A campy new gothic mystery-thriller that draws inspiration from Agatha Christie and Stephen King will suck you in, making the book impossible to put down. When it comes to the best authors of the 20th century, Agatha Christie and Stephen King are two of the most commonly listed names in genre fiction.
Christie’s deceptively simple writing style allows general audiences to access complex and innovative storylines that explore morality and the human condition. Meanwhile, the King of Horror has over sixty books under his belt across multiple genres, and he takes a more overtly literary approach in his prose. His stories take a deep interest in his characters’ psychology and explore major themes such as mental health, addiction, and prejudice. They helped revolutionize their genres, and now campy books are taking inspiration from the authors.
Campy books have been unfairly maligned, especially by the academic world, as less valuable in the same way genre fiction is seen as inferior to literary fiction. Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, they lean into over-the-top genre tropes instead of taking a grounded approach. However, plenty of books are great because they embrace camp, and The Library After Dark, which released earlier in the summer, is a perfect example.
The Library After Dark Leans Into the Campiness Of Mystery & Gothic Horror
In The Library After Dark, a bookseller named Aria and her date, Jasper, go on an after-hours tour of the haunted Daedalus Library in New York City to see a cursed 18th-century fairytale manuscript called The Dark Hearth Tales get rebound. Five other guests accompany them on the tour. However, everything goes horribly awry when the automatic doors malfunction, locking them inside with a killer. They must survive the night while facing their deep dark secrets in the labyrinth-like library, which seems determined to take them out.
The story hook is as absurd as it is captivating. There’s a pretty low likelihood that a haunted murder library, constructed on the former site of a mental hospital, would exist, let alone a bunch of people going there in the middle of the night to see the rebinding of a legendary book and getting trapped inside with a killer. Everything from the language to the many plot twists is melodramatic, with a dash of dark humor thrown in for good measure.
The cast includes characters from wildly different backgrounds who mostly wouldn’t associate with each other on a typical day-to-day basis. However, they have to because they’re locked inside a library with a killer and have to survive the night. In true Agatha Christie style, everyone has secrets that could make them the murderer.
Like the Overlook Hotel, the Daedalus Library feels like a villainous character, complete with a detailed backstory and sinister intentions. This is a beloved part of gothic horror, in particular. However, the Daedalus also features cartoonishly exaggerated elements such as death masks, gargoyles, hidden passageways, books bound in human skin, a guillotine, and an entire room full of toxic books. Every part of the setting feels theatrical. On top of that, The Library After Dark features gory and creative deaths with hyperspecific murder weapons that are both laughable and shocking.
The Fairy Tale Twist Makes The Library After Dark More Gripping
The Library After Dark would already be a compelling selection based on its locked-door, gothic-horror premise, but one unique element makes the story even more gripping. The book blurs the line between fantasy and reality, evoking the dark and enchanting feeling of old fairy tales. The library setting already creates an air of magic and escapism because a thousand different worlds exist within the books. The shadowy corridors and hidden passageways feel like they could exist in a gothic castle. Additionally, each room has an immersive theme, as if it’s the setting of a separate fairy tale.
On top of that, writer Ande Pliego intersperses the chapters with excerpts from The Dark Hearth Tales. The old tales shared aren’t random or out of place. Instead, the actual story mirrors the horrors laid out in the manuscript, creating the sense that the events of The Library After Dark were written in stone long ago. Every death was foretold. Every twist was decided long before the group ever set foot in the library.
Ultimately, The Library After Dark uses an interesting concept, genre-blending, and camp to craft your perfect next read. If you are interested in exploring the title further, Penguin Random House has published an excerpt. The book can be purchased in print, ebook, or audiobook formats. Also, make sure to check your local library to see if they have a copy available to borrow.