Where the Dead Wait

Last updated

Where the Dead Wait
AllyWilkes WhereDeadWait.jpg
First edition cover
Author Ally Wilkes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Genres
Publisher Atria Books
Publication date
5 December 2023
Media typeHardcover
Pages400
ISBN 978-1-982182-82-3

Where the Dead Wait is a 2023 historical, horror and supernatural novel by English writer Ally Wilkes. It is her second novel and was first published in the United Kingdom in December 2023 by Atria Books, a division of Simon & Schuster. The book's working title was What Passes Through. [1] [2]

Contents

Where the Dead Wait is a polar exploration book set in nineteenth-century Arctic. It is her second polar exploration story, the first being her debut novel, All the White Spaces (2022), which was set in early twentieth-century Antarctica.

Plot summary

Where the Dead Wait alternates between two timelines set in the Arctic Ocean. The first takes place in 1869 where William Day is an officer aboard The Reckoning, a ship searching for a Northwest Passage through the Arctic icepack. When the captain dies from scurvy, Day is forced to take command of the ship. After The Reckoning becomes trapped in the ice and food supplies run out, starvation sets in and the crew start dying. Day, with the backing of his second in command, Jesse Stevens, makes the desperate decision to resort to cannibalism to stay alive. Later, Day, Stevens and some of the other crew, are rescued, but back in London Day is disgraced for losing his ship and sanctioning cannibalism. The British press publish cartoons of Day with the caption "Eat-Em-Fresh Day".

The second timeline takes place in 1882 when Day is instructed by British Admiralty to captain The Resolution and find Stevens. Stevens had set out on another ship to return to the Arctic to locate the Northwest Passage, but had never returned. Day learns that Stevens's wife, Olive, a psychic, had requested the rescue and will be aboard the ship as a passenger to help locate her husband. Day has misgivings about returning to the place he has nightmares about. He also obsesses about Stevens, who Day is secretly in love with. After Olive begins holding séances on the ship to locate the dead, Day begins seeing apparitions of Stevens.

Background

Wilkes said she has always been captivated by the early polar explorations. "[T]here’s just something about the thrilling tales of survival—and hubris—in the days when you could literally travel 'off the edge of the map'." [3] While working on her previous novel, All the White Spaces , which is set in the Antarctica, she discovered that she also wanted to write a companion novel set in the Arctic. [3]

Wilkes began writing What Passes Through in 2019, about three years before All the White Spaces was published. In July 2022, and after several rewrites, What Passes Through was ready for publication, but not before changing the title to Where the Dead Wait. Wilkes and her publisher "realized that the book’s original title just didn’t quite work. It was too oblique, and didn’t really capture the reader’s interest." [3]

Where the Dead Wait deals with, amongst other things, the impact colonialism had on the Arctic and its indigenous inhabitants. Wilkes explained that she worked with a sensitivity reader specializing in historical Inuit-European relations, but added, "while recognizing my own privilege and position as a white British author, I hope I’ve done my best to shine a small light on these areas, too." [3]

Critical reception

A starred review in Publishers Weekly described Where the Dead Wait as "a breathtaking achievement." [4] The reviewer complimented Wilkes on her handling of the book's two timelines, and said she "crafts rich physical and psychological landscapes that deepen her terrifying tale as it barrels toward an unforgettable crescendo. [4] Becky Spratford wrote in Library Journal that Where the Dead Wait's plot develops slowly, and is full of detailed descriptions of the ships, the characters, and the frozen landscapes. She stated that this narrative "mimics both the plight of the crew and the obsession which anchors the terror." [5] Spratford said the book's "intense psychological horror and isolation" will appeal to readers of Alma Katsu's horror novels, and S.A. Barnes's Dead Silence .

Kirkus Reviews had reservations about Where the Dead Wait. It stated that despite its good start, "with raw, energetic prose and a sense of adventure undercut by dread that’s downright thrilling", after not too long, the plot becomes "repetiti[ve]". [6] The reviewer complained that the narrative "turns from chilling to numbing", and the finale's horror "is no longer surprising". [6] In a review of Where the Dead Wait in the New York Journal of Books, John Slayton stated that while the book's premise is "promising", "the overall execution is wanting". [7] He said the story's two timelines "are expertly woven", but the plot "is too thin" and "repetitive", and most of the characters remain underdeveloped. [7] Slayton felt that Day spends "too much time" agonising over his past and obsessing over Stevens, and the story relies too much on the horrors of cannibalism. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Misery</i> (novel) 1987 novel by Stephen King

Misery is an American psychological horror thriller novel written by Stephen King and first published by Viking Press on June 8, 1987. The novel's narrative is based on the relationship of its two main characters – the romance novelist Paul Sheldon and his deranged self-proclaimed number one fan Annie Wilkes. When Paul is seriously injured following a car accident, former nurse Annie brings him to her home, where Paul receives treatment and doses of pain medication. Paul realizes that he is a prisoner and is forced to indulge his captor's whims.

