Out of Body at 163 pages is a quick read of dark fantasy with some horror and mystery elements. It's entertaining enough and offers a good amount of creeps & melancholy for those who like dark vibes. The heart of this story is about a librarian who experiences OBE after he witnesses a murder at his local deli and while in OBE stumbles upon a serial killer who has been preying on the town for more than a century. It's up to him and a few others to stop the serial killer before he strikes again.

What Out of Body lacks in action it certainly makes up in atmosphere. It's a bit disjointed but I still liked it. I enjoyed this quick read of the dark fantastic. Check it out. ( )

Owen, the librarian of the small town of Westwend, stops by at his local deli on his way to work, as he does every morning, and witnesses a robbery/murder (well, witness may be too strong of a word - he spends most if it on the floor unconscious). But the shock triggers something in his brain and he becomes are sleeper - his soul leaves his body when he sleeps and enters the astral plane - allowing him to visit everyone and see everything without being noticed.

Except that nothing is so innocent - there are dangers in that astral world. And there is a serial killer who lives in both worlds. So Owen and his friend Melody (helped by the wife of the man who murdered the deli's barista) need to find a way to stop him - or he will kill them all before continuing his crime spree.

My biggest issue with the whole thing is Melody - she feels as deus-ex-machina. Owen arrives in the astral plane and before long she is there to guide him, before he manages to get in trouble. That part may be believable - she has a teacher, she saw him the first time he was there so maybe. But a night after telling Owen that she never believed in things like the serial killer/vampire, she suddenly not only manages to talk to her teacher and her teacher gives her all the answers but she also knows a way to beat him. She is needed for the story to work but... it just felt a but too... easy.

Not a bad story despite my misgivings about Melody and a nice play on the old vampires and small town horror tropes. But I cannot stop wondering if it could not have been much better. ( )

After experiencing a traumatic event, Owen, a small town librarian, begins to have 'out of body' experiences at night. At first he is fascinated to see his community from this nighttime perspective, but then he meets a woman, another more seasoned nighttime traveler, and together they soon discover another(darker) side to this nighttime world.

Jeff Ford most often writes what is often called "magical realism", a fairly broad term for 20th century literature where a supernatural or magical element invades our familiar world. I enjoy Ford's work and have been reading him for a long time. This story becomes a bit of a not-too-serious horror thriller (you know: time is running out, someone must be stopped to save others) when I would have preferred something more subtle, I think. Still, it was an amusing short read (163 pages). ( )

http://speculiction.blogspot.com/2020/10/review-of-out-of-body-by-jeffrey-ford.h... ( )

Good, solid supernatural horror novella. It's a bit of a slow-burn story at first, developing the main character and his predicament, then kicks in suddenly at about the 60% mark with a stunning development. This development is unfortunately somewhat spoiled by the book's synopsis, but, if you go into the story blind, as I did, you're in for an excellent experience. Another winner from Ford. ( )