The Return by Bentley Little

Bentley Little is one of those writers I found while browsing at Half-Price Books. One of his short stories, The Washingtonians, has been adapted for the Showtime Masters of Horror series. It’s one I enjoyed quite a bit actually, and because of that, I put him on my regular list for the used bookstore browsing. The first round, The Walking, I didn’t like much, but each book I have read has gotten better. Either that or I have gotten used to the very bizarre machinations of some of his plots.

The Return tells the story of the Mogollon Monster, an ancient Bigfoot type creature that was made up to scare the Boy Scouts camping out in Arizona campgrounds. It is supposed to be just a tall tale, a campfire ghoul, but then an archeological excavation starts digging up unusual Anasazi artifacts. Artifacts like a figurine of a screaming woman, pottery shards that show the houses and people involve din the dig, bones that are unclassifiable and misshapen. Suddenly, Anasazi artifacts start dancing and moving in museums, regular townspeople start returning to the basic instincts of violence and survival at all costs, and a few of the people on the dig start wondering how much truth there is in legend and how in the world you stop a legend turned real.

The Return involves most of the Bentley Little trademarks. It takes place in the Southwest, ancient evils are involved, and the protagonist is a regular guy who stumbles upon the weird goings on. There are sections of extreme gore, and people acting in extremely violent ways. It’s all a little familiar, but different enough that it’s interesting. The plot is creative, the main characters likable, and the mystery intriguing enough to keep you guessing how it will be wrapped up.

I liked The Return. I wouldn’t rank it at the top of Bentley Little’s work, that would be The Collection, The Revelation, or The House, but if you are a horror fan, think of Bentley Little as a Clive Barker lite.

Rating: 3 ½ stars