Book Review : Max Booth III - We Need To Do Something (2020)
Order We Need To Do Something here
One of horror’s worst clichés is that “real horror” lies within us. That human nature is the real monster because a) neither vampires nor werewolves exist and b) we secretly blame other people for our failures. It’s an idea that’s both believable and relatable, making it more instantly more terrifying than a creature no one’s ever seen. Max Booth III’s new novella We Need To Do Something is an awesome deconstruction of that cliché and one of the great pieces of cursed art I’ve stumbled upon in recent years. Life’s even more terrifying if a fucking feeling’s the bad guy.
The entirety of We Need To Do Something’s 168 pages happens inside a family’s bathroom. A father, a mother, a daughter and her little brother are literally huddled around the toilet bowl, scared out of their mind during a tornado warning. Already ravaged by the father’s alcoholism and latent frustration with his duties, the family members slowly turn on each other with each passing hour. More important, the mind of protagonist Mel starts turning against her, for reasons that become increasingly clearer. Lots of things can kill you when you’re trapped in a bathroom.
The protagonist of We Need to Do Something is fear. It gradually infects every member of the family and leads them to reveal their darker side. The alcoholic father’s gets violent fits of rage and desperately tries to quench his thirst for alcohol with medical supplies, the mother’s fear of her husband turns the family against him and creates a climate of confrontation, the son grows a desperate need for attention and most important, Mel is growing increasingly sure that she is the cause of what’s happening. That the tornado is somehow divine retribution for her actions.
Of course, the family’s members are each other’s worse nightmare and, on a surface level, comply with the aforementioned horror cliché. But therein lies the brilliant and subtlety of Max Booth III: none of these characters mean to destroy one another. They’re each granted their own humanity and their behavior is somehow excused by the situation. I won’t go into spoiler territory here, but the bathroom situation would’ve never happened without the tornado warning. There’s no good guy or bad guy in this story. Only flawed human being in a terrible situation.
I was greatly moved and entertained by the deceptively titled We Need To Do Something, but it is cursed art. By that, I mean that it elicits a powerful reaction out of you. So powerful that you’ll probably never want to experience it again. This family trapped in a small bathroom undergoes such a tragic and terrifying ordeal, it’s hard not to feel voyeuristic and, to a certain degree, terrified that it might happen to you someday. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a tremendous achievement and I’m glad to have read it. But also a little heartbroken and afraid of these extreme circumstances.
Should you read We Need To Do Something? The short answer is: absolutely. The long one is: absolutely, but you may or may not hate me for suggesting it. It’s brutal and quite a departure from sympathetic, wisecracking characters Max Booth III is known for. Serious suits him well, though. He’s perhaps even better without his trademark sense of humor. There are two Max Booth III novels coming out within a couple weeks of one another and I highly suggest you read both. I slightly preferred Touch the Night myslef, but this is not far behind. Not far at all.
8.2/10
