Great writing, just ok premise I've said it before and I'll say it again. Ketchum has some of the best and most readable prose that has ever been produced from the Horror genre.
This paperback edition of OLD FLAMES comes with the additional RIGHT TO LIFE, which has been printed elsewhere, but was new to me. So on with the show:
OLD FLAMES is a take on the fatal attraction story, and much like Ketchum's other works, we are dealing with someone who is clearly on the slippery slope to insanity when we first meet them. She is likeable, and we can relate to her current situation. When she decides to pursue her old high school sweetheart, I think anyone who's been burned by love can feel for her attempt to return to the safety of one of her relationships that actually made sense. She refuses to be a victim (shown again in an altercation she gets into at a bar, where she puts her money where her mouth is to a potential assaulter).
Of course where the more mentally unbalanced elements come in is her ferocious drive to see to it that her goal of winning back her ex is accomplished. Fans of Ketchum's extreme horror may be disappointed, but this is still a story that takes a familiar idea and pushes it just a tad over the line of most writers. Not that far by Ketchum standards, but still more than most.
The brisk pace and short length of the story are really in the end the setbacks. At it's length, there is no deep metaphor or theme deconstructed here; merely a straight forward thriller. Something that would make a good episode of an anthology show, but not enough meat for a film. No one can accuse Ketchum of wasting words or dragging his story on, but on the other hand I'd really like Ketchum to build up a rich, complex story that had something larger to say on the human condition. Still, a better than average stalker tale.
RIGHT TO LIFE, as others have said, is on a more familiar theme for Ketchum of torture, humiliation and human confinement. Readers of THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, or several of his shorts that appeared in PEACEABLE KINGDOM will find a story that compliments his other explorations of this particular nasty subject, but on it's own is not something that will go down in history as the end all.
That isn't to say some of the more horrific imagry and descriptions won't stay with you for a bit on a purely visceral level. Once again Ketchum is in his 'one giant leap over the line' element of extreme depravity, and several passages will make you stop and think 'good lord, Ketchum has thought this out pretty well. You sick boy!'. There is something darker to be shown about the heart of man in this story as well. Where a lesser writer would just create a nasty plot to be filled with deranged people doing deranged things, Ketchum has once again struck deeper bedrock in the nature and mental motives of those who are out to fundamentally control others and do what they would like with them. Not merely for the sake of physical pleasure and sadism, but to see another human being mentally broken and completely subjugated.
I found this aspect to be more unsettling than the individual acts of horror themselves, because there are people you walk by every day on the street who have this kind of mentality, and for whatever reason have not yet acted on their impulses and nihilistic life philosphy. Although what was laid out was wrapped up with satisfaction, we really aren't dealing with that complex of a story aside from some briefly touched on elements of the dark side of humanity.
I have no regrets reading this 2 story set. Nothing felt flawed, simply not enough felt built up signifigantly either.
A Mixed Bag Old Flames by Jack Ketchum as a whole is a mixed bag although it is worth buying for the second novella Right To Life. Old Flames contains two novellas. The title story Old Flames and then a second novella Right to Life
Old Flames is a disappointment. Ketchum should have made this story novel length. It's an interesting idea, but he doesn't give it time to develop. It moves along without developing any characters so we don't understand most of the motivations. It then ends to quickly and leaves with a wasted time feeling. This story could have had interesting characters and could have been a fascinating character study of a woman broken too many times, who just wants to have someone who will love her. Alas it is not and does not feel like a true Ketchum story.
The second novella Right to Life is phenomenal. It is a powerful, disturbing, touching, intense, and scary story that you will not be able to put down. What makes this story work so well is that Ketchum mixes horrific moments with deep emotional touching moments. It then becomes a deeply personal story proving that the story is more than just violence upon violence. It's a story of survival, a story of the human spirit enduring hardships. Here Ketchum does what he does best; getting inside the mind of the characters, for this is where his best writing takes place.
So for me this is worth buying for Right to Life, even though Old Flames is disappointing. Right to Life proves that Ketchum is a masterful writer who knows how to scare, disgust, and move the reader within the same story.
2 in 1 The book being sold as OLD FLAMES is actually two novellas, OLD FLAMES and RIGHT TO LIFE. They are both short with RTL being the longer and better story. OF is the story of Dora, an antiques collecter, who has had consistent bad luck with men so hires the Flame Finder company to locate her old high school/college boyfriend. He's married with children and living in LA. Dora wants to see if there is anything left between them and heads out to LA. Events escalate as Dora inserts herself into Jim's family's life and then the story is over far too quickly. This novella certainly needed fleshed out more to make it longer and have a few more events occur. For me it was a bit of Fatal Attraction mixed with Hand That Rocks the Cradle.
Second up is RTL in which Sara and her married lover are on the way to an abortion clinic. While he is parking the car, Sara gets kidnapped outside the clinic that is being protested. Stephen the kidnapper has problems to say the least in which he feels he must be dominant over others and proceeds to torture Sara by confining her in a coffin-like box, shackled to an X-frame he made and beating, whipping, and inflicting other depravities upon Sara. Kath, Stephen's wife, cannot have children so it is the duos intent to have Sara deliver and keep the baby. This story is reminiscent of Ketchum's The Girl Next Door with less details per se.
Overall, both good stories, both could be made into movies but RTL is the better story. Ketchum is a twisted kind of horror writer yet to get the recognition he deserves.
Please Read Before Purchasing This book is very misleading, especially if you purchaser it at a local book store. It IS NOT a new novel, but rather a new 130 page novella packaged with an old Jack Ketchum novella, Right to Life. The book jacket is somewhat misleading, so buyer beware.
But, I don't give this book 2 stars simply because of this. The truth be told, Ketchum's new novella, Old Flames, starts off very slow and boring. It's truly a chore to read.
Here is the opening 20 pages, so you can skip to page 21 without missing anything: Dora and Owen have sex. Owen dumps Dora with a note by the coffeemaker. Dora is angry. Dora meets old friend at bar. They talk. Yada. Yada. Yada.
Absolutely nothing happens in the first 20 pages that is important. It reads like Jack Ketchum was following you around on a bad day and writing about it in his journal.
And speaking of writing, Old Flames is very disjointed and doesn't flow well at all. I am an avid Ketchum reader, and this is the only story I have read by him that was like trudging through molasses in January. The story is dull, and the prose is hard to read. Just no flow.
And what about Right to Life? It's like The Girl Next Door Lite. You're better off purchasing Ketchum's short story collection, Peaceable Kingdom.
A Quick Read! Ketchum has once again created memorable characters and written a super fast read - a couple of hours, at most. This one will definitely make you think twice about any old girlfriends (or boyfriends for that matter) and it will make you hope that they don't decide to track you down. . .
[This book one also includes a bonus novella - Right to Life, which I already own separately, and read years ago.] I can tell you that I still remember that novella memorably, which tells you the power of it!
Anything Goes Trivia
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