Extreme Horror At Its Finest

Horror stories have been something I’ve loved for a long time. From the time I was roughly around the age of nine, I’ve felt the need to push myself in the horror stories I’ve consumed. It started with films like Jaws, Jurassic Park, The Exorcist, Halloween, along with many, many other films as the years have gone by. There have also been the many authors of horror fiction that have captured my interest in a vice grip and have yet to let go. You have Richard Matheson, Josh Malerman, Bentley Little, and of course, the master of the macabre, Stephen King. While these authors have left me with a good share of sleepless nights, no book has left me emotionally destroyed and creatively inspired as a writer myself in equal measure like Survivor by the late J.F. Gonzalez.

Discovering the work of J.F. Gonzalez could be a happy little accident of the twisted and morbid variety. In the last year and half reading new books has been tricky for me. Due to some deep personal issues and recent traumatic events, it’s been very hard to find books that will hold my interest. For a reader like me, this has been more than devastating. Books have been my escape, my freedom, my salvation, so not being able to have the inspired reading experience I’ve always had with reading has been heartbreaking. While I scrolled through the algorithms of my Kindle that are flooded with different and at times obscure horror novels, I stumbled upon a book that caught my interest in a way that no other book had for some time. It was Survivor by J.F. Gonzalez, whom I had never heard up. I read the brief description of the story as well as the reviews, and was immediately intrigued. Much like the 2008 French film Martyrs, the reviews for this book indicated an almost infamous reputation for being violent beyond measure. Any fan of horror film and book fan will tell you that when you hear even the slightest murmur of controversy, you want to get your hands on it. So that’s just what I did. What ensued was both the most troubling and exhilarated reading experience I’ve had in years, if not my entire life as a reader.

The novel follows a married couple who become engulfed within a storm of violent madness when the wife is kidnapped by people with the intent of filming her for a violent snuff film. The story plays out everything she sees, experiences, and everything she’ll do in order to survive, as well as save her unborn child, even if it means doing the unthinkable.

Having seen the aforementioned film Martyrs and the reviews for this book, I knew I was in for something intense. This being said, nothing in my wildest imagination could have prepared me for what I read. Gonzalez uses words with the elegance and rhythm of a musician who’s in control of every drumbeat that acts as the heart of his story. His characters are believable, almost to the point of discomfort, mainly for the reason that we’ve all met these characters, we’ve all been these characters, which makes it very easy to put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself “Would I do that if I was in this situation?”. I know these were questions I asked myself. These skills Gonzalez exhibits in this novel are important for counterbalancing the brutal violence that is both depicted in graphic detail as well suggested through the novel.

Without getting into spoilers, there comes a point in the novel where something is implied as with clear cut intention for the act that has been committed that turns the novel into something else, something I can’t describe. It was a moment that left me in a literal state of shock where I gently put down my Kindle, laid down in my bed, and simply stared at the wall beyond, not really seeing it. My mind kept replaying what I had seen in my mind’s eyes. Being a writer of fiction myself, I have a vivid imagination and could see everything that was implied so clearly that it shook me to my core. Much like my first viewing of the film Martyrs, the one thought that kept running through my mind was simple but heavy handed all at once. Dear God, I’ve gone too far. This was a moment where I really thought my love of horror had brought me to a place I never thought I would venture. Where I was literally seeing the depiction of the worst parts of humanity, the parts that no one is able to comprehend, even if you see it in the flesh. I knew I had to finish reading, that much was clear. I needed to know how everything ended, even if I feared what might happen next. So after a much needed week’s break, I picked up my Kindle again, and finished the rest of the novel in two sittings. It is a conclusion that I’m still reeling from, both from the shock, and the immense catharist that came with finishing the book.

As mentioned at the start of this review, the last year and a half has been deeply traumatic, and without question one of the worst times of my life. Without going into details, even the glossed over details that one would think as more palatable, the events of this time in my life have given me a heartbreakingly nihilistic outlook on the world. Where I don’t have much trust in human beings as a whole and have struggled to find the meaning in anything, especially when there is so much suffering that seems to just continue and continue, just when you think you’ve been given a moment to break the surface and take a breath. Reading this book, in many ways mirrored much of the emotional state I’ve been in during my own traumatic events. While the events are vastly different from my own, the emotions and their intensities suffered by each character mirrored much of my own. This made it more than cathartic for me. For lack of a better description, this made it a life altering reading experience.

Gonzalez without question has given us a masterpiece that I wish the world knew more about, one that stands strong above the rest of his peers writing within the horror genre, and has left behind a body of work that I will be delving into, even after the intense experience of reading Survivor. While many other books have been left behind to chill us to the chore, Gonzalez sadly passed away in 2014. In the wake of his death, an effort has been made to re-release his books so the world can discover his work again or for the first time. I only hope with this review, you might take the leap and pick up one of his books, assuming you can brave it.