REVIEW: ‘The Black Slide’ by J.W. Ocker
Image courtesy of Harper Collins / Provided by official website.
J.W. Ocker is one of the most in-demand horror writers in the business. He plies his trade on all creepy matters. His books for adults — many of them scary travelogues for the intrepid tourist — are filled to the brim with historical details about cemeteries, haunted places and things that go bump in the night. He has a new one out this fall on the world of cryptids.
Ocker is becoming known for his children’s horror books as well, meaning this writer is now scaring people of all ages — and that’s good news indeed.
His latest children’s entry is called The Black Slide, and it follows last year’s The Smashed Man of Dread End. The new book, recommended for ages 8-12, follows Griffin, a child who is unmercifully teased by a bully at his local school. Luckily, he has the strength of his best friend, Laila, to help him through the darkness of the hallways and classrooms. Still, he’s prone to name-calling and being pushed around by Ozzie, the main bully of the story.
When Griffin sits in his classroom, daydreaming of the outside world, he has a clear view of the school’s playground equipment, and he’s surprised when he sees a new black slide amongst the wood chips and swing sets. The ominous slide transfixes the young Griffin, and soon enough, he decides to take a whirl down its bending curves. What he doesn’t know is that the slide is a portal to an unseen world made of metal and terrifying creatures called the Merciless.
The bulk of Ocker’s narrative takes place in this darkened world, where everything is sharp and foreboding. It even rains metal needles — thanks Ocker for that nightmare image. Griffin, Laila and the other children at the elementary school are sucked up one by one by this black slide, and it’s up to Griffin to muster the courage and creativity to find a way out of the dreadful and deadly world of the Merciless.
This reviewer was not surprised at all when Ocker stated that The Black Slide is akin to “Hellraiser for kids” in his acknowledgments section. Reading through these 260-plus pages, that’s exactly what came to mind. At its heart, the novel is about pain and the tolerance of that pain, perhaps not in the same sadisitc manner of Clive Barker’s tale, but it does have some striking parallels. The Merciless literally have metal conical eyes, an image that is as unshakable as the first time seeing Doug Bradley as Pinhead in Hellraiser.
Another influence that came to this reviewer: Stranger Things. However, that might have less to do with The Black Slide and more with the dominance of the Netflix series. It’s tough to enjoy any story about children banding together to take on monsters and not think of Eleven, Mike and company (note to readers: The Monster Squad was first). Still, there is a hint of the Upside Down in the world of the Merciless, but the Hellraiser connection seems more apt.
Ocker, to be expected at this point, is a skilled storyteller, who keeps the narrative moving along at a fast clip and is able to finish each of the short chapters with enough of a cliffhanger that continued reading is all but assured. In fact, for adults and children alike, The Black Slide could be experienced in one or two sittings. The pages fly by with highly detailed descriptions of this alternate universe and its troops of baddies.
It’s appreciated that the actions in the story have clear consequences, and the odds seem definitely stacked against Griffin and Laila (no spoilers on who else they team together with). They are genuinely hurt by the metal surroundings and face fatality at almost every turn.
The book’s fast pace does mean that some of the mythology of this new world is missing or abbreviated. Ocker makes up the rules as the children experience something new. Because of this, upon finishing the novel, there’s a real desire on the part of the reader to enjoy another adventure featuring the Merciless (note to Ocker: Is a sequel coming or what?).
Horror is having a milt-year resurgence in many forms of media. Scary movies regularly top the box office. The most streamed TV shows are often from the horror genre, and Ocker is thankfully keeping the lamp lit in the literary world. His books are tolerably terrifying, atmospheric, engaging and wonderfully inviting to readers of all ages — reading his tomes are akin to sipping hot apple cider in the month of October, when the shadows are at their longest.
The Black Slide is a welcome horror entry for young readers, who will be delighted by the world-building and no doubt will find connections between their own lives and the adventures of Griffin and his friends. They’ll learn many important lessons, from being brave to being kind, but the most important one is simple enough: Do not take a ride on the black slide.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
The Black Slide by J.W. Ocker. HarperCollins. 272 pages. Click here for more information.
