Grab
bag of quality and horror sub-genres (3/5)
Jessup,
Paul: “It Tasted Like the Sea” (2009, shortstory) – 4/5
As
an obligation held to Josh in her times of weakness at the hand of
her ex-husband, Cathy feels compelled to comfort Josh in his own time
of need. His art gallery had been met with a poor review, resulting
in his sulking and Cathy's comfort. His art, a misogynistic portrayal
of amputated women's limbs and removed faces, gives Cathy the chills,
but soon realizes that she has been ensnared in his artistic trap in
which she copes in her own way.
Mamatas,
Nick: “Summon, Bind, Banish” (2008, shortstory) – 3/5
Alich
if a man of he early twentieth century and indulges himself in
satanic/black magic rituals in which he sees himself as a dark lord
of the magical underworld. Another man,more so a child, several
decades later finds himself living in his mother's basement without
any ambition for the future save for the glow of the black and white
television, the memory of his grandmother, and extremist thoughts.
However, they are both restrained by naivety and ineptitude.
Pagliassotti,
Dru: “To Every Thing There is a Season”(novelette) – 2/5
The
cherubic, available and becomingly Lady Camille is being wooed by
Lord Douglas Marsh, but another man has come between them—a man of
unknown intent, mysterious origin, and veiled allegiances. This
darkly-complexioned and jeweled man wins favor of young Lady Camille
though he's only the ambassador of Carcose, once called Corsica
before Cthulhu's nebulous and dark presence took hold of Earth. Now,
Douglas must fight back.
Kontis,
Alethea & Branson, Ariell: “Life's a Beach” (shortstory) –
3/5
A
young man spurned by his young love-interest, Eddie feels the
bubbling hatred from the pit of his tormented mind. Free of all care
once spurned, Eddie imbibes in his whimsical lust of vengeance while
the gulls of the beachside scene witness and participate in the
slaughter. He stabs the girls who spurned him, bashes the boy whose
detached curiosity annoys him, impales the other boy who ridicule
him—all the while, the birds circle and descend.
Ainsworth,
Gill: “Kusatenda Uroyi” (shortstory) – 3/5
In
Zimbabwe on ancestral pilgrimage to visit his distant grandmother's
burial ground in the water waters of a distant waterfall, Martin
Chapman is a black-skinned man in a black-skinned land, yet his
accent, money, and intention give away his foreign origin. His
request to visit the waterfall is rejected by a tour guide and a
youth he hires turns him into a bloodied victim. Still, Martin's
dream awakens him to this ancestral truth and he's determined, still,
to visit the waterfall.
O'Neill,
Gene: “Lottery” (shortstory) – 2/5
Marek
clutches his beloved wife's hand in the Community Hall where everyone
in the village has gathered to hear the single-named lottery draw of
eligible females. Marek is dumbfounded by the announcement—his
lover Krasna has been chosen and now he must lead her to the
MedCenter to begin her transformation. Later, again clutching each
other, they depart as she she is led for the final Transformation. At
night, the couple meet again under different circumstances.
Kowel,
Mary Robinette: “Cerbo en Vitra ujo” (2006, shortstory) – 3/5
As
Grete prunes her garden in an orbital in the sky, her boyfriend Kaj
visits her to deliver his news: he's been accepted to attend school
down on Earth at Fairview Academy. Once he departs, Grete's longing
for him grows until she tries to contact him without any success. She
tracks the biopattern of his iris to a wealthy orbital, where a woman
own Kaj's eyes. His fingerprints, too, belong to another person, who
has Kaj's hands... his surname happens to be Fairview.
Burstein,
Michael A.: “The Spider in the Hairdo” (1997, shortstory) – 4/5
Thick
of waist and low of self-esteem, Peggy is a high school girl whose
daily life is plagued by bullying and torment. She is chosen as a
host for a desperate refugee spider that has landed on Earth after
its own planet had died. The spider impels her to have a beehive
hairdo so that it can lay its eggs in her skull undisturbed buts
keeps telling and reaffirming her that the style will make her
popular. When the spider is discovered, she vows revenge.
Hasson,
Guy: “The Dark Side” (novelette) – 4/5
He
met Sharon at the 7-11 or did she try to sell him insurance in his
apartment? Had she killed him, had he killed her, or had they jumped
off the roof one after another to splatter on the concrete? Obsessed
with death and the promises of the afterlife, he commits suicide
again and again for the power of choice: living in any of diverged
pasts or future of his life, where his father lives or dies, where he
kills or is killed.
Sardina,
Martel: “With the Beating of Their Wings” (shortstory) – 4/5
Kalden
is laid on a stone alter in the mountains of Tibet after his death.
As a youth, all of his childhood questions about death were answered
save one lingering mystery: who he will be reincarnated as. After his
body is ritually butchered and fed to the awaiting vultures, his
journey to reincarnation begins. With his being inside he culture,
the same vulture lays an egg, and another woman consumes that egg and
mothers a daughter, who Kalden becomes. Unaware of this, she yearns
to be a butcher though its forbidden.
