Strangewood (43 page)

More interestingly, though, the novel shows how children
read sinister import into apparently safe and innocent tales — and the
attraction that inevitably results. I myself had a picture book as a child that
depicted a smiling moon that terrified me. I was afraid of the book but I loved
it, and I returned to it again and again and again. Stephen King touched on
this subject very effectively in
Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands
, where
a sentient train from one of the characters’ childhood books appears to him as
an adult, with all of its previously implied sinister attributes made manifest.
Golden does the same thing here, just as effectively, showing us the mind’s
dark twist on a happy fictional land, where familiar characters do unfamiliar
things, and loyalties are not what one would have thought.

This is where the actions of those religious wackos come
into play, for Golden makes a powerful argument for the necessity of fantasy.
Children
need
imagination, they
need
magic, and, yes, they
need
to be scared. And if they can’t find what they need in existing pictures or
text, well, then they’ll read it into characters and landscapes where it isn’t
(A side note: it always amazes me that some people who call themselves
Christians can be so shaky in their convictions that they honestly believe
their children will eschew the teachings and values that have been ingrained in
them since birth after reading one book. Don’t they have more faith in their
religion that that? Don’t they have more faith in their kids?).

Strangewood
contains a hint of
The Talisman
,
as well as nods to Stephen Donaldson’s Thomas Covenant novels. The Fisher King
motif so prevalent in alternate world fantasies also gets a good workout. But,
ultimately, it is the strength of Golden’s own voice and his creation of
believably complex characters that carry the novel and give it its power. I
never do this, but the first time I read the book, I actually found myself
looking ahead at one point to learn whether a particular character made it out
of a scrape alive. I cannot give higher praise than that — breaking my
own reading habits because I was so involved with the story — and I
salute Golden for being able to make me do such a thing.

Strangewood
is a wonderful book, a significant
achievement by a talented writer whose pro-imagination message could not be more
timely. Or timeless.

Bentley Little

2006

This one was a long time in coming. Thanks, of course, to my
wife, Connie, and to my sons, Nicholas and Daniel. To my agent, Lori Perkins,
for her faith and perseverance. To my editor, Laura Anne Gilman. To my mother,
Roberta Golden Poulos, for believing.

Thanks, also, to Tom Sniegoski, for some wonderfully absurd
and invaluable contributions, and to Lucy Russo, José Nieto, Bob Tomko, Jeff
Mariotte, Craig Shaw Gardner, and Lisa Clancy. To Dr. Brian M. Golden and Dr.
F. Paul Wilson, for answering silly questions, to Clive Barker for his
inspiring words on creation, and to Hank Wagner, with whom I was speaking when
this story first occurred to me.

CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN is the award-winning, New York Times
bestselling author of such novels as
Of Saints and Shadows
,
The Myth
Hunters
,
The Boys Are Back in Town
, and
Strangewood
. He has
also written books for teens and young adults, including
Soulless
,
Poison
Ink
, and
The Secret Journeys of Jack London
, co-authored with Tim
Lebbon. His current work-in-progress is
Cemetery Girl
, a graphic novel
trilogy collaboration with Charlaine Harris.

A lifelong fan of the “team-up,” Golden frequently
collaborates with other writers on books, comics, and scripts. He has
co-written three illustrated novels with Mike Mignola, the first of which,
Baltimore,
or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire
, was the launching pad for
the Eisner Award-nominated comic book series,
Baltimore
. With Thomas E.
Sniegoski, he is the co-author of the book series
Magic Zero
and
The
Menagerie
, as well as comic book miniseries such as
Talent
,
currently in development as a feature film. With Amber Benson, he co-created
the online animated series
Ghosts of Albion
for the BBC.

As an editor, he has worked on the short story anthologies
The
New Dead
,
The Monster’s Corner
, and
British Invasion
, among
others, and has also written and co-written comic books, video games,
screenplays, and a network television pilot. Golden was born and raised in
Massachusetts, where he still lives with his family. His original novels have
been published in more than fourteen languages in countries around the world. Please
visit him at
http://www.ChristopherGolden.com
.

Official Website

http://www.ChristopherGolden.com

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Strangewood

Straight On 'Til Morning

The Ferryman

The Boys Are Back in Town

Wildwood Road

The Secret Backs of Things

The Shell Collector

Bloodstained Oz
[w/James A.
Moore]

The Seven Whistlers
[w/Amber
Benson]

The Ocean Dark
[As Jack
Rogan]

The Collective
[As Jack
Rogan]

Baltimore, or The Steadfast Tin
Soldier and the Vampire
[w/Mike Mignola]

Joe Golem and the Drowning City
[w/Mike Mignola]

Father Caetano’s Puppet Catechism
[w/Mike Mignola]

THE VEIL

The Myth Hunters

The Borderkind

The Lost Ones

THE HIDDEN CITIES

Mind the Gap
[w/Tim Lebbon]

The Map of Moments
[w/Tim
Lebbon]

The Chamber of Ten
[w/Tim
Lebbon]

The Shadow Men
[w/Tim Lebbon]

THE SHADOW SAGA

Of Saints and Shadows

Angel Souls and Devil Hearts

Of Masques and Martyrs

The Gathering Dark

Waking Nightmares

THE MENAGERIE

The Nimble Man
[w/Tom
Sniegoski]

The Tears of Furies
[w/Tom
Sniegoski]

Stones Unturned
[w/Tom
Sniegoski]

Crashing Paradise
[w/Tom
Sniegoski]

GHOSTS OF ALBION

Astray
[w/Amber Benson]

Initiation
[w/Amber Benson]

Accursed
[w/Amber Benson]

Witchery
[w/Amber Benson]

THE WAKING

Dreams of the Dead
[As Thomas
Randall]

Spirits of the Noh
[As Thomas
Randall]

A Winter of Ghosts
[As Thomas
Randall and Christopher Golden]

WANT MORE

CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN?

VISIT HIM AT:

http://www.ChristopherGolden.com