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Mark Johnston

@mh.johnston

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Reading and writing about monsters
🍁 Winnipeg, on Treaty 1 territory

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Chlorine, by Jade Song

A Chinese-American swimming star struggles with high school and coming of age as her childhood love of mermaids curdles into obsession. So close to the skin you can smell the pool water, with intensely personal, deliberately paced scenes. It has its own particular kind of tension: cold and thick and inevitable, filling your guts like oil.
The narration is excellent, emotional but never hard to follow. The narrator of the letters, in particular, draws out each exquisite pause like a knife. by @mh.johnston

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22 days ago

Congratulations to all the nominees and winners at @manitobabookawards, and thanks to the organizers and donors for bringing new life to the event! Of course, we can all agree the real winner is: me, who won two prizes in the silent auction. Better luck next year, everyone else! by @mh.johnston

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a month ago

Venue 13, by David Jón Fuller

An actor buys a dusty old theatre full of financial problems, technical glitches, and a cantankerous spirit. Not intensely ghost-scary, but taut, satisfying, and deftly told. I was captivated by the monologues, which could stand as short stories on their own—I felt like I was sitting in the audience myself.
This book, particularly the first half, painfully clarified my sense of what scares me. Getting mauled to death by a monster: brief, solves all your other problems, you get to meet a cool monster. Making a mistake and now everything is going wrong and everyone is mad at you: gut-wrenching, my blood pressure still hasn’t recovered.

Pictured: a creepy old building in downtown Winnipeg. by @mh.johnston

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a month ago

Blood Letters, by Ariel Gordon and GMB Chomichuk

Three siblings recruited into a futuristic war tell their stories through letters and arresting, dreamlike illustrations. It’s miserable on the home front and in the hot zone, but the characters’ stubborn refusal to give up on each other keeps the story hopeful. And great monsters: carnivorous mist vs human/machine hybrid war-beasts. Somehow the strange little coda for the lost monsters felt like a gift just for me, fingers brushing my hand. by @mh.johnston

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a month ago

The Saw Mouth, by Cale Plett

A teen loses both parents after a global technological collapse and moves to a small town to find both acceptance and monsters. It’s the kind of post-apocalypse that doesn’t seem so bad, full of new friends and drunk parties. The characters are so vividly, painfully human that you can feel a piece of Plett’s heart beating in each one. I thought the saw-mouth monster was pretty adorable, though. We could hang out.

Pictured: a sliver of grubby lake at the end of a gravel road. by @mh.johnston

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2 months ago

Walking Practice, by Dolki Min; translated by Victoria Caudle

A shapeshifting space alien trapped on Earth prowls dating apps, hunting for both connection and prey. Short, raunchy, blood-soaked. The monster POV is intimate and weirdly, intensely human, half bombastic and half aching. Loved the voice; I was happy to root for the man-eating narrator. by @mh.johnston

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3 months ago

Hidden Creatures, by Dino Martins

Non-fiction this time, but still wonderfully full of monsters, and heartwarmingly genuine in its affection for its gruesome little parasites. Fascinating in a queasy way, and beautifully written, especially when it lingers in a damp sun-dappled forest or a dusty afternoon road. Martins has the heart of a poet and the grin of a seven-year-old going “check out this great bug!”
The author’s narration is an absolute treat: you can hear the delight in his voice start to finish. by @mh.johnston

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3 months ago

The Stars of Mount Quixx, by S. M. Beiko

Two big-city sisters find adventure and self-discovery in a fog-choked town full of mysteries and monsters. I especially dug the side characters in this one. They faked me out with weightless whimsy at first, then each was coloured in with ambition, greed, tragedy, anger, until they wound up as genuine people. Plus a good monster, with a satisfying exploration of what a monster is. by @mh.johnston

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3 months ago

Wearing the Lion, by John Wiswell

It’s the labours of Hercules, except he befriends the monsters instead of fighting them. Love the premise! And Heracles and Hera are deftly written as the twin protagonists, with nice distinctive voices.
In the end, this one wasn’t for me. I found the characters too omnipotent to be interesting, and the plot trundles along without anything really happening. And there’s just. So. Much of it. So much dialogue. So much retreading. So much book. by @mh.johnston

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3 months ago

Someone You Can Build a Nest In, by John Wiswell

A reclusive shapeshifter falls in love with the black-sheep daughter of the noble family that wants her dead. This is my kind of monster POV: a proper monster, meatily embodied, with aren’t-humans-weird asides that don’t slide into sitcom territory. Romance: awkdorably charming. Villains: scenery-chewing and well comeuppanced. If I’m being picky, it’s maybe a little meat-and-potatoes, but it’s still a square meal of a monster story.
The audiobook, though— oof. Definitely listen to a sample first. That weird little CADence. At the end of each SENTence. All through the entire book, droning like a low-grade TOOTHache. Wish I had picked this up in print instead. by @mh.johnston

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5 months ago

Good Dogs, by Brian Asman

A found-family pack of werewolves just trying to stay out of trouble stumble into the lair of something worse. Like a classic monster movie transmuted into a novel: action-y and bloody more than scary, with juicy watch-this set pieces. The werewolf characters are fun, but the wolf-ness is more seasoning than meat; as people, though, they’re nicely fleshed out. The monster is cool, which goes a long way in a monster story. It leaves a faint aftertaste of formula, but it’s good formula.
The narration in the prologue is a hair too breathy to comfortably follow, but it settles down after that. by @mh.johnston

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6 months ago

Slewfoot, by Brom

A pioneer woman caught in an impossible bind between nasty, starchy puritans and earthy nature spirits. The creatures and myths are nicely fleshed out, then twisted together until the climax bursts out and hits you like arterial spray. Lots of good monsters in here, many illustrated with colour prints of the author’s evocative paintings. Look at that fish face guy!
I picked this up on a tip from one of the friendly booksellers at @ravensendbooks, where they know a thing or two about monsters. A photo of the book Slewfoot by Brom. (Turns out Brom is the author’s last name.) The cover has an eerie painting of a woman with the legs of a goat-horse-thing sitting sidesaddle on a broom, looking scornful. by @mh.johnston

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6 months ago