![]() Much like Haiti, the slave revolutions of the past, really history in general, is never forgotten. ![]() Both stories, to their credit, contain much of social import and reflect upon the rural-urban divides within both Guyana and Haiti (not to mention class and color) with some suggested morals for the reader. 'My Bones and My Flute' used to be a hard to find book, for it had been out of print since the 80s. This novel is set in Barbados and it is a horror story, and I like it as much as 'My Bones and My Flute'. Mittelholzer did a better job with the genre than the Haitian brothers because his story is solidly within the confines of horror and does not take itself too seriously while The Beast of the Haitian Hills was all over the place. Milton Woodsley -Edgar Mittelholzer himself in disguise- is also the narrator of 'Eltonsbrody'. ![]() As for the horror genre within Caribbean literature, Mittelholzer is the main one who comes to mind for me, although Mayra Montero and a certain novel by the Marcelin brothers from Haiti also employ similar motifs and culturally or historically specific reference points for their mysteries. ![]() The narrator, Milton, bears an uncanny resemblance to Mittelholzer himself, and despite the dark themes and frightening suspense, there are moments when one cannot help but giggle because of the self-deprecating or absurd and self-referential references either made by Milton himself or some of the other characters. ![]() Mittelholzer's My Bone and My Flute is a well-written horror story that successfully transfers the reader back to Guyana in the 1930s. ![]()
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