Transfer: Terry M. West
Reviewed by Steve Stred
‘Transfer’ wasn’t on my radar until a few days ago. How crazy is that? Especially considering now that I’ve read it, it’ll sit easily in my top reads of the year?!
Duncan Ralston is the culprit to get this into my hands. I recently read ‘Ghostland’ by Ralston and noticed him also raving about ‘Transfer.’ I’ve connected with Terry on various social media platforms, but haven’t really developed a relationship with him – yet. When I saw his comment on Tim Waggoner’s Facebook post sharing Bark’s fantastic reviewers list, I asked Duncan if he wouldn’t mind putting in a good word with Terry for me – and voila!
KR: You can read the Kendall Review of Ghostland HERE
‘Transfer’ is damn good. I read it in a single sitting last night, not because I wanted to push this above my TBR or prioritize, but because the synopsis was so enticing and once I started reading, I was hooked, much like our two main characters.
The story follows Howie and Nick at their workplace, a video editing company that digitizes or fixes sentimental self-shot video; think weddings, birthdays etc, as well as professionally filmed movies.
Because of the wide range of submissions they receive to clean up and fix, it doesn’t strike them as odd when an unnamed AVI file appears. At first, the video only plays a very short clip, ending in static, but as things progress, West does a fantastic job of sucking both the characters into wanting to see what’s next, but also forcing the reader to want to know more.
The imagery in this is outstanding. Cinematic in scope, we both feel the horror and fear within the clip but also the sense of dread and foreboding in the small office/cubicle the two men inhabit.
One thing I do want to point out – the back and forth banter between Nick and Howie was fantastically done. It didn’t feel forced and helped to elevate the connection I had between their relationship as well as their situation.
The ending is sublime, really working to keep the storyline going but also making how things play out feel even more real and grounded in the real world.
Several times I had to stop and google some specific things that West mentioned in it, the link to Creepypasta type horror was really fantastic.
Just an outstanding read and one I’m so thankful to have stumbled on. This really is a must-read and falls equally into the found-footage category as well as the creature feature category.
Transfer
Prepare to scream forever!
Howie Payne and Nick Enlow work the midnight shift at Big Carl’s Video Transfer and Media Services. An odd AVI clip begins to appear in their public drive on a nightly basis. At first Howie and Nick think it’s a serialized art house horror film someone on the day shift is sending them in secret. As the clips progress, however, the now obsessed duo discover something deeper and darker in the videos.
Horror author Terry M. West would like to introduce you to the Green Room and its primary occupant, The Screamer.
You can buy Transfer from Amazon UK & Amazon US
Steve Stred
Steve Stred writes dark, bleak horror fiction.
Steve is the author of the novels Invisible & The Stranger, the novellas The Girl Who Hid in the Trees, Wagon Buddy, Yuri and Jane: the 816 Chronicles and two collections of short stories; Frostbitten: 12 Hymns of Misery and Left Hand Path: 13 More Tales of Black Magick, and the dark poetry collection Dim the Sun.
On September 1st, 2019 his second collection of dark poetry and drabbles called The Night Crawls In will arrive. This release was specifically created to help fund the 1st Annual LOHF Writers Grant.
Steve is also a voracious reader, reviewing everything he reads and submitting the majority of his reviews to be featured on Kendall Reviews.
Steve Stred is based in Edmonton, AB, Canada and lives with his wife, his son and their dog OJ.
You can follow Steve on Twitter @stevestred
You can visit Steve’s Official website here
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