Horror World Reviews

100 JOLTS: 100 SHOCKLINGLY SHORT STORIES by Michael A. Arnzen
Review by Mark Justice

When I started reading this collection I was immediately struck by the thought: how do you review a story that's only two paragraphs long?

The Answer is: you don't.

Flash fiction, I've found, is meant to be swallowed in one gulp, like a shot of tequila. Trying to dissect it and diagram it, reverse-engineering the structure to discern the meaning in the tale, is a load of crap.

So is trying to wrestle a collection of flash fiction stories to the ground with the same critical tools that you would use on a novel . It's useless.

Arnzen's stories-which range in length from a few paragraphs to a few short pages-are small moments frozen in amber. Here, have a shot of dread, of terror, of repulsion.

With great skill, Arnzen has honed each of these stories down to its essence. You often hear writers describe the story-writing process as a great labor in which each word has so much significance and impact that it must be chosen with a jeweler's eye. Arnzen has refined that method to the point that every word is not just important, it's pivotal. In these stories, single words covey worlds of meaning.

Anzen could probably find a way to scare us with punctuation.

Not every story in this collection works. A few could stand another sentence or paragraph or half-page. But most are terrifically effective.

Near the end of the book is an interview with Arnzen, conducted by Jerry Schatz, in which Arnzen describes flash fiction as "efficiency narratives…an ice cube of plot whose theme thaws with time."

That's a good description of what you'll find in these pages. Time may thaw the plot, but it doesn't diminish the impact these tales have. Some of them will stay with you longer than many novels.
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SHADOW WRITERS vol.2, edited by Paul Kane
Reviewed by Mario Guslandi

Paul Kane, the editor, and John B. Ford, the publisher, generously keep providing their circle of writing friends (the so-called Terror Scribes) with opportunities to be published.

Indeed Rainfall Books is becoming the breeding ground for new talents in the field of horror fiction, and Kane's own website (www.shadow-writer.co.uk), has a flourishing Guest Writer section, which is the source of the stories included in the Shadow Writers volumes. This second volume collects twelve tales appeared from October 2002 to September 2003 at Kane's site, embracing a wide range of styles, length and literary quality.

Amy Grech's "Dead eye" is a gruesome vignette, very enjoyable, although rather predictable in its development. Grech's writing style is quite smooth and effective and reminds me a lot of the late Robert Bloch. Paul Finch, a name by now well-known and respected among horror fans, contributes with a nice short tale, "Whizz", where a nasty snake-like creature is the cause of freak accidents due to excessive speed.

"Chalice" by Sue Phillips, constitutes the first part of a delightful vampire tale, also published by the author as a booklet including already the second chapter of the saga. Much to the readers' pleasure, more chapters are to follow,.

Neal Asher's "Scar tissue" is actually a SF piece, so I don't feel qualified to comment upon that.

Suellen Luwish's "Pretty enough" is… well, a pretty enough story, to be forgotten entirely as soon as you turn the last page. "Exploration" , an enigmatic piece of fiction by Steven Deighan, leaves you wondering about its actual meaning ( it's up to you to decide if the author must be praised or blamed for that) . Sarah Crabtree's "The afterthought" is a short, but very effective story describing the farewell visit of a woman to a friend dying of cancer. Apparently, very little happens, but you won't easily forget this little gem.

In"They wait" by Simon Bestwich, the most accomplished story in this anthology, an ever-changing gang of teenagers transforms its components in older copies of themselves. I know, it's hard to explain without giving away too much, so please read the story yourself, you won't be disappointed. It's an outstanding, disquieting tale which would have made an excellent Twilight Zone story.

Another splendid contribution is Joe Rattigan's "The hungry ones", a truly horrific story about uncanny creatures lurking in the dark in a derelict area of town. I'm not easily scared but this tale is so well written to frighten any reader. Rattigan is definitely an author to watch.

Unfortunately, but predictably, not everything is first-rate. Susanne S. Brydenbaugh's "Cain's moon" and Eddie M. Angerhuber's "The heart of darkness" are two perfect examples of disproportionate literary ambition leading to next to nothing while celebrating Cain's eternal doom over the centuries or looking for the "heart of darkness" and feeling "the endless monotony of days".The authors contrive to display elegant writing styles but seem to have precious little to tell.

The last contribution "Schism" by Steve Gerlach is a crazy journey into mental derangement, as aptly suggested by the alternative title "Mind fuck"…

The inclusion of a story by Kane himself would have certainly enhanced the general level of the anthology, which, however, remains fairly enjoyable, representing an interesting showcase of the new exponents of today's horror fiction.