A Strong, Diverse Collection of Horror and Psychological Intrigue

Source: Author Website

The Carvings Collection: Ten Stories of Horror and Suspense by Drake Vaughn (Dead Orb Press, 2013, 220pp.)

A self-righteous vigilante determined to punish a man for a mercy killing. A giant flying cockroach that terrorizes and decapitates hapless high school stoners. A salesman who puts his marketing skills to the test when confronted by a cannibalistic rock star diva of Faustian proportions. A gang of bullies that run amok in a vampire brothel. All this, and more, can you find in Drake Vaughn’s new short story collection, The Carvings Collection. 

Sound varied? It is. It’s kind of like your little chocolate box o’ horrors: it simply runs the gamut when it comes to the genre. It opens with the nursery-time tale of terror, “Dolls,” and follows up with the high school slasher story, “Master Key.” Next, is a Hostel-like tale of revenge and captivity (“In the Chair”), a tale or two of black magic (“Carvings,” “Sales”), a cautionary tale for young people about trespassing (“The Garden”), a few surprising pieces of social commentary (“Driver’s Seat,” “The Test,” “Trip to V-Town,”), and last but not least, the parasite-ridden sci-fi creep-fest, “Flatheads.”

While I certainly savored some stories more than others, this is, overall, a strong, diverse collection of horror and psychological intrigue. I would recommend it for any fan of the horror genre, and for fans of Vaughn’s earlier novel, The Zombie Generation.

Lovely Bedtime Stories For Adults

Allister Cromley’s Fairweather Belle (Bedtime Stories For Grownups to Tell) by Shane Portman (Self-Published, 2012, 76pp.)

For those of you who are looking for something to lull you to sleep at bedtime—something a little softer than that white-knuckle thriller you probably have on your nightstand—might I suggest Shane Portman’s Allister Cromley’s Fairweather Belle. Reminiscent of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince, this gentle, nonsensical little collection of vignettes follow the allegorical adventures of Allister Cromley, a man who lives in a world that is “at once ours and at once only his” (26). Who is Allister, you ask? He’s a man prone to “subtle anarchy,” someone who writes “Go!” at the bottom of stop signs and who doesn’t follow rules—at least, until he realizes that “following no rules in itself [becomes], by definition, a rule” (40). While it can stand perfectly well on its own, I think the book works best as a complement to its companion website, http://www.fairweatherbelle.com/. Also see the Allister Cromley blog (http://allistercromley.blogspot.com/), a kooky, quirky source of extra Allister stories, with links to some really weird (but really cool) websites.

Good Read For Those Who Appreciate Psychological Fiction

Ugly to Start With by John Michael Cummings (Vandalia Press, 2011, 168pp.)

In his analysis of this work, Philly.com’s reviewer Frank Wilson states that “To call John Michael Cummings’ Ugly From the Start a collection of short stories would be imprecise. It is really a suite of short stories adding up to a novel.” Whichever way you choose to see it—as a novel of episodic pacing or as a collection of short stories linked together—Ugly to Start With is an absorbing work. Set in historical, tourist-plagued Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia, we follow the life of teenage Jason Stevens, beginning with “The World Around Us,” (a misadventure that introduces Jason’s desire to be an art student) and “Two Tunes,” where we meet Jason’s gruff, gun-collecting father. Seven more stories follow before the collection concludes with the sexually charged chapters of “Carter” and “The Scratchboard Project,” each which describe Jason’s first tentative sexual encounters with both a female classmate and a middle-aged man (here, Cummings choses to imply the action rather than blatantly “show” it). Using local detail and colorful characters, Ugly to Start With paints a portrait of life as only Jason Stevens knows it. In all, a good read for those who appreciate the methodical approach of psychological fiction.

Click on cover for image source.

Charming, Warm, and Funny

Into Love and Out Again: Stories by Elinor Lipman (1987; Washington Square Press, 1988, 194pp.)

Maybe it’s because I just forced myself to finish reading a book of strange, morbid fantasy/horror tales of varying (and sometimes questionable) quality, but I found Into Love and Out Again to be pure delight. Lipman’s little book of stories could best be described as resembling a box of chocolates: weighing in at just under 200 pages, it bundles unrequited love, childrearing, self-image, and other universal trials of the modern day woman into sixteen stories, each offering a short, tasty revelation on the matters of love and relationships. Reader, enjoy.

Click on cover for image source.

“Supernatural Noir” is a Little Too Light On the “Noir”

Supernatural Noir edited by Ellen Datlow (Dark Horse, 2011, 336pp.)

“Supernatural” and “Noir.” Not two genres you would normally put together—especially since one deals with witches and magic and the other deals almost exclusively with the detective story sub-genre. Put them together and you get Supernatural Noir, a collection of 16 stories that attempt to examine the human condition by placing their subjects in mysterious, fantastical, and quite often horrifying circumstances. The trouble is, each author interprets this new genre differently. All pieces contain noir to some degree, but the genres of the collection overall aren’t well balanced. Some stories lean more towards fantasy/horror, while others are so bare of these elements that you almost miss the required “supernatural” aspect. The best stories, in my opinion, are the ones that focus more on what makes these characters human than the fantasy/horror elements. Some in the collection do this quite well. Others are more intent on fleshing out plot-driven tales. It’s really up to the reader to decide who hit the nail on the head, and who missed completely. A word of warning: this is not for the casual fan of dark fantasy and horror. Some of the pieces are very strange, and more than a little morbid. Recommended for mature readers, as some pieces may contain adult themes.