Into the Wild Green Yonder: A Short and Creepy Fairy Tale

Book Review – Into the Wild Green Yonder by Peter Crowther and Tim Lebbon: A Short and Creepy Fairy Tale

Sometimes one of the best reminders of how excellent a genre can be is when it serves you up an offering which does what it says on the tin and without being circuitous but which is page-turning and creative, nevertheless. Peter Crowther and Tim Lebbon’s joint offering does exactly that – doing it directly, doing it organically, and doing it effectively.

‘Into the Wild Green Yonder’ starts as all good fables do, with a sign telling people to beware. This time, it’s telling Gordon & Sally (who are expecting their first child) to “Beware of the garden”, a verdure far too unruly for its small dimensions. It doesn’t help that the house attached is in dire need of repairs, however the couple decide to move in anyway. And then Gordon tackles the garden – and in the process becomes trapped in a nightmare, where time and perspective are all wrong (imagine your every move pushing you further into a VERTIGO-esque dolly zoom) and a battle is being fought. 

One of the most obvious achievements of this book is that you can’t see where Tim Lebbon begins and Peter Crowther ends because the prose is so seamless and its imagery is so painlessly evocative. Lebbon and Crowther capture a fairytale atmosphere, though tinted more with by Brothers’ Grimm or Heinrich Hoffmann than Hans Christian Andersen, and although I preferred the opening half (where mystery and intrigue is allowed to roam unrestrained) it’s a very nicely paced adventure and anxiety spreads through both halves like a fungus. 

The scenery’s liminality suits the story well, since the prose seems to prioritise the more elusive, quieter elements more naturally and is good at making them creepy. Additionally, without revealing too much of his personal journey in the latter half of the novella, Gordon as a character works well and never bogs down the plot with too much backstory or incohesive characterisation. He’s the kind of protagonist you can sympathise with and understand even if you’ve never found yourself in the shoes of a soon-to-be-first-time father.

At a nimble 120 pages, it sits towards the longer end of the novella spectrum, yet its story and vision exceeds the humble sheets of paper it’s printed on. It shades itself with moments of horror and finds a nice overall home within the fantasy genre, knowing when to be gentle and when to reveal its murky depths. It’s a book best enjoyed with a cup of tea and a slice of angst.

Into the Wild Green Yonder by Peter Crowther, and Tim Lebbon

With their first child on the way, Sally and Gordon are looking for their forever home, and they think they’ve found it in 44 North Drive. It needs some work, sure. Walls are crumbling, carpets are rotten, and the plumbing is leaky. But it’s the large overgrown garden that excites them most. Though there is that weird sign on the gate: ‘Beware of the garden’.

When Gordon decides to start work out there, he takes his first step from patio to lawn…and everything changes. He discovers that their garden is much bigger than it seems. There are things out there in the undergrowth. And as the boom of distant footsteps approach, he starts to fear he’ll never make it back home.

There’s an eternal conflict being fought…and to decide what part he plays, he has to venture into the wild green yonder.

Further Reading

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