NOW AVAILABLE
My name is Cyn and if you haven't figured it out already- I LOVE books/reading. Especially HORROR.
I featured this book about a month ago because that title kind of unsettled me. I think it's that word...hobgoblin...as I previously mentioned, it has AMZAING reviews.
I'd like to thank the author for reaching out to me so I could feature both him & his book today- not to mention putting the book in the mail so I could read & review in the very near the future.
Plus look at that AMAZING sale price and terrifying cover and what others are saying:
The Hobgoblins of Little Minds is on sale for .99 cents! And I’m here to spread the words and say a few words. Thank you, Cyn, for letting me do so.
The novel takes place in a true setting near my home in metro Detroit called Northville Psychiatric Hospital. The abandoned was a legendary locale for trespassers, particularly the underground tunnels that connect the multiple buildings of the huge compound.
Kori Persephone Driscoe’s mentally ill father disappeared after being treated at the asylum. Kori trespasses inside, seeking solace and traces of his memory, but instead finds horrific truth—A roque psychiatrist has been turning patients into savage, manic creatures who seek justice under the light of the full moon.
The novel features mental illness, particularly bipolar disorder, in a stark and stunning manner. It tells a story in a way that only horror can.
What is it like to live with a mental illness like bipolar disorder? The racing thoughts. The mood swings. The flurry of energy and euphoria that comes with mania, and the often-ensuing crash into a cold debilitating depression.
And what is it like to be their loved one, where at times you have to gauge the temperature of their mood before you know how you are supposed to feel. And why is there not more effective ways of treating this condition?
The best way to tell dark truths is through a work of horror, where external monsters often match internal battles. Hobgoblin of Little Minds uses the Werewolf trope as a metaphor for mood swings. My hope here is to give empathy, depth, and a richness to mental illness by using metaphors that aren’t that far from the truth, just truth greatly exaggerated. In the novel, those who suffer from bipolar are both blessed and cursed with their symptoms and are failed by those who are supposed to help them.
Mania is both a devastating but extraordinary condition.
In the powerful memoir, An Unquiet Mind, Kay Redfield Jamison explains: “My manias, at least in their early and milder forms, were absolutely intoxicating states that gave rise to great personal pleasures, an incomparable flow of thoughts, and a ceaseless energy that allowed the translation of new ideas into paper and projects. Medications not only cut into these fast-flowing, high-flying times, they also brought with them seemingly intolerable side effects.”
Worth noting that the Jamison does go on to espouse the life-saving value of medications, despite these side effects.
I have witnessed and experienced the life-improvement that can come from finely tuned medications and mental health counseling. But those who take psychotropic meds often feel they are losing themselves even as the devastating symptoms are alleviated. Rather than seen as an act of self-care—which I feel it is— to take medications can cause feelings of inferiority. Even when medications are at their most effective, it can feel dehumanizing, and to cease medications can feel an act of bravery. As much as that’s a false belief, we need to understand that rather than demonize it.
The title of the novel is based on the Ralph Waldo Emerson quote, “Foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds” and the tendency to perpetually repeat things for lack of ability to think critically and evolve, which is fitting for mental health treatment.
The implications are very real, and effect all of us. When one person is fighting through their symptoms, everybody hurts, and this novel takes some risks to show one such family being torn apart. Fiction should be dangerous or nothing at all, I’ve always felt, and I’ve added the perhaps lofty tagline to the novel of: You’ll never think of Werewolves the same way again.
Mark Matthews is a graduate of the University of Michigan and a licensed professional counselor who has worked in behavioral health for over 20 years. He is the author of On the Lips of Children, All Smoke Rises, and Milk-Blood, as well as the editor of Lullabies for Suffering and Garden of Fiends. His newest work, The Hobgoblin of Little Minds, was published in January, 2021. Reach him at WickedRunPress@gmail.com
Comments
Post a Comment