“The shadow had definitely come out of the mirror, gone through the young woman and the dog, and disappeared. He stepped closer, trying to see more, but a white spot appeared in the middle and flared, eating into the picture until there was only white light.”
Garth Nix, Out of the Mirror, Darkness
Synopsis:
A cynical “fixer” for a silent-film studio must confront the shadows behind the bright lights in this noir-tinged short story by New York Times bestselling author Garth Nix.
It’s business as usual on the set of another cheap sword-and-sandal production by Pharos Pictures—until the lead actress suddenly falls into a deep, mysterious sleep. Jordan Harper can talk down high-strung starlets and knock sense into stuntmen, but this…this is the kind of uncanny problem that he’d usually bring to Mrs. Hope. Unfortunately, the preternaturally capable secretary is on a business trip with the studio head. Harper must get to the bottom of the mystery on his own before another cast member succumbs—or worse, they blow the budget.
📸 @aprillwoodauthor — The “Great Value” or “Wish” version aka my artistic impression of Out of the Mirror, Darkness. BTW, IG thinks I’m nude in this neck/arm/face close-up. Is IG OK? Someone needs to do a wellness check.
“He fixed things with talk far more often than with force. But what people remembered and talked about was always the action.”
Out of the Mirror, Darkness, by Author Garth Nix, is a noir-styled horror about a slumbering starlet, Miss Celine, and stunt dog, Ellsworth, who both cannot be awakened. This is a huge problem for “The Fixer”, Mr. Jordan Harper, because the show must go on! And he’s struggling with finding a solution to his problem, that may or may not be supernatural in origin.
“But the mirror was not reflecting the sunshine. It was dull and kind of greenish, probably from a layer of verdigris on the bronze.”
I’ll admit, it wasn’t until nearly the end that I realized Ellsworth was a dog (help me) and you wouldn’t imagine my confusion about all the sniffing! When it dawned on me that Ellsworth very much was a dog, I laughed out loud.
“When night falls, Ellsworth will seem recovered,” continued Mrs. Hope. “But he will not be. He will be under the sway . . . he will be controlled by . . . the monster that is within him…”
Overall, I enjoyed the themes and characters of this short story and the mystery behind what was “consuming” Miss Celine’s and the dog’s energy was fascinating. However, my mind wandered quite a bit while reading this, and my interest in the story didn’t pick up until the end when it was deep into the mystery. So, I have mixed feelings about this short story, but overall I liked it so I’m rating it 3 stars.
About the Author:
Garth Nix was born in 1963 in Melbourne, Australia, to the sound of the Salvation Army band outside playing ‘Hail the Conquering Hero Comes’ or possibly ‘Roll Out the Barrel’. Garth left Melbourne at an early age for Canberra (the federal capital) and stayed there till he was nineteen, when he left to drive around the UK in a beat-up Austin with a boot full of books and a Silver-Reed typewriter.
Despite a wheel literally falling off the Austin, Garth survived to return to Australia and study at the University of Canberra. After finishing his degree in 1986 he worked in a bookshop, then as a book publicist, a publisher’s sales representative, and editor. Along the way he was also a part-time soldier in the Australian Army Reserve, serving in an Assault Pioneer platoon for four years. Garth left publishing to work as a public relations and marketing consultant from 1994-1997, till he became a full-time writer in 1998. He did that for a year before joining Curtis Brown Australia as a part-time literary agent in 1999. In January 2002 Garth went back to dedicated writer again, despite his belief that full-time writing explains the strange behaviour of many authors.He now lives in Sydney with his wife, two sons and lots of books.
April L. Wood is a YA Romantasy Author and a Book Blogger for A Well Read Woman Blog. When she is not glued to her computer or pressing her nose in a book, she is busy obsessing over her gardens (to the point of insanity) and feeding wild birds. Fueled by Cafe' Bustelo, she writes from a historic Tudor-colonial that she shares with her rock-star-romance-hero of a husband, Ben, and three rescued cats: Samhain, Sapphire, and Rowan!
View all posts by April the Word Witch
A Well Read Woman Blog 📖 