USS <i>Jeannette</i> (1878) American exploration vessel

USSJeannette was a naval exploration vessel which, commanded by George W. De Long, undertook the Jeannette expedition of 1879–1881 to the Arctic. After being trapped in the ice and drifting for almost two years, the ship and her crew of 33 were released from the ice, then trapped again, crushed and sunk some 300 nautical miles north of the Siberian coast. The entire crew survived the sinking, but eight died while sailing towards land in a small cutter. The others reached Siberia, but 12 subsequently perished in the Lena Delta, including De Long.

<i>Draculas Daughter</i> 1936 film by Lambert Hillyer

Dracula's Daughter is a 1936 American vampire horror film produced by Universal Pictures as a sequel to the 1931 film Dracula. Directed by Lambert Hillyer from a screenplay by Garrett Fort, the film stars Otto Kruger, Gloria Holden in the title role, and Marguerite Churchill, and features, as the only cast member to return from the original, Edward Van Sloan – although his character's name was altered from "Van Helsing" to "Von Helsing".

HMS <i>Terror</i> (1813) British warship and polar exploration ship

HMS Terror was a specialised warship and a newly developed bomb vessel constructed for the Royal Navy in 1813. She participated in several battles of the War of 1812, including the Battle of Baltimore with the bombardment of Fort McHenry. She was converted into a polar exploration ship two decades later, and participated in George Back's Arctic expedition of 1836–1837, the successful Ross expedition to the Antarctic of 1839 to 1843, and Sir John Franklin's ill-fated attempt to force the Northwest Passage in 1845, during which she was lost with all hands along with HMS Erebus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tananarive Due</span> American author and educator

Tananarive Priscilla Due is an American author and educator. Due won the American Book Award for her novel The Living Blood. She is also known as a film historian with expertise in Black horror. Due teaches a course at UCLA called "The Sunken Place: Racism, Survival and the Black Horror Aesthetic", which focuses on the Jordan Peele film Get Out.

<i>Sadko</i> (1913 icebreaker) Soviet icebreaker ship

Sadko was a Soviet icebreaker known for its role in scientific expeditions in the Arctic. Built as SS Lintrose in 1913 for ferry service in Newfoundland, she was sold to the government of the Russian Empire in 1915 and renamed Sadko. In Russia, she was used as a freighter in the Arctic before sinking in 1916.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Franklin</span> British explorer (1791–1875)

Jane, Lady Franklin was the second wife of the English explorer Sir John Franklin. During her husband's period as Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land, she became known for her philanthropic work and her travels throughout south-eastern Australia. After John Franklin's disappearance in search of the Northwest Passage, she sponsored or otherwise supported several expeditions to determine his fate.

Cannibalism, the act of eating human flesh, is a recurring theme in popular culture, especially within the horror genre, and has been featured in a range of media that includes film, television, literature, music and video games. Cannibalism has been featured in various forms of media as far back as Greek mythology. The frequency of this theme has led to cannibal films becoming a notable subgenre of horror films. The subject has been portrayed in various different ways and is occasionally normalized. The act may also be used in media as a means of survival, an accidental misfortune, or an accompaniment to murder. Examples of prominent artists who have worked with the topic of cannibalism include William Shakespeare, Voltaire, Bret Easton Ellis, and Herschell Gordon Lewis.

<i>The Merchant Princes</i> Series of novels by Charles Stross

The Merchant Princes is a science fantasy and alternate history series of nine novels by British writer Charles Stross. In the series, there exists a number of parallel worlds all of which are on the same geographical Earth, but with different societies at different points of development. Members of a certain bloodline can travel between these worlds along with their immediate possessions. The series largely follows Miriam Beckstein, a technology journalist raised in a familiar "normal" Earth, who discovers she was born in a parallel world and is a member of this bloodline. She quickly becomes entangled in political maneuvering and assassination plots with her estranged family. Miriam uses modern technology and investigative journalism to attempt to stay a step ahead.

<i>The Terror</i> (novel) 2007 novel by Dan Simmons

The Terror is a 2007 novel by American author Dan Simmons. It is a fictionalized account of Captain Sir John Franklin's lost expedition, on HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, to the Arctic, in 1845–1848, to locate the Northwest Passage. In the novel, while Franklin and his crew are plagued by starvation and illness, and forced to contend with mutiny and cannibalism, they are stalked across the bleak Arctic landscape by a monster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franklin's lost expedition</span> British expedition of Arctic exploration

Franklin's lost expedition was a failed British voyage of Arctic exploration led by Captain Sir John Franklin that departed England, United Kingdom, in 1845 aboard two ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, and was assigned to traverse the last unnavigated sections of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic and to record magnetic data to help determine whether a better understanding could aid navigation. The expedition met with disaster after both ships and their crews, a total of 129 officers and men, became icebound in Victoria Strait near King William Island in what is today the Canadian territory of Nunavut. After being icebound for more than a year Erebus and Terror were abandoned in April 1848, by which point two dozen men, including Franklin, had died. The survivors, now led by Franklin's second-in-command, Francis Crozier, and Erebus's captain, James Fitzjames, set out for the Canadian mainland and disappeared, presumably having perished.

