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

REVIEW: “Heirlooms” by Rosalind Alenko

Review of Rosalind Alenko, “Heirlooms”, in Myths, Monsters, and Mutations, edited by Jessica Augustsson (JayHenge Publications, 2017): 324-332. — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman. (Read the review of the anthology.)

Alenko devotes nearly two pages simply to setting the scene, with such attention to detail that when there is a mismatch between expectations and the story, it comes a bit jarring. (Tegan is much more commonly a female name than a male name; given the surfeit of Welsh names, I expected the story to be set in Wales…until a raccoon showed up.) There is a level of detachment that comes with this level of description, which Alenko uses to balance the strong emotional thread that runs through the story. Enid herself is a strange narrator; it is not clear how far we can trust her. She complains about the lack of road to the cemetery that “it’s not the dark ages!” but later seems to accept unquestioningly the existence of ghosts, witches, and faeries. Later, when Enid returns to her grandma, one wonders what story it is she will tell her.

This is the first story where I’ve found any editorial issues, a minor lapse resulting in “it’s” where there should be “its”.

Sara L. Uckelman1 Comment

REVIEW: “Red Queen’s Lullaby” by Ariel Ptak

Review of Ariel Ptak, “Red Queen’s Lullaby”, in Myths, Monsters, and Mutations, edited by Jessica Augustsson (JayHenge Publications, 2017): 321-322. — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman. (Read the review of the anthology.)

Ptak’s story includes an impressive amount of scene-setting for being as short as it is, painting a clear and vivid picture of place and history. There is not much to the story itself, but there is a clear resolution at the end. I do wonder, though, if the final three paragraphs are necessary or if, perhaps paradoxically, the story would’ve been stronger with a more ambiguous ending.

Sara L. Uckelman1 Comment

REVIEW: “Wasteland” Stephen R. Smith

Review of Stephen R. Smith, “Wasteland”, in Myths, Monsters, and Mutations, edited by Jessica Augustsson (JayHenge Publications, 2017): 267-268. — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman. (Read the review of the anthology.)

The guiding question throughout this story is “Who is Eliot?” Despite being introduced to us in the very first sentence — and indeed being the only character that we meet — this question is not clearly answered until the very end of the story, at which point one lingering question remains — why is he named ‘Eliot’? But that question is never answered because this story is quite short, almost more a vignette than a story, and resolution does not need to be the order of the day here.

Sara L. Uckelman1 Comment

REVIEW: “Cinderevolution” by Shondra Snodderly

Review of Shondra Snodderly, “Cinderevolution”, in Myths, Monsters, and Mutations, edited by Jessica Augustsson (JayHenge Publications, 2017): 307. — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman. (Read the review of the anthology.)

How many sentences does it take to tell a story? In the case of Snodderly’s “Cinderevolution”, if I write one more sentence after this one, my review will be as long as the story itself (which seems a bit backwards), so I’d better stop here.

Sara L. Uckelman1 Comment