Andersonville by Edward M. Erdelac
Hydra Press (August 2015)
340 pages; ebook $5.12
Reviewed by Frank Michaels Errington
Edward M. Erdelac is a member of the Horror Writers Association and the author of six novels (including the weird western series Merkbah Rider) and several short stories. He is also an independent filmmaker, an award-winning screenwriter, and sometimes Star Wars contributor. Born in Indiana, educated in Chicago, he resides in the Los Angeles area with his wife, children, and cats.
In Andersonville, Erdelac has taken the story of the Civil War’s most infamous prison camp and added a supernatural storyline that threatens to change the course of the war. In the beginning, the writer plays it pretty straight, telling the tale of the horrors of the camp where more than 25,000 union soldiers, both white and black, are treated so badly there are more than 200 deaths a day.
Andersonville is rich with a number of fully-developed characters and presents the reader with quite an imaginative story. In less capable hands, things could have easily gone off the rails during the transition from the horrors of the rebel prison to a full-blown supernatural story, but Erdelac shows he is more than up to the task as he deftly weaves the two tales into one cohesive story.
The result is a completely entertaining experience for those who can stomach the horror of war with their dose of the supernatural.
Highly recommended.
