What is this, you ask, intrigued by the rather twisted artsy cover?
“The Plucker” is a dark and eerie fairy tale for grown ups written by the renowned dark fantasy artist, Brom. Usually he just paints these wonderful dreamscapes and crazy characters, lending his talents to other people’s books or projects, but this time he, himself, concocted a story and also, of course, created the superb illustrations to go along with it.
Upon reading the first few pages you will more probably than not say to yourself, “What the fuck? This is Toy Story all over again!” Yes… Remember that Pixar movie? All the toys in some little boy’s room are alive, with the story focusing on the previously so loved cowboy doll, now discarded in favor of something new and shiny. It’s the same thing here… All toys come out to play at midnight: the monkey, the Red Knight, the Snow Angel, the Hawaiian hula-hula doll, etc… all except Jack in the Box, who has been demoted to Underbed, the dusty dreaded place of retired toys. Once thus removed from the roster of toys one is not allowed to participate in any reindeer games, and it gnaws on Jack that he’s expelled to such a black and hollow existence. OK, sounds familiar, but that is where the similarities end. This is where the story takes a sharp turn down a dark alley with huge scary shadows on the wall.
The owner of all these toys, Thomas, gets them from his father, the Sea Captain, who pops in every once in a while from his travels around the world, always bringing a new toy with some ethnic origin.
This particular time he brings a weird looking doll from Africa. Something he traded from a Witch Doctor. It is supposed to trap evil spirits from wrecking havoc in a child’s room. When he goes to hang it up above Thomas’ bed, it falls between the bed and the wall, hits the floor and cracks open. Jack, the discarded toy, can only watch in horror as something made of smoke in the shape of a spidery worm thing oozes out of the doll and into the duct vent.
Everything goes to hell from here.
The oozing thing is a most unpleasant evil spirit, the Plucker, that has been trapped in that doll for centuries. Now it’s free to make an attempt at possessing young Thomas. In order to do so, it needs to feed on the gusto of Thomas’ magical Voodoo dolls - his toys. See, in Africa dolls are imbued with the powers of their owners, and, likewise, a child’s toys are steeped in the souls of their owner. The spirit means to suck out all the spirit out of these toys, making Thomas weaker and opening up a back door to his mind, so possession can take full effect.
The gory eye-plucking, stuffing-ripping battle for Thomas’ mind starts. A menagerie of most twisted characters - like the resurrected viper-enhanced Jack, the worm-controlled Red Knight and the amputated Baron - make this story a breathtaking dark fantasy fairy tale for the mature of age but young at heart. Imagine a mixture between Toy Story, Nightmare Before Christmas, The Serpent and the Rainbow and The Exorcist, all told in a grown up language (complete with “fuck” and “shit”) and through exquisitely beautiful paintings of the events at hand.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the darker walks of life. Especially if you’re into spooky art and always wished there was a story behind those fantastic creations.
Well, now there is.
This book would make a killer Christmas present, as the hardcover edition, with its glossy pages and breathtaking images, is definitely a keeper.
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~ The Red Collar Report ~
"The Plucker"
by
Brom
