Gallagher’s life on the island should be idyllic. Yet his scenic, remote farm turns a meagre profit and provides little distraction from his vices.
When a strange noise infects the island’s inhabitants, Gallagher’s rural life is infiltrated by tension and unease. His neighbours become unpredictable and dangerous, threatening the fabric of island life beyond anything Gallagher has ever known.
As the community descends into fear and violence, Gallagher finds a way to silence the sound, but is this slice of peace worth the terrible cost?
Dark bleatings, my beautiful tribe. I’m here to talk about an upcoming novella from Dan Howarth today and I have to tell you upfront, I’m pretty gosh-diddily-darn excited about it. Dan became an instant buy, favourite author for me when I read his debut novel, Last Night of Freedom (which, by the way, is a tremendous story and you should read it!), and it seems that his talent wasn’t just a one-book fluke because Drone is…well, it’s stressful, anxiety-inducing, somehow a simultaneous slow burn AND fast paced, and made me very paranoid whenever tinnitus eeeeeeeeeee’d in my ear. So, fantastic horror, simply put.
Our main man has this droning buzz in his ears that feels like it’s coming from within, rather than outside. He sees a doctor, who doesn’t seem to have a solution. Perhaps it’s psychological? Though that won’t explain why his farm animals are acting strangely, as are some of the locals…
Anyone who’s had a medical complaint (with their ears or otherwise) will understand the sheer frustration of bothering to go to the doctor for help, only to leave feeling disappointed by lack of action, at best, or insulted by the insinuation that you’re imagining it all, at worst. The protagonist’s plight seems simple initially, and it’s perfect because not only is it so easy to empathise with, but it made me feel so frustrated on top of feeling sorry for him. There is simply nothing more infuriating than an annoying, persistent ailment. Hiccups is bad enough, and this is so much worse because his particular problem is so anomalous that he doesn’t even know if it’s a serious health hazard.
This become tense very quickly as our guy deals with weird events around his farm, and comes to learn that things are weird for his neighbours too – some of which he does not get on with and even in these circumstances, can’t find common ground with.
There are few characters in this story but in Dan’s usual fashion, they are superbly drawn. Even those that spend barely any time on the page jump out at you, painting a vivid picture of the protagonist’s life and surrounding town. I quickly got a sense of how things work, what everyone’s like in relation to the main character, and that somewhat isolated feeling that small towns get.
Beyond the perfect pacing, immersive setting, and fabulously depicted characters, there are deep themes at play. Parallels to the real world without being too on the nose, emotional strife, uncontainable fear and paranoia, and an intense need for relief. There’s more and it’s all open to interpretation.
Dan’s work is, in my opinion, flawless. He’s one of those writers that makes me jealous, as a fellow writer. I wish I was even half as good as he is. I recommend this, of course!
If you’d like to check out the book, it’s out on the 24th April, and I’ve popped links to it and the author below:
Bleeeat!
Happy Goat Horror 
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