“Neonomicon” by Alan More and Jacen Burrows
I always love Alan Moore’s work, and with Neonomicon he demonstrates he truly understands what Cosmic Horror is supposed to be. In a word, horrifying.
Brears and Lamper, two young and cocky FBI agents, investigate a fresh series of ritual murders somehow tied to the final undercover assignment of Aldo Sax –the once golden boy of the Bureau, now a convicted killer and inmate of a maximum security prison. From their interrogation of Sax (where he spoke exclusively in inhuman tongues) to a related drug raid on a seedy rock club rife with arcane symbols and otherworldly lyrics, they suspect that they are on the trail of something awful… but nothing can prepare them for the creeping insanity and unspeakable terrors they will face in the small harbor town of Innsmouth.
Cosmic, or Lovecraftian, Horror sits in a strange place in the public consciousness. By its nature, it is supposed to scare and unsettle us. Not necessarily with physical horror, but by forcing us to question our very sense of reality. For all of H.P. Lovecraft's problems - and there are many - he created a mythos and universe which has become embedded in modern culture in a way that has grown far beyond his own work.
And this has led to "Lovecraftian" ideas becoming strangely mainstream. Cthulhu began as a terrifying, unknowable monstrosity, horrifying not because it will one day kill us all but because it won't even notice us when it does. Now it's a mascot. Plastered on everything from board games to plushies.
Moore, however, understands what Cosmic Horror should be. And so expect The Neonomicon to horrify and disturb you. Bad things don't happen to the main characters. Horrific things do. Murder, torture, and rape. Cults here are not mysterious men in long ropes conducting rites in ancient temples, but everyday people working in a store. Investigating anything won't lead to discovering answers, but along a path where you will only find more questions to which you'll never have answers.
And if you do find answers, it will only be because your mind has been broken.
For any fan of Lovecraft, Neonomicon is an excellent read. Moore clearly knows his literature. This story is shown to be in the same universe, if not a direct continuation of some of Lovecraft's short stories. And he does not pull punches.
This will be an unsettling read for some, with the action depicted in stark honesty by Jacen Burrows without ever being gratuitous. Don't expect Moore or Burrows to allow you to look away. They are taking you for a ride that forces you to face the horrors he is depicting. And I think this is why it works. They are not going for cheap scares.
Trigger Warnings for this book: murder, sexual assault
Not everyone will enjoy Neonomicon. It's not for no reason that this is the first time I've included Trigger Warnings in one of my reviews. But while you may finish the book unsettled and not wanting to think about what it all means, that's what good Cosmic Horror is supposed to do.
