On the Docket: Midnight Picnic by Nick Antosca
Genre: Adult Fiction
Source: Publisher, Word Riot Press
The Publisher’s Plot Blurb:
In the morning, Bram finds the bones of a murdered child. At noon, the murdered child begs for his help. And by nightfall, they have killed a man together and set off into the afterlife, where nothing is what it was, and death is only the beginning of punishment.
An eerie story about the nature of death and the self, Midnight Picnic inhabits an American landscape made strange and unfamiliar. From the author of the cult novel, Fires, Midnight Picnic is a haunting and disturbing experience.
First Impressions: If I were to name a list of writers that I wish were more widely read, I would include Nick Antosca. Midnight Picnic has got to be one of the most creatively and beautifully conceived novels I’ve read in several years. Though the darkly atmospheric nature of this novel may not be for everyone, I was compelled to read about Bram and his adventures in the strange “dead world” where he and Adam search for the young boy’s murderer.
The reader’s introduction to Bram is dark and unrelenting from the get go. We know, from chapter one, that this story is going down a dark but intriguing path:
Bram pulls into the parking lot half asleep and the crunch of gravel under his tires becomes the crunch of bone. Something screams.
The old deerhound that lives at the bar- it’s pouring tonight and he didn’t even see her.
That crunch.
There isn’t a moment of reprieve in Midnight Picnic from the thick, unrelenting sadness that permeates the story, but readers who face the tragedy head on are rewarded with beautiful prose and incredibly touching moments of character development. Slowly, as the story unfolds, with an unusual cocktail of blunt language and intangible philosophy, the reader begins to understand that perhaps the boy, Adam, is not as he seems. He’s manipulative, and driven by tunnel vision, a fragmented version of his former self. Bram, however, maintains his humanity, dignity, and inquisitiveness throughout the novel. He asks all the questions, ones that were popping up in my own mind; unlike some characters, Bram actually voiced all the concerns of the reader.
Beside him the boy sighs, wistful.
“What will you actually do?” Bram asks. “Tell me now, how do you ‘get’ him? What is it you have planned?”
“Something,” the boy says.
“What? What something?”
“Just a thing!”
“Tell me how this is going to happen.”
“Well, we kind of- fight,” the boy says. He makes fists, taps the fists together.
“Fight?” He’s a full grown man. You’re a child. Before, he just stood on you.”
“But now we’re dead- it’s different. And I got you with me.”
Another heartbreaking aspect of this novel is how the two worlds (the dead and the alive) mesh together. Bram, because he is still alive in the “dead world,” a purgatory-like afterlife, is privy to the lives, deaths, and emotional baggage of others when they touch. Two characters of note are Marian and Andrew. While the first broke your heart every moment she graced the novel with her presence, the second provided a momentary but tragic glimpse of life, death, and undeniable cruelty.
One night after Andrew graduated from high school he was driving around with some friends. They drove across the Potomac River into Virginia. Then they all got out of the car, and some of the friends stabbed him, but not fatally. They tried to smother him and he still wouldn’t die. Put him in the trunk of the car. Back to the bridge, the Rt. 17 bridge that crosses the Potomac. Threw him over. A father and a son found his body the next day while fishing.
What kept me captivated was the ongoing philosophy that seemed to bind Bram’s story with that of Adam, Jacob Bunny, Andrew, Adam, Baby, and the other lost souls he encountered. The notion that there is no right or wrong, and that there is only perspective, seems to be the driving force behind this narrative, because everyone’s story was uniquely individual, with tragic circumstances all their own.
Final Verdict: I was immensely captivated and impressed by the quality and originality of this novel. Midnight Picnic will not be forgotten, nor will Bram or Marian. I only wish I could discuss the ending, which is a little puzzling. If you’ve read Midnight Picnic, I would love to hear what you think! An unusual meditation on the nature of death and the afterlife, this book is not to be missed. A philosophy buff would be especially drawn to some of the discussions ignited by Antosca’s narrative.
Death, I’m sure, is a difficult task to tackle in a work of fiction. Have you read any particularly heartbreaking books from this angle?
I have to say, this sounds, well, weird! But also good. I’ll trust you and add it to my wishlist though
It’s very unique. I was very impressed by the quality of the writing!!
Creepy! It sounds really good though, and your review has made me want to read it. Scary cover, too!
Very creepy but very disarmingly charming. I can’t put my finger on it but, sadness aside, it’s a very interesting look at the human experience. The writer got the Shirley Jackson Award for Best
Novella of 2009.