Dispatch

Dispatch is a fairly spooky horror novel of a distinctly post-modern stripe. It centers around a character, Jason Hanford, who writes letters. A lot of good horror can turn a seemingly banal activity into something frightening, and Bentley Little wrings every last bit of suspense out of someone writing a letter. He carries to absurd extremes, but the ride is pretty fun.

I enjoyed the book's first half. We follow Hanford from when he is a boy, living with his horrible mother and father. Some of the best horror writing isn't necessarily about the supernatural, it's merely depicting the terror felt by adolescents. Hanford learns that if you write to companies complaining about something, they will send you back free stuff. He milks this for all it's worth. Then he finds he can manipulate things by writing letters, whether they are letters to the editor, or letters to discredit those who have wronged him. When he writes a letter that leads to the death of an old lady the neighborhood kids call a witch, things start getting really weird.

The second half of the book goes off in a direction that is certainly imaginative, but had me harrumphing a lot. Hanford becomes employed in some kind of other-worldly place where everyone writes letters. When he realizes that some of his co-workers are dead writers from the past, it gets a little ridiculous. The ending, in which he squares off with someone called the "Ultimate" is just too much to swallow.

Though there is some snappy writing here, a few things bothered me. National publications don't run letters to the editor without calling to fact check that the letter writer is who they say they are, which would make Hanford's writing letters from several different identities to the same publication impossible. Also, Little attempts but does not entirely succeed to make this story work in an age of email. No one writes letters any more, so how they could still have the power that Little suggests they do?