Review of Brandon Case, “Darkness, Blanket of My Eyes,” Flash Fiction Online 128 (May 2024): 14-17 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was billed as a horror story, but it’s actually a love story. (Though, it’s definitely horror-y enough that if this isn’t the genre for you, don’t read this. Also don’t read if attempted tentacle sex isn’t your thing.)
Review of J. Autumn Needles, “The Chicken’s Just Fine,” Flash Fiction Online 128 (May 2024): 11-13 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
What a strange little story. The FFO editors classified this as science fiction, but the only SF element I could find is the setting — one oblique reference to the characters having “brought those ideas from another world” (p. 11). The speculative elements are loosely defined enough that one could interpret them as either science or magic, a pleasing ambiguity which definitely helps the story along.
Review of Katie Kotulak, “Lord Mortedart’s Revenge,” Flash Fiction Online 128 (May 2024): 7-10 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
A deity, or a demon (it’s not clear which, though he’s clearly something supernatural), comes to the end of their 100 year imprisonment and returns to earth — only to find that no one knows who they are, and no one cares. It’s a hilarious premise, humoristically and also thoughtfully rendered. This was a good little fun story, full of piercing moments of brief heart-wrenching tugs.
This was Kotulak’s debut publication, and let me tell you: I sincerely hope it isn’t the last!
Review of Jim Kourlas, “Toby on Third,” Flash Fiction Online 127 (April 2024): 8-10 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This story gets reviewed on the blog here purely because of our commitment to review every story in an issue; there isn’t anything particularly speculative about it. Perhaps if there were, I would’ve enjoyed it more: A litfic story about baseball just isn’t my cup of tea. But even so, I was impressed at how Kourlas was able to construct such a complex and compelling father-son relationship in so little space.
Review of Aimee Ogden, “Like Blood for Ink,” Flash Fiction Online 127 (April 2024): 18-20 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Ogden is a master of a particular type of flash fiction craft: Take an ordinary situation, change one thing to be out of the ordinary, and use the result to say something about our daily lives (in this case, every parents’ worry of passing the worst of themselves on to their children). The more I read her stories, the more I admire her skill.
(First published in Daily Science Fiction, 2021).
SFF Reviews