The found footage subgenre is an interesting one because it existed for years in other forms before it made its way to film. One could posit that ANY film that featured a first-person perspective could lean towards that but it’s the idea that it is footage that captures something almost forbidden and then discovered later that makes it what it is.
The idea of this though has been done with books like Dracula, which features epistolary storytelling in which it’s all told through letters. Things like this have been done before, letters and diaries, but again, for me, to fall into ‘found footage’ it has to lean towards someone witnessing something that they may not have been meant to see.
They are documenting the forbidden, if you will.
I have to admit that I’ve toyed with the idea of writing ‘found footage’ fiction before but just never pursued it so imagine my surprise on find that there was a whole anthology that did just that.
Before I dig in though I have to admit that not all of the stories strictly followed the ‘found footage’ sort of rules that exist but seemed to fit in there because of the story itself more than the method.
What you have with Found : An anthology of Found Footage Horror Stories, edited by Andrew Cull and Gabino Iglesias is a fascinating and often creepy look at this subgenre through the eyes of international authors. It’s that aspect of the book including authors from around the globe that really opens it up as well because, as I have found in my time putting on film festivals is that people from different cultures see horror sometimes very differently than American audiences do.
One last bit of housekeeping here is that the presentation of the book is GREAT, with its exterior designed a bit like a blank VHS cassette tape. It’s a fabulous touch.
As with all anthologies, the results can often be uneven, but that’s sort of the nature of the beast. Not everything will connect with the reader but there’s a lot of variety in style, subject, and skill. Even with the stories that didn’t grab me, I am glad to be able to sample so many authors that were new to me.
There are a lot of good stories here but two of the clear standouts for me were a story about a vehicular accident investigator and one about a wife dealing with a mystery her husband left behind after his death. Both are riveting and creepy. The story about the investigator really got to me and, as great stories do, barely scraped the idea that was being presented. It’d make a heck of a good short film, to be sure. The other, while feeling more grounded in its narrative, is a very dark story that, again, could be easily adapted. That’s how good these two particular stories are. The second, about the wife, is something we’ve seen before but it’s the execution that makes it so gripping.
All told there are a lot of really gripping stories in the collection and a handful of real standouts. The presentation is nice and the selection of stories is varied and broad and captures a lot more than what may think of from the subgenre. Fans of found footage will find a lot to love here and while not every story may hit your sweet spot there’s something to be said about checking out the work of authors you’ve never read before. You never know, you just may find your new favorite writer.
The book is available now and worth a look.
Find it here.
3.5 out of 5
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