
The Dead Path by Stephen M. Irwin
Good horror novels must be devilishly hard to write well. There has to be a proper balance between gore and straightforward exposition; between the supernatural and the real; between those who look askance at magic until it is too late, and those who embrace magic regardless of their previous disbelief. Stephen M. Irwin gets the balance just right in his debut novel, The Dead Path.
Nicholas Close becomes enmeshed in the plans of a very, very old witch very early in his life. She has her eye on him because he has a “gift” -- one not realized until his beloved wife dies, but one he cannot escape thereafter. Nicholas can see ghosts. More precisely, he sees the ghosts of people who died violent deaths at precisely the moment of their deaths. And he sees these scenes replayed over and over and over. It’s a wonder he’s not completely insane. Certainly h... Read More