novella following the novel Knock Knock in S.P.'s Skillute Cycle. I have read all three back to back and maybe that's why I think this one relies more on knowing the history revealed in the others. I'm sure it can stand on its own but really, once you venture into Skillute you will want to explore the deep roots of the evil that permeates this town and pursues those who live there. In this story that insidious wickedness has gained urban legend status, a story told by local kids to scare their younger brothers and sisters, and newcomers. The problem with local legends is that they take on a Halloween innocence. The more the stories are repeated, the more people forget there is real horror that thrives on being ignored.In the Light adds to the town's history, it provides us some answers, and it poses more questions. I am left wanting more. As soon as another path is offered, I will follow the bread crumbs back to Skillute.

Brilliantly told, devastatingly wonderful and terrible by turns. Miskowski never fails to deliver a good, dark, terrifying tale.

I run the risk of repeating myself when it comes to reviewing this novella. S P Miskowski is an author who really knows her craft and has created a living, breathing community through her series of connected stories, including Knock Knock, Astoria and this instalment, In The Light. Her gift for characterisation and rich background detail not only conveys how intimately she knows her characters, but also paints them so vividly for the reader. We have here that rare combination of portrait and landscape artist who just happens to paint with words instead of oils etc.Much of what I said of Astoria holds true here. The story is a compelling slow-burner, with a pace befitting a sleepy small town atmosphere, but it's not something you want to hurry. Indeed, the only downside is that the endings of both stories for me ran somewhat counter to that slow-burn and by contrast felt too rushed. NB not that the writing was at all rushed, because the care and thought that goes into these tales is consistently in evidence. But once the strands come together it is all too quick that everything is tied up and it's all over too quickly for my tastes.Then again, that's the trouble with a novella. It's just too damned short ;)All in all though, despite that one qualifier, these are so exquisitely drawn once you're through reading you'd ideally like to frame them and hang them in some gallery in the imagination. Somewhere in the Gothic Wing of your personal mind palace.

The last installment of the Skillute Cycle delivered more of the lovely prose I'm used to getting from S. P. Miskowski.This novella elaborates on the story begun in the novel Knock Knock. A tale about small town life, its secrets, its rituals, and its inhabitants. It's good stuff.I like the fact that women play a strong role here too -it put me in mind of Thomas Tryon's Harvest Home-a book I have no qualms recommending, in addition to this one. However, for best results read Knock Knock before In the Light-to properly complete the Cycle. :)I've read a few books from Omnium Gatherum now, and have been impressed with each of them. This one was no exception. The same holds true for S. P. Miskowski's work and I'm excited to see what she does next!Recommended for fans of quieter, literary horror.I was provided a free copy of this novella in exchange for an honest review. This is it.

Another excellent entry in the Skillute Cycle. Miskowski really has a way with bringing her characters to life and intertwining the different storylines. I couldn't put it down.