Road of Bones by Christopher Golden
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Felix Teiglund is a documentary filmmaker. Along with his camera operator and close friend, Jack Prentiss, he sets out to Siberia for their latest project.
Their plan is to film along the Kolyma Highway, a 1200-mile stretch of roadway known as the Road of Bones, due to bodies that lie underneath it; unfortunate souls who died during their labors and were plowed over where they fell.
It’s one of the coldest places on Earth, but in spite of that, there are small communities that still exist along the road.
Teig and Prentiss are in search of a ghost story and this seems like the perfect place to capture one. How cold could it possibly be anyway?
It turns out, pretty freaking cold. Nonetheless, Teig and Prentiss are determined. They need to make this work. There’s a lot riding on this project.
They have a great rental truck, made for these conditions, and a capable local Yakut guide and translator, Kaskil. They’ve set themselves up well, but in these conditions anything can happen.
As the men slowly make their way to their final destination, Kaskil’s native community of Akhurst, they stop along the way at a small roadside bar for some rest and food.
There they have the best reindeer burgers ever and are feeling confident and happy as they depart for the last stretch of their journey.
Not long after, they come across a broken down SUV. A young woman, Nari, who Teig had noticed back at the bar is stranded.
Obviously, they cannot leave her there. She would certainly freeze to death before too long. It’s at that point, the trio becomes a quartet.
Arriving in Akhurst, Teig and Prentiss just get settled into their accommodations when they hear a disturbance outside.
It’s Kaskil. Something is wrong. He tells them that the settlement is abandoned. Everyone is gone. They just up and left. His whole family, gone. Doors left open, dinners still sit on tables, footprints in the snow; some indicating that some people were barefoot.
What the hell happened here?
There must be some sort of explanation. Teig and Prentiss agree to help him and Nari search. They find no one except Kaskil’s nine-year old niece, who is catatonic.
Then absolute hell breaks loose. The travelers are forced to flee the settlement, fearing for their lives and something that defies all explanation is following them.
Road of Bones is an intense and horrifying story. I had such a fun experience reading this one, staying up way past my bedtime in order to finish it.
I really enjoy Nature Horror, or Eco-Horror, as well as Folk Horror and to me, Christopher Golden was giving me all of that in spades. The way this was told, it was so well done. My anxiety was definitely super high after the showdown at Akhurst.
I loved getting to know the characters, particularly Teig, and the setting was absolute perfection. I was so cold. I kept having to turn up my heat and I’m totally serious about that.
It was unnervingly realistic, the dangers of the road. That alone would have been anxiety-inducing enough, but then the parnee, an animistic shaman, and other forest spirits get thrown in, holy smokes!! It was freaking intense!!
Golden really did a great job working his way through this one. In some Eco-Horror, or Folk Horror, I have read in the past, I’ve had a difficult time deciphering what the author was trying to get across. I had no problems here.
There was a point behind it and I could picture it all perfectly. I loved the ending, Golden didn’t pull any punches, but it still left me with a feeling of hope, which sounds really strange, yet it’s true.
I also feel intrigued to learn a bit more about Siberian legends and folklore now, so that’s an added bonus.
Thank you so much to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review.
This was a perfect Winter read for me. I may even read it again next Winter!!
❄️🦌🖤🐺❄️🦌🖤🐺❄️🦌🖤🐺❄️🦌🖤🐺❄️