REVIEW: “Demon of the Song” by Ville Meriläinen

Review of Ville Meriläinen, “Demon of the Song”, in Myths, Monsters, and Mutations, edited by Jessica Augustsson (JayHenge Publications, 2017): 337-355. — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman. (Read the review of the anthology.)

This is a nice, satisfyingly long story full of rich description and characters with complex histories.

Natalie and Siren are linked together in uneasy partnership that Natalie longs to escape. Vanderoy — perhaps — is the one to help her. But can Natalie accept Vanderoy’s help when she knows that Siren is waiting beside her for the moment that she can get Vanderoy in her clutches? Will Natalie save herself at Vanderoy’s expense, or sacrifice herself to save Vanderoy?

The story was finely crafted, with details fed to the reader at just the right pace, until the last of the pieces snapped into the puzzle.

Sara L. Uckelman1 Comment

REVIEW: “Demon in a Copper Case” by Damon L. Wakes

Review of Damon L. Wakes, “Demon in a Copper Case”, in Myths, Monsters, and Mutations, edited by Jessica Augustsson (JayHenge Publications, 2017): 135-137. — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman. (Read the review of the anthology.)

When times are hard, heresy no longer seems like such a bad idea. The people of Singstoat are suffering from a decline in industry, and many people are debt-ridden and struggling. In such a context, the temptation to call upon the demon in the copper case is too strong to resist…

This was a fun little story, quickly told but with plenty of detail and characters. It’s a classic plot line but there is something satisfying in reading a good retelling of an old tale.

Sara L. Uckelman1 Comment

REVIEW: “A Taste of Freedom” by Thomas Webb

Review of Thomas Webb, “A Taste of Freedom”, in Myths, Monsters, and Mutations, edited by Jessica Augustsson (JayHenge Publications, 2017): 375-378. — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman. (Read the review of the anthology.)

Warning: Probably not the story you want to read if you’ve suffered from abuse.

This story is told in shadows and secrecy, the story of She and of what He did to her. We never know who either of them are; this is because She doesn’t have enough sense of who she is in order to tell us more than what she does.

It’s not a pleasant story, and, to be honest, not the sort of story that I enjoy at all. I tend to think one must have a very good reason before choosing to write a story of abuse — to have some sense of what will be gained from doing so, and that this gain will outweigh any harm done by perpetuating, almost normalising, such behavior. If there was a gain in telling this story, I’m not sure I was able to see what it was.

Sara L. Uckelman1 Comment

REVIEW: “Aliens and Old Gods” by Kimber Camacho

Review of Kimber Camacho, “Aliens and Old Gods”, in Myths, Monsters, and Mutations, edited by Jessica Augustsson (JayHenge Publications, 2017): 360-374. — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman. (Read the review of the anthology.)

I find I enjoy the longer stories in this anthology more than the shorter ones, in part because the length means there’s more meat to the story — and there’s plenty of meat in this one.

The story is constructed out of four different vignettes, of seemingly disparate events, happening in different places and different times to different people, with — at first — no clear connecting thread running through them. But by the time we finish the second one, it is clear that the titular aliens and old gods are the red thread that connects all the different events together.

A second thread that ties each of the scenes together is the narrative voice that tells them all, a voice that is clinical and almost journalistic. These scenes are told by someone who appears to be watching the events at arm’s length, almost always uninvolved and dispassionate (only sometimes turning passionate and interpretative), and who is someone who clearly knows a lot more than anyone experiencing the events. One of the aliens? One of the old gods? We won’t ever know…

Sara L. Uckelman1 Comment

REVIEW: “Skeletons in the Closet” by Susanne Hülsmann

Review of Susanne Hülsmann, “Skeletons in the Closet”, in Myths, Monsters, and Mutations, edited by Jessica Augustsson (JayHenge Publications, 2017): 312-314. — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman. (Read the review of the anthology.)

Probably everyone who reads this has one — a skeleton in the closet, that is — and they are far from being mere inert dead remains. Hülsmann’s story explores the power these skeletons have over us, the power that we give them by feeding them upon our secrets. And when they’ve eaten enough of our secrets to break free of the closets…what then?

This is a short, creepy tale, with an intensely personal voice that makes it feel as if you are sitting and chatting with the author. Thumbs up, would read again.

