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: “Everybody and His Mother” by Agrippina Domanski

Review of Agrippina Domanski, “Everybody and His Mother”, Luna Station Quarterly 32 (2017): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

I struggled with this one. I struggled with reading the story, to the point where I eventually gave up about half-way through, and then let it sit for another month before coming back to reread it. It’s not that it was poorly written, it’s not that it contained elements I found problematic, I just found it a difficult story to engage with. Part of it is that it seems quite atypical for Luna Station Quarterly‘s usual offerings; it very much felt like an ordinary story, of ordinary people doing ordinary things in ordinary places and that’s all it was for the first three-quarters of the story or so. In another venue, this wouldn’t have even been worth mentioning; but reading this story in a spec fic journal, I found myself waiting for more, wanting more. So I’m in the strange position of having to say that even if the story itself is good, the venue choice isn’t. It just didn’t work for me, and that ended up affecting my interaction with the story.

The story deals with the permeability of memory, and involves a lot of double-talk; I’m never quite sure what or whom to believe, never quite sure what the truth is. Part of this is because the narrator, Jemima, is not entirely reliable; part of it is simply because many useful pieces of information are omitted from where I would want to have them, or even omitted altogether. For example, both “Jack” and “the kid” play central roles both in the story and in Jemima’s life, but it was unclear for quite awhile what the relationship was between the kid and Jemima, or between the kid and Jack, or between Jack and Jemima. Clues and puzzle pieces were given, but I put them together in the wrong way, only to find a significant portion of the story later that I’d missed the mark. All of these things conspired to my finding this a difficult piece to read.

Sara L. UckelmanLeave a 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: “Passive Aggressive” by Narrelle M. Harris

Review of Narrelle M. Harris, “Passive Aggressive”, in Myths, Monsters, and Mutations, edited by Jessica Augustsson (JayHenge Publications, 2017): 270-274. — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman. (Read the review of the anthology.)

So much drama in fiction (and in reality, if we’re being honest here…) relies on people who say one thing but mean another, hidden, thing. In this story, Harris turns this technique on its head — people say one thing but what they mean is not hidden, it is known to everyone. As a result, there are always two layers of conversation going on, the what-is-said and the what-is-meant, and between this double layer is a layer of tension that continues to build and build until you know it must explode, and how it must explode, but not exactly how. Those exact details are a surprise that makes the story worth reading to the end.

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: “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: “Raw Material” by Brandon Nolta

Review of Brandon Nolta, “Raw Material”, in Myths, Monsters, and Mutations, edited by Jessica Augustsson (JayHenge Publications, 2017): 22-27 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman. (Read the review of the anthology.)

I found the opening few paragraphs of the story confusing because it wasn’t clear what the referent of all the pronouns were. A few paragraphs in, though, I diagnosed the cause of the confusion — none of the direct speech uses any quotation marks. So when the story opens:

It was near the end of LC’s fourteenth summer when her Aunt Chrys went to the family about her magic. My power should have manifested by now, Chrys told her assorted aunts and uncles…

both the “her” in the first sentence and the “my” in the second is Chrys herself, not LC.

I’m not sure why quotation marks weren’t use; there didn’t appear to be any narrative need for such a technique.

Despite this, the story is told in a confident, distinctive voice, and despite being relatively short managed to ease its way through quite a long period of time. The ending comes as a twist out of nowhere, though, because we haven’t been given any hints about Chrys that would make her final actions in keeping with her character.

Sara L. Uckelman1 Comment

REVIEW: “Too Generous” by N. R. M. Roshak

Review of N. R. M. Roshak, “Too Generous”, in Myths, Monsters, and Mutations, edited by Jessica Augustsson (JayHenge Publications, 2017): 16-20. — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman. (Read the review of the anthology.)

Note to anyone who wants to avoid such matters: This story deals with stillbirth.

The story starts off with an “I” narrator having a conversation with an unnamed, mute “you”. The reader? Someone else? If it is a reader, then right away the reader is being told how to feel: “You’re upset.” But maybe I wasn’t upset until you told me I was, dictating how I am supposed to feel and react. The frustrating thing is that this opening, this interaction with the reader, wasn’t at all necessary. The story could’ve started “I was a cleaner at St Joseph’s Hospital then” and the entire narrative structure would’ve been less antagonistic.

Otherwise, this is a classic horror story complete with very creepy monsters, all the more creepy for not being clearly specified. Are they vampires? Zombies? Something other unnamed horror? I’m not a big fan of the horror genre myself, but this story definitely creeped me out so I can conclude that it works.

Sara L. Uckelman1 Comment

REVIEW: “Cemetery Man” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Review of Silvia Moreno-Garcia, “Cemetery Man”, Apex Magazine 103: Read Online. Reviewed by Joanna Z. Weston.

“Cemetery Man” is my favorite kind of story; it’s exciting and fun, but has ample depth in both the plot and the characters. The historical setting (Mexican Revolution, circa 1910, I think?) and presence of female fighters are icing on the cake.

Catalina lies bleeding on the battlefield. When she wakes up she is in the lair of the Cemetery Man, a known resurrectionist for the opposing side. She’s fought many of his creations, but for now, she figures she is just lucky to be alive. The story proceeds with brief, disjointed scenes – moments of lucidity and pain, each ending with morphine. As Catalina’s strength increases, so does the length and coherence of the scenes, and what flows from there is a nicely paced story, rich in both internal and external development.

“Cemetery Man” pairs genuine creepiness with serious questions. Are the resurrected really alive? Conscious? Human? Catalina never asks this question directly, but the narrative asks it obliquely through situation and action. There are no easy answers, yet I found the ending satisfying.

J.Z. WestonLeave a comment