<i>Tanar of Pellucidar</i> 1928 Book by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Tanar of Pellucidar is a novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the third in his series set in the interior world of Pellucidar. It first appeared as a six-part serial in The Blue Book Magazine from March–August 1929. It was first published in book form in hardcover by Metropolitan Books in May 1930.

<i>Skulduggery Pleasant</i> Irish young adult novel series

Skulduggery Pleasant is a series of dark fantasy novels written by Irish author Derek Landy. Tom Percival is the series' illustrator. The books revolve around the adventures of fledgling detective Valkyrie Cain and her mentor Skulduggery Pleasant, along with other friends and allies. The central story concerns Valkyrie's struggle to stop evil forces threatening the world and her internal struggle to resist the darkness within.

<i>The Rise of Endymion</i> 1997 science fiction novel by Dan Simmons

The Rise of Endymion is a 1997 science fiction novel by American writer Dan Simmons. It is the fourth and final novel in his Hyperion Cantos fictional universe. It won the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, and was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1998.

<i>Adam Binder</i> series Series of urban fantasy novels by David R. Slayton

The Adam Binder novels are a series of urban fantasy novels by David R. Slayton. The series consists of three novels, White Trash Warlock (2020), Trailer Park Trickster (2021) and Deadbeat Druid (2022). The novels received critical praise for their depiction of poverty, LGBT issues, and family relationships in the setting of urban fantasy novels.

<i>All the White Spaces</i> 2022 novel by Ally Wilkes

All the White Spaces is an alternate history, horror and supernatural novel by English writer Ally Wilkes. It is her debut novel and was first published in the United Kingdom in January 2022 by Titan Books. It is about a trans man who joins an expedition to Antarctica in 1920, where he is tormented by supernatural apparitions.

<i>The Cottingley Cuckoo</i> 2021 novel by A. J. Elwood

The Cottingley Cuckoo is an urban fantasy and horror novel by A. J. Elwood, pen name of English writer Alison Littlewood. It was first published in the United Kingdom in April 2021 by Titan Books. The book was inspired by the 1920 Cottingley fairy photographs, and is about Rose, a caregiver at the Sunnyside Care Home in the 2020s who is shown letters by a resident that were written in the 1920s soon after the fairy photographs were published. In the letters, the author claims to have also seen fairies, and maintains that he has proof of their existence.

Gemma Amor is a British author of horror fiction, podcaster, and illustrator. She has written two collections of short stories, five novels, and edited a collection of stories. Amor co-wrote Calling Darkness and has contributed to other podcasts including The NoSleep Podcast and Shadows at the Door.

Ally Wilkes is an LGBTQ English author of horror novels and short stories. She also writes under the name A. V. Wilkes. Wilkes studied law at the University of Oxford and practised as a criminal barrister for eleven years. She currently lives in Greenwich, London.

<i>Witch King</i> (novel) 2023 fantasy novel by Martha Wells

Witch King is a 2023 fantasy novel by Martha Wells. It is the author's first fantasy novel in more than ten years, following the publication of her science fiction Murderbot series.

References

  1. Ladzinski, Jo (25 January 2022). "Author to Author with Ally Wilkes (All the White Spaces)". Jo Writes Fantasy. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  2. Rees-Thomas, David (August 2021). "Author Spotlight: Ally Wilkes". Nightmare Magazine . No. 107. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Brewer, Robert Lee (6 December 2023). "Ally Wilkes: On the Difficulty of the Second Novel". Writer's Digest . ISSN   0043-9525 . Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  4. 1 2 "Where the Dead Wait". Publishers Weekly . Vol. 270, no. 42. 16 October 2023. ISSN   0000-0019. ProQuest   2876109315 . Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  5. Spratford, Becky (1 October 2023). "Where the Dead Wait". Library Journal . New York City: Media Source Inc. ISSN   0363-0277 . Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  6. 1 2 "Where the Dead Wait". Kirkus Reviews . Vol. XCI, no. 21. 1 November 2023. ISSN   1948-7428. ProQuest   2883232815 . Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  7. 1 2 3 Slayton, John. "Where the Dead Wait: A Novel". New York Journal of Books. Retrieved 5 February 2024.