Joe R. Lansdale's Edge of Dark Water is an exciting children's adventure novel which features instructions in self-acceptance. Apparently he's writing to the kids struggling with self doubt or social pressure. The story is about a cross-country downriver journey from Texas to California. When 16-year-old Sue Ellen and her friends discover the corpse of one of their friends in the river, they decide to travel to Hollywood and spread her ashes there, in honor of May Lynn's dreams of becoming an actress. They, along with Sue Ellen's mom, embark on an arduous and thrilling adventure down the Sabine River. They soon discover, however, that they are being pursued by a mythic character named Skunk who wants the money the back that they found with May Lynn's body.
Each of the main characters is both given an opportunity to escape the mitigating circumstances of their everyday lives and also forced to reconcile with themselves. The effect of traveling through unknown territory and encountering strange people, all under threat of a maniacal stalker/killer, is that they all find the courage to tell their problems just how small they are. For Sue Ellen, the trip helps her to deal with her anger toward her parents who are both incapable of holding down a regular job and abusive to her, especially her father. Throughout the course of the book she comes to recognize her parents' faults as reflections of their humanities. She personally resolves not to allow fear to come between her and her dreams the same way her parents have.
Lansdale marries danger with emotional in this tale. Set in East Texas in the 1930s, during the Depression, this story remains true to the grit and gore of the place. Lansdale doesn't dance around the sometimes gruesome aspects of life in those days, emphasizing the emotional and visceral response which May Lynn's corpse elicits in each of the kids. Capturing the harsh surroundings in his descriptions, Lansdale also describes the people in light of violence and authenticity. He illustrates how their environment has caused the adults to become hard, sometimes emotionless, and even violent, like Sue Ellen's dad. With tenderness and reassurance he depicts the emotional journey of grieving as well as self-acceptance.
