Well dang. That is how you do it. I maybe forgive Grady Hendrix for that puppet book. Okay, I don’t. I just remembered enough in my brain to still be mad about that whole thing.
Anyway, “The Blanks” is horror that is just pitch perfect. Does everything get explained? Nope. But it’s a wild and horrifying ride to the end. Maybe because we know what is next for this family, and it’s nothing good.
“The Blanks” follows Rachel and her family (one boy, one girl) going to Jeckle Island for their annual summer break. Rachel is happy to be back on the island since it allows her family and their friends to grow closer. She feels apart from things while living in New York, but while there, it seems as if everyone understands each other. There’s one fly to the ointment when a former neighbor shows at the ferry and everyone ignores her. You start to get the sense that the island may be harboring something dark.
Hendrix takes a while to dial up the horror, but when it’s there you are left with lots of questions. I had so many. In the end though I think he was saying a lot again, about families, and what secrets they are prepared to keep to keep up the allusion that they are happy. Hendrix explores families a lot in his longer works and he definitely shines in this one. 5 stars!