Forum’s Favourite Thrill - Leatherjack vs. Chiaroscuro Round 2 Heat 04

[Huey2]

Leatherjack

[Link Prime]

Following on from Firekind, I must admit that Leatherjack was a something of a let down.

Still the better Thrill in this draw though.

[Southstreeter]

Been a while since I read either, but both were pretty good I recall. Leatherback?

[Colin YNWA]

Last day. Its been a right ol' tussle this one. I think I know which way its going, but we can't be sure, last day votes could still turn this round. So get those votes in and I'll count up in the morning.

[Colin YNWA]

VOTING CLOSED

This one wasn't as close as I thought at first. At least by vote count. It does however mark how harsh this round will be at times. Two days in and we lose a second thrill that with a kinder draw would have deserved a Round 3 birth. Chiaroscuro is a great thriil. Its genuinely creepy and scary, dark and moves into really unpleasent territory without being sensationlist. It has however come up against an undervalued John Smith classic. Leatherjack might not be quite as good as Firekind but damn its close and

Leatherjack

will continue to tell its tale into Round 3.

[I, Cosh]

Hmm. Two underwhelming Thrills from writers I generally like a lot here.

Leatherjack felt a bit Smith by digits/numbers and Mary Whitehouse as the big bad felt kitschy rather than Smith's usual psychologically terrifying. The creative team makes comparisons with Firekind inevitable and Marshall's change of style in the intervening years wasn't to my taste.

Chiaroscuro is Spurrier's film studies background busting out into his fiction in a slightly more satisfying way than early Beck & Kawl but I'm just not a fan of horror in general unfortunately.

Leatherjack by a thin tentacle.