[Review] - The Tunnelers

By Elle Turpitt

The Tunnellers is a short, tense read that will have the reader gripped from the very first page. Told as a series of entries by Dr. Armstrong, the epistolary format works really well to drop the reader right into the action, as Armstrong tries to untangle the events that brought mining foreman Kirkwood under his care.

The story has an old-fashioned feel to it, with the initial narrator presenting a forward, then expanding on the events at the end. And the framing device works, allowing The Tunnelers to read like one of the old classics of horror, giving an element of uncertainty to the events and really putting the reader into the mind of Armstrong. Aware of his obsession, Armstrong pushes on, researching the strange creatures while forcing Kirkwood to remember the events surrounding the mining accident.

Every piece of the puzzle fits nicely into place, and the story flows along at a good pace never feeling too fast nor too slow, matching the time constraints Armstrong finds himself in.

Overall, The Tunnelers is a great story, one that can easily be read in one sitting, and which will likely leave the reader pausing outside their basement door, listening to the strange sounds below, and wondering what, really, is that noise down there?