The Night of Turns

 

The Night of Turns by Edita Bikker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Labelling Bikker's The Night of Turns as simply "Folk Horror" does the work a dis-service. Yes, it is that, and you will find a few familiar tropes and an atmosphere that hews closely to other works of folk horror ("The Wicker Man" and "Wakewood" I am looking directly at you). But this novel is much more than that.

The story is told from the point of view of an outsider who is taken into the caravan-community known as the Caravan of the Burnt Woman, one of many caravans who travel "the path" and who play "The Game of the Goose". All of these terms are important, all are part of the weave of the rich culture that Bikker (which I strongly suspect is a pseudonym) helps the reader seep into. One becomes indoctrinated, through shock and sympathy, to the intricate, unarguably logical world that is overseen by the mystical, alien entity known as "The Beekeeper".

But readers of a modern civilized bent must question and test the logic of this world against the logic of their own. At times, Bikker's insight into our modern, individualist, capitalist society, one based on loss of the past and hope in the future, seems incontrovertibly convincing. But the price, the sacrifice required to embrace these seemingly logical "truths," might be too much to swallow. If nothing else, readers who pay close attention to the unfolding arguments (sometimes stated blatantly, other times seeping into the readers awareness through subtle plot turns and dialogue) must question their own assumptions about how societies work and how they ought to work.

To call this work "horrific" or "idyllic" over-simplifies the complexity of the psychological and sociological events that take place. This is not a place of easy answers. Even the conclusions that the narrator comes to have a distant hint of doubt nested within them; but this should not come as a surprise when one considers that the society in which she is being indoctrinated eschews "safety" as a thing to be avoided for the sake of the community. And if that last statement feels confusing and, perhaps, intriguing, this gives the potential reader all the more reason to read the work and, more importantly, ruminate on what it is saying.

This is not your "typical" Folk Horror novel, but an intelligent exploration of what it means to be an individual, of what it means to be a part of a community, of the place hope has in the individual psyche, and of our embracing of the safe and the secure. It's a many-layered mental/emotional/philosophical exercise in the guise of horror; rewarding, yet painful. Like any good exercise, it is well worth the pain.

View all my reviews

__________

If you like my writing and want to help out, ko-fi me at https://ko-fi.com/forrestaguirre. Every little bit is seen and appreciated! Thank you!

__________