Sara L. Uckelman1 Comment

REVIEW: “Sometimes People are Monsters” by Kaleen Hird

Review of Kaleen Hird, “Sometimes People are Monsters”, in Myths, Monsters, and Mutations, edited by Jessica Augustsson (JayHenge Publications, 2017): 308-310. — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman. (Read the review of the anthology.)

Warning: If animal abuse is not your thing, then this is not the story for you.

This is a tight little story with a distinctive voice and distinctive worldbuilding — the sort that makes you want to read more. And my sympathy is on the side of Sima and Corin from the very start, because they are the ones who fight on behalf of the monsters against all the people who are monsters.

Sara L. Uckelman1 Comment

REVIEW: “Gorgon’s Deep” by Mike Adamson

Review of Mike Adamson, “Gorgon’s Deep”, in Myths, Monsters, and Mutations, edited by Jessica Augustsson (JayHenge Publications, 2017): 208-223 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman. (Read the review of the anthology.)

What horrors lie within the deeps?

This is a story of gorgons, gorgons with tentacles and gorgons who paralyse their prey. But for all that, these gorgons are not the gorgons of Greek mythology. Adamson’s take on the classical mythological creature reinvents them as another type of monster, one which has quite a bit more currency in recent speculative fiction than the classical ones themselves. These gorgons are the true heirs of the sea god.

The story starts slowly, and the two main characters are introduced to us in such a way that holds them at arm’s length — two perfect, naked figures making love on a foggy beach. (All I can think of as I read this is “damn, that must be damp and uncomfortable.”) Once it gets going, though, it’s a pretty classic futuristic horror story, ratcheting up on the tension until the very end.

Sara L. Uckelman1 Comment

REVIEW: “Gristle” by Jay Knioum

Review of Jay Knioum, “Gristle”, in Myths, Monsters, and Mutations, edited by Jessica Augustsson (JayHenge Publications, 2017): 258-259. — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman. (Read the review of the anthology.)

Warning: If you don’t want to read about mutilated children and/or cannibalism, then this is not the story for you.

Ordinarily, those two things would mean that this wouldn’t be the story for me, either, but the way Knioum takes an unusual perspective on a relatively usual horror genre was both intriguing and well done — and in this particular case, the quite short length of the story was a plus rather than a minus. At two pages, it was exactly the right length.

Sara L. Uckelman2 Comments

REVIEW: “For the Love of Snow White” by Delilah Night

Review of Delilah Night, “For the Love of Snow White”, in Myths, Monsters, and Mutations, edited by Jessica Augustsson (JayHenge Publications, 2017): 36-68 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman. (Read the review of the anthology.)

It takes a lot of guts to start off a story “Once upon a time”, but Night should have every confidence in herself: This is one of the most satisfying fairy tale retellings I’ve read.

Fairy tales are rife with shadowy evil step-mothers whose sole purpose in the story seems to be to provide a bad guy. We never find out why they are evil, or what happened to the hero/heroine’s first mother. We do in this story; the narrator here is Snow White’s step mother, and we learn about how she came to the kingdom, ensnared the king, and, ultimately, cast Snow White into a sleep like death.

But the story isn’t just “Snow White told from another perspective”. It is a story of the clash between pagan druidic religion and the coming of a new god, a mix of classic myth/fairy tale with Christian religion and druidic rituals. It is a story of love and familial bonds. There is a very happy and cheerfully ordinary F/F romance.

Only two things slightly detracted from the story. There was some slightly overt erotica, which doesn’t in principle bother me but which felt rather out of place in this story particular story, and there is also one count of attempted incest, which, eugh, but in this case it did work in the story.

Part of what makes the story so successful is its length, one of the longest in the volume. I’ll be very curious to see if any other story can oust this one from its current spot as my favorite.

Sara L. Uckelman2 Comments

REVIEW: “Waffles” by Ariel Ptak

Review of Ariel Ptak, “Waffles”, in Myths, Monsters, and Mutations, edited by Jessica Augustsson (JayHenge Publications, 2017): 29-34 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman. (Read the review of the anthology.)

I love ambiguous titles, and this one makes you wonder whether it’s about indecision or tasty tasty breakfast food. (Or perhaps even both!)

The story alternates between narration and snippets of emails. There is a specific shift in the voice in the narrative sections which I think was done particularly well — subtle enough that you don’t notice it at first, clever enough to be very satisfying when you do.

Ultimately, though, I felt like the story was trying to be funny rather than actually being funny, leaving the reader wondering just a bit, “why this story?”

Sara L. Uckelman1 Comment