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.
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