Riley,
Thomas: “Enough to Make a Devil” (novelette) – 3/5
James
Rees is a fractured mind according to everyone who has crossed his
path, including the dozens of women he killed. Compelled by the evil
of a dimensional demon, an embodiment of evil as much as God is said
to be pure good, Yog-Sothoth compels James to kill since he had
discovered the temporal weakness in the ghost town of Dunwich. His
old case worker visits him, shares his haunting visions, and feels
the evil of the newest psychologist.
Sizemore,
Jason: “Flash of Light” (2007, shortstory) – 2/5
A
veteran of the 2043 start of the American-Asian war, Gerald Malcolm
Linden is a wounded man with a wounded state of mind. The initial
fracture of his psyche is a result of his failure in the Pacific
arena where thousands of men died under his direction. The chasm of
his mental wound is spread to fester when the government refuses to
allow him to draw pension. His two kids hide in a closet as he takes
his wife aside and shoots her in the head.
Tidhar,
Lavie: “Transylvania Mission” (2004, shortstory) – 2/5
Between
Hungary and Romania, a band of displaced Jews hides from the Nazi
army. Their overseer/leader/commander, The Rat, is a changeling of
the animal of his namesake. He learns that the Nazis are crossing the
border, but their jeeps aren't the only threat—the Gestapo's army
of Wolfkommado are in tote. The Rat's status and form intrigue the
Nazis as they move on toward Bran Castle, where Dracula is rumored.
Adkins,
Mari: “Inside Looking Out” (shortstory) – 3/5
Call
it kinship or a telepathic bond, something pleasantly eerie exists
between Erin and Devon. Devon used to call upon her to conjure dark
magic, but today he needs help finding the bodies of two teenagers.
To assist his investigation, Erin enters the ghostly realm and uses
her faultless intuition to locate the two bound and charred corpses.
Erin physically follows Devon to the murder scene, where she senses
something else eerie, then sinister.
Taber,
Deb: “Powered” (2006, shortstory) – 4/5
A
generation heirloom of sorts is handed down to Cassie—a table-saw.
Prior to her current ownership of the saw, the machine belonged to
Mama Marie, who lives with Cassie and advises her on how to handle
the beast of a machine. Mama Marie has bodily proof in a scar that
the machine can act up, but Cassie doesn't understand the temperament
of the saw until she pulls the plug on it.
Burrow,
B. J.: “Disturbing Things” (shortstory) – 3/5
Jack
wants to involve himself in every gruesome accident he passes,
thinking he should do something. His
fiancé
Maggie urges him to continue on their way and shrugs off her own urge
to rubberneck. On the way to her family's house, Maggie warns him
that an unpleasant childhood experience will be mentioned at the
evening's dinner party, where Father Harris is the guest. His story
spins Jack's head, but his accusation spins his life.
Brozek,
Jennifer: “Eulogy for Muffin” (shortstory) – 3/5
A
group of children from two families mourns the death of their
respective pet: a cat and a ferret. Sharon considers the death to be
an act from a menacing fox, but the other mother, Kathy, is more keen
on things. The children's seemingly spontaneous need for a
ritualburial, eulogy, and reverence to a God named Moccus and his
heaven Annwfn is actually more real than Sharon knows, and the
children are most eager to share.
Engstrom,
Elizabeth: “Hands of Heritage” (shortstory) – 3/5
Originally
from Amsterdam but currently residing in England, Abraham Van Helsing
is a sought after man when it comes to the tracking and killing of
vampires. He catches word of a recent convert, tracks her down, and
makes her confess the name of the person who turned her before
driving a stake through her heart. Abraham is astonished that his
long dead father is the vampire in question, an event which releases
a torrent of represses childhood angst.
Anwar,
M. Zak & Anwar, O. M. R.: “The Junkyard God” (shortstory) –
4/5
Living
in the trash heap of the Depositors, tribes of Junkyardies eek out
their survival while living in fear of the Dogs. Some as big as vans,
these patrolling, marauding, and murdering monstrosities of flesh and
metal kill the tribes' people at will, but there is one family name
dedicated to banishing these creatures—Ironspear. The young Lirk
Ironspear decides to tackle a recent menace to Enannco Disposal Unit
39 to prove his worth.
Friel,
Fran: “Bessie Green's Thumb” (shortstory) – 4/5
A
widow without any recourse to spending her time, Bessie accepts the
responsibility of looking after a tomato plant. As the plant wilts in
her apartment, she looks upon the adjacent vacant lot and remembers
the hippies conjuring Pam for whatever reason. After she places the
tomato plant in the soil of the garden and accidentally spills blood
onto the same soil, the garden soon grows lush. The community is
enlivened and motivated while her appearance seems to be getting
younger. It seems Pan might have been called forth after all.
Pelland,
Jennifer: “Big Sister/Little Sister” (2003, shortstory) – 5/5
Born
as twins but far from equals, Big Sister was born able-bodied while
Little Sister was a pathetic, feeble emotional drain. Big Sister's
mother never let her forget that Little Sister could never enjoy the
same freedom as she, so before her death, their mother grafted the
head of Little Sister on to the torso of Big Sister so that they
could experience the world together. Given that Big Sister has always
resented her status, she plans ways to hurt and silence her sister.
