Experimental Film

By: Gemma Files

Narrated by: Morgan Hallett

Fired at almost the same time as her son, Clark, is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, former film critic turned teacher Lois Cairns is caught in a depressive downward spiral, convinced she's a failure who's spent half her adult life writing about other people's dreams without ever seeing any of her own come true. One night Lois attends a program of experimental film and emerges convinced she's seen something no one else has - a sampled piece of silver nitrate silent film footage whose existence might prove that an eccentric early 20th-century socialite who disappeared under mysterious circumstances was also one of Canada's first female moviemakers.

Though it raises her spirits and revitalizes her creatively, Lois' headlong quest to discover the truth about Mrs. A. Macalla Whitcomb almost immediately begins to send her much further than she ever wanted to go, revealing increasingly troubling links between her subject's life and her own. Slowly but surely, the malign influence of Mrs. Whitcomb's muse begins to creep into every aspect of Lois' life, even placing her son in danger.

But how can one increasingly ill and unstable woman possibly hope to defeat a threat that's half long-lost folklore, half cinematically framed hallucination - an existential nightmare made physical, projected off the screen and into real life?

©2015 Gemma Files (P)2016 Recorded Books

Well written and atmospheric dark fairy tale

The character/ world building was great, story was unique and well paced. I would definitely recommend.

Still think about it months later

After several months and many books I find myself still thinking about this one. It's a very solid slow burn-horror novel that builds over the course of the book with a satisfying payoff. Plus I learned some interesting things about the Canadian film industry.

Celluloid ghost story

Gemma Files’ Experimental Film is a horror tale of the ghost variety. A woman who is a film historian, dealing with her son’s autism diagnosis explores the life of an early 20th century filmmaker who myste-riously disappeared. As she delves into the past, the supernatural forces at play in the filmmaker’s dis-appearance begin to impact her and her family.

Files executes a traditional type of horror tale with an investigator coming across a past mystery and reawakening some supernatural force. The terror slowly develops.

The narration is decent with acceptable character distinction. Pacing is a tad slow.

Wow

This was interesting and mysterious and I couldn’t put it down. Just wow.. the entire story just blew my mind

Smartly done and well written.

A former Canadian film history teacher, investigates a decades old mystery surrounding the disappearance of a ground breaking experimental film maker. The secret to her disappearance lies in the content and meaning contained in her films. Lois Cairns is going to have to put it all on the line to unravel the ghosts of the past and find out the truth about what really happened back in the day. That is if it doesn’t kill her and her family first.

I am not sure this will be everyone’s cuppa. It was a bit of a slow burn in parts and had an interesting format. Normally those things may throw me off, but I felt it actually added to the building tension and dread as the story unraveled. I dug it.

Smartly done and well written.