Book Review: Memorials by Richard Chizmar

Losing his parents sent York College student Billy Anderson into a tailspin. Even though he eventually managed to pull himself together, he can’t help still feeling haunted by their senseless deaths. His dad was a cautious driver but had suddenly veered off the road to crash into a tree near their hometown of Sudbury, Pennsylvania, killing himself and his wife instantly. The entire community, including Billy, mourned.

So when Billy joins an American Studies class and finds himself grouped with Troy Carpenter and Melody Wise, people who’ve also suffered grievous losses in their young lives, the trio quickly bond. Equipped with audio-visual technology considered advanced for 1983, the three of them decide to embark on a class project through central and northwestern Pennsylvania, documenting the makeshift and usually roadside memorials that have spontaneously sprung up to honor the places where people have violently died. Their ostensible goal is to create a documentary focusing, not only on those who lost their lives, but also on the people who built the memorials in their honor. Not so secretly, though, it’s a way for each of the students to work on their ongoing grief.

Their progress quickly starts deviating from their plan, even if that’s not necessarily for the worst. Billy, for example, had originally wanted to stay off-screen but soon realizes that that’s not a reasonable option:

He shakes his head emphatically. “No. It’s gotta be me. My aunt’s tough as nails, but you saw her once the camera turned on. She was a mess. If her interview taught me anything, it’s that I have to be willing to put myself in the story.” He gazes up and down the desolate road. “This part of the film is my story. I have to own that. I can’t expect other people to share what they’ve experienced if I’m not willing to do it myself. I owe them that, at the very least.”

 

“I think we’re just surprised you changed your mind,” Troy says, appearing at Billy’s side. “You were pretty adamant that you didn’t want to be on camera.”

 

“Well, you can thank Aunt Helen for that.” He gives Troy a nudge on the shoulder. “And besides, it’s only this one time. The other intros are all you and Mel.”

The students are grounded enough to fully expect to deal with tragedy and grief on their trip, whether their own or that of their subjects. Melody and Troy, both being people of color, are also prepared to face bigotry. But none of them know what to do when truly creepy things start happening to them. At first, it’s the strangers who show up and take a little too much interest in what they’re doing. Then it’s a weird symbol that keeps appearing when they least expect it. When their efforts are outright sabotaged though, they realize that they’re not just being paranoid. Someone really is out to get them.

Answers seem to lie back in Sudbury, as the friends begin to wonder whom they can believe in and whom they can trust. Worst of all is the sneaking suspicion that what’s menacing them isn’t actually from this world and is very much targeting the three of them for a reason:

I pushed those thoughts away, and they were immediately replaced by the memory of our first interview–Jennifer Harper saying that she often felt her late husband’s presence in the room with her–and what I’d experienced firsthand at Chase’s memorial. That unpleasant sensation had only lasted seconds–and then vanished. My oversized imagination again? A surge of adrenaline from initially stumbling upon the memorial? A genuine presence? But if that was the case, why Chase Harper–a complete and total stranger? And why had it felt so damn awful?

 

“All I can tell you is… we’ve all lost someone close to us,” I finally said, rubbing my forehead with my thumb.

As the wannabe documentarians struggle to figure out who so badly wants to stop their filmmaking, they’ll encounter monstrous, impossible forces. Will they be able to outwit the very mortal mind behind it all, or will they all fall victim to terrors beyond their imagining?

This horror thriller by famed writer Richard Chizmar pulls no punches as it explores 1980s Pennsylvania, deftly showcasing the emotions and conflicts of three college students on a journey that not all of them may survive. The semi-epistolary format of the novel heightens the immersive nature of the narrative, as Billy, Melody and Troy attempt to piece together their fragmented clues in order to unmask and stop whomever is hunting them. The mystery is solidly constructed – I was surprised and impressed at the big reveal – with a bittersweet ending capping this truly chilling tale of mystery and terror.