by Ronald Malfi
Snow is the tale of a small group of survivors trying to fight off an invasion from unknown creatures that appear to be made of snow. The plot is something of a standard (almost a cliche), but the unique monster made this worth reading.
The monsters of Snow come in a few different shapes and sizes. At first, the creatures appear as nothing more than swirls of snow, almost indistinguishable from the rest of the storm. The only way to spot them is to look for patches of snow moving against the wind or try to spot the silver filaments at the center of the creatures. At times, the snow solidifies to create bladed arms, which are then used primarily as weapons. The snow monster is weak against fire. When exposed to fire, the creatures take on a solid form which is described as rubbery, pale, thin (its bones press against its skin visibly) and having only a single eye. In some sequences, the overall shape is described as resembling a manta ray. The creatures are capable of flight, and can join together to form a giant worm-like creature.
But apparently all that neat, unique, interesting stuff wasn't enough, so they threw in a horde of zombies too. I know, I know. I'm supposed to be the zombie fan, and I am. The sequence at the beginning of part two, where Shawna fights her way up the stairs, only to meet a horde of them at the top was an great chapter. Excellent zombie scene. But it didn't belong in a snow monster story. Neither, for that matter, do the strange no-face children.
A further word on the no-face children. I cannot quite fathom how, or why, the children's faces disappear, or why the monsters keep infesting children even after they learn they won't be able to eat in that form (which is supposedly the goal of the whole affair). The given explanation doesn't really provide any indication of how the children grow extra skin - and none of the other creatures endure any physical change as a result of the possession. It was a creepy visual, certainly - but every time it was mentioned I got pulled out of the story wondering how that could physically occur.
The setting was well described and even though it was playing with a familiar trope in the 'rag tag group of survivors' genre, the writing was well done and carried me into the story well. I read this early in the semester, and again before posting, and both times it was a fairly quick read. The zombies were more of an issue the second go-around, but both times I liked the natural progression of the story and rooted for the protagonist, despite his faults. This is the first title I read by Malfi - I recently purchased and read 'After the Fade', a novella he published in 2012. In it, strange monsters invade a small town and turn the population into zombies. Go figure.
I agree with you about the mechanics of the no-face kids. While it's certainly a creepy concept that most people latch onto as the scariest aspect of the whole thing, the actual reason why their faces lose their features doesn't make sense, when there is no visible changes at all to the adults. Maybe the snow monsters trigger some kind of weird skin growth hormone that since they attack through the shoulders makes the skin of the head grow profusely. Hah, who knows?
ReplyDeleteMaybe this whole book is about triggers moreso than a literal monster story. Think about all the elements smooshed together and how incongruous they seem to be (bad weather, zombies, faceless kids, aliens), but the common thread is that each thing is a terror trigger. Makes me wonder if there's a real and meta goal with this story: real goal is the literal story element, wherein perhaps the aliens wanted to test humans' capacity for fear. Meta goal is as a storyteller for Malfi to see just how much insanity he could throw at readers in one book, to test the READERS' capacity for fear.
ReplyDeleteLook for Malfi's THE FLOATING STAIRCASE. No zombies. It's more of a psychological horror/ghost tale--admittedly, more my usual taste than SNOW--and really got under my skin, the way a true horror story should. The faceless children creeped me out more than anything else in the book, and it didn't bother me that they weren't explained. But, like too much of the rest of the story, in the end they felt like more special effects. Special effects are fun, but seldom scare me.
ReplyDeleteYeah, they didn't explain the faceless kids as well as they should have. I'm still not entirely sure whether the monsters stay in them or not.
ReplyDeleteI think it would have been much more interesting if Malfi had focused on the snow monsters in their normal form, and only had them use their human "skin-suits" occasionally.
I agree with you and what everyone else has said about the faceless children. I also agree with you about the zombies. The opening scene was a great zombie scene, but it was completely out of place, like many elements of this book. I think the book would've worked better if Malfi chose to focus on one terror trigger rather than touch upon several.
ReplyDeleteHmmm. Maybe the fact the children grew skin bubble faces means the skin suits aren't actually killed outright by possession. After all, dead bodies don't undergo cell decision. And that adds a whole level of awful to the survivors situation. I also wonder why they seem to need to enter through the shoulders. What's so special about the shoulders?
ReplyDeleteAmber, I wondered the same thing about the shoulders. I just pictured it like putting on a hospital gown, where you slide it up your arms and tie it in the back. Or like those old monster suits where you can see the zipper in the back
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