I felt this story was written in a style reminiscent of the excesses of Vertigo comics circa mid 90's, which is understandable given the comic book aspect in the story (my framing it like that to myself is understandable, I mean to say). A fixation on ostensibly "dark" symbols disconnected from broad general concerns and more of an exploration of a particular character's psyche. But what do WE, the reader, get out of that exploration?
I guess one way to approach it is to realize that it falls more into the camp of Dark Fantasy than horror. As annoying as some people may find this endless genre dickering, distinctions like that are important to me as they help me gauge my expectations in regards to a story. Approaching this as dark fantasy gives the story more latitude in regards to poetic writing and some aspects of Symbolism. But I do have to say that I usually find such exercises to be artistically interesting but emotionally disconnecting.
I mean, in the end, this is a story with no real threat. This guy is just obsessed with this singular thing he saw as a kid because it ties in with some emotional complex about his Dad and eventually he lets go of it. Good for him. Scary? Not really. The tone is more one of dark musing than anything stronger. And that's fine. There's obviously an audience for such stuff. But I'm not that audience.
Why the story treated the fact that it took place in Australia as a mystery to be solved by the reader is beyond me. "in the Southern Hemisphere" made me start wondering until Brisbane showed up. Did I miss some whopping great indicator much earlier on?
Thanks for listening.
"The important thing is that man is lost in time, in the moment that immediately precedes him - which only attests, by reflection, to the fact that he is lost in the moment that follows"
Andre Breton