Review of Lindz McLeod, “The Brides, The Hunted,” Flash Fiction Online 129 (June 2024): 16-18 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Domestic violence.
This story involved a flipped gender dynamic, which was interesting because of how weird it felt. Stories like this are good, because they remind us how unnatural and weird our current social structures are, no matter how used to them we may be.
Review of Justine Gardner, “Are They Cake?,” Flash Fiction Online 129 (June 2024): 12-15 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Nothing like the combination of “cake” in the title and “horror” as the genre to get you into a state of “I have no idea what this story is going to be about”. The opening paragraph thrusts you straight into a dystopian version of the Great British Bake-Off, and you know nothing is going to go well — whether “they” are cake or not.
It’s hilarious — the sort of story that keeps you laughing just so that you don’t have to acknowledge the horror beneath it all.
Review of Caroline Hung, “War Makes Flowers,” Flash Fiction Online 129 (June 2024): 8-10 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: body horror, gore, war.
Normally I’m happy to classify “horror” under the broad speculative fiction umbrella; but this story’s horror draws very much upon the horror of real life — what is most horrible about the story is how real it is. So while I think it’s effective horror, I think it’s also a rare example of a story that’s horror but not speculative.
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 Susan Taitel, “Can Someone Tell Me What Kind of Moth This Is?,” Flash Fiction Online 110 (November 2022): 12-14 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This story was billed as horror, but it mostly made me laugh (especially the ending, brilliantly constructed). However, if you have a fear of moths, maybe avoid this one!
Review of Janna Miller, “The Sternum Ties it All Together,” Small Wonders no. 7 (January 2024): 22-24 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was a surprisingly gruesome little story — not quite body horror, but adjacent to it. Not ordinarily my cup of tea, but there was something quite gripping about it.
(First published in The Molotov Cocktail, 2022).
Review of Josh Pearce, “Imago Dei,” Flash Fiction Online 124 (January 2024): 8-10 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Cults, forced insemination.
Creepy and disturbing, this story took mundane things that are already horrible, and combined them with the horrible fantastical, to make something even worse. Not the sort of story I normally seek out, but I thought it was pretty brilliantly done.
Review of Jennifer Mace, “Upon What Soil They Fed,” Flash Fiction Online (March 2023): 20-22 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was a creepy little story about the unexpected things a door-to-door salesman might encounter.
(First published in Syntax & Salt January 2020).
Review of Marisca Pichette, “Wonderful Wounds Await You,” Flash Fiction Online (March 2023): 16-19 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was an interesting story which was a “not for me” one because of its use of second-person narration. If this doesn’t bother you, then you’ll probably enjoy it (unless body horror isn’t your thing.)
Review of Dafydd McKimm, “Power is Love in the Devil’s Eye,” Flash Fiction Online (March 2023): 11-15 — Purchase here. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Salacious, graphic, and humorful, but unfortunately rather too relentlessly heteronormative for my tastes.
SFF Reviews