You never know which ideas will stick in your mind, let alone where they’ll go. Roth-Steyr began with an interest in the odd designs and names of early automatic pistols, and the decision to use one of them as a story title. What started out as an oddball short piece became a much longer and darker tale about how easily a familiar world can fall apart, how old convictions vanish or change, and why no one should want to live forever.It’s also about my obsession with history, in particular the chaotic upheavals that plagued the first half of the twentieth century and that are waking up again. Another ‘long dark night of the European soul’ feels very close today. So here’s the story of Valerie Varden. And her Roth-Steyr.
Dark bleatings, my wonderful tribe! I’m really excited to talk about this novella from Simon Bestwick today because I loved it. I recently read something else by this author that felt really original and I have to say that he has a real flair for original spins on things.
An immortal being (Is she human? Vampire? Zombie? Some sort of ghoul?! You’ll have to read to find out!) is enjoying a nice life. She works in a morgue (I’m sorry I forget the job title), and she’s good at it – she’s good with people and dealing with the family left behind by those who are wheeled in. She’s in a great relationship with a wonderful woman, the love of her life, comfortable in her nice home. Everything is great.
Except, she’s carrying guilt from her past. The reason she tries hard to be a good person is because she has memories that haunt her, that make her feel bad. And this woman’s past, we immediately discover, is much longer than most. And on top of that guilt, something from her past is re-emerging, and it’s dangerous.
I really loved this book. It was a quick read and I got through it one sitting simply because I couldn’t put it down. The origin story alone, which the book builds to with expert pacing, is both the stuff of nightmares but also a horror fan’s dream. I honestly can’t recommend this enough, it has everything!
If you’d like to check out the book or the author, I’ve popped some links below for you:
ROTH-STEYR (FROM BLACK SHUCK BOOKS)
Bleeeeat!
Happy Goat Horror 
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