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michielsaey's review
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
wpsmith17's review
4.0
I greatly enjoyed this thematic collection. Brian Evenson writes with the precision of a surgeon's hand to draw us into the trippy pathways that lead to madness. It's really impressive how he can do so much with so little.
shopgirl's review
4.0
Each story akin to sliding just very slightly to one side and catching a glimpse into another world that operates on rules similar to but unlike our own. Fantastical in all the best ways.
kcourts's review against another edition
3.0
Labeled as "weird" fiction, but I'd describe it as disturbing and unexpected. Most had me saying "now where is this going?" a few, strange paragraphs in. Creepy in ways that make you begin to doubt your own perceptions.
chasing_dallas's review against another edition
4.0
I wish I could give this 3 stars but some of the stories and the illustrations were amazing. I am not a short story book fan as I always feel cheated...I want the whole story not the slice they deliver. Some of these stories were real teases as they have tremendous potential to be more...but even as a glimpse they are good. Some fell flat some were amazing....typical short story book in that regard. The oddness of the writing is intriguing and I will keep my eye on Brian Evenson.
varadia's review against another edition
Creepy short stories, on the whole, not my favorite of his.
slyallm's review against another edition
2.0
Great in parts. Loved the first story, liked that he included a graphic short-story in the middle to break things up... but overall the collection sagged. He revisits settings, tropes, characters, etc and rather than feeling like variations on a theme, they start to feel repetitive. Exacerbated by the fact that a few of the stories -- the driver being chased by three ex-wives, the Alzheimer-zombie apocalypse, maybe one other -- go on well beyond what is necessary (and then the second-to-last was bizarrely short, barely a sketch).
geoffwehmeyer's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed most of these stories - his prose was so clear and simple that it grounded the fantastic elements for me. Kind of like Peter Straub meeting Stephen Dixon.
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