Unconventional: Twenty-Two Tales of Paranormal Gatherings Under the Guise of Conventions

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Unconventional: Twenty-Two Tales of Paranormal Gatherings Under the Guise of Conventions

by Kate Kaynak (Goodreads Author), Trisha Wooldridge

4.49 of 5 stars 4.49 · rating details · 39 ratings · 21 reviews

"The convention isn't the real reason we're here. That's just the cover story."

Alien ascensions in hotel ballrooms.
Mermaids on cruise ships.
Werewolves in dog shows.
Steampunk fairy time travelers.
A teenage superhero hitching a ride with a supervillain.
Comic books that absorb their readers.
Magical filk...
and much more.

"It's about to get weird. Okay... weirder."

Paperback, 314 pages

Published January 15th 2012 by Spencer Hill Press

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Sep 29, 2012 Stephanie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

ORIGINAL POST 9/30/2012 FANGS, Wands & FAIRY DUST: UNCONVETIONAL IS JUST THAT

UNCONVENTIONAL
Twenty-Two Tales of Paranormal Gatherings Under the Guise of Conventions
Editors: Kate Kaynak and Trisha Wooldridge
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press (January 15, 2012)
Disclosure: Obtained anonymously at BEA. No remuneration exchanged and all opinions herein are my own unless stated otherwise.

BLURB:
It's about to get weird... okay, weirder in here.
Alien ascensions in hotel ballrooms.
Me

...more ORIGINAL POST 9/30/2012 FANGS, Wands & FAIRY DUST: UNCONVETIONAL IS JUST THAT

UNCONVENTIONAL
Twenty-Two Tales of Paranormal Gatherings Under the Guise of Conventions
Editors: Kate Kaynak and Trisha Wooldridge
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press (January 15, 2012)
Disclosure: Obtained anonymously at BEA. No remuneration exchanged and all opinions herein are my own unless stated otherwise.

BLURB:
It's about to get weird... okay, weirder in here.
Alien ascensions in hotel ballrooms.
Mermaids on cruise ships.
Werewolves in dog shows.
Steampunk fairy time travelers.
A teenage superhero hitching a ride with a supervillain.
Comic books that absorb their readers.
Magical filk... and much more.

With stories by: LJ Berger, Vikki Ciaffone, Daniel Cohen, Gordon Dupuis, Anthony G. Francis, Jr., Justine Graykin, Randy O. Green, Melina Gunnett, Kate Kaynak, Danielle M. LeFevre, Kimberley Long-Ewing, Lauren Marrero, Will Morton, LS Murphy, Ira Nayman, KT Pinto, Jennifer Allis Provost, Patricia Puckett, Keshia Swaim, Sherry Thompson, Pamela van Hylckama Vlieg, and Trisha Wooldridge
spencerhillpress.com

When I picked this up at BEA, I thought it was the perfect paranormal companion to this year's convention and election season. There are a lot of stories in the collection. I enjoyed several: Keshia Swan's Family Ties, Shadow Harper by Sherry Thompson, Myrtle by Melina Gunnett, Belief by Vikki Ciaffone, Escalation is Academic by Ira Nayman, and The Waltz by Lauren Marrero. I found a few stories tolerable and the rest did not appeal to me. Of the stories I liked, I think the best were Family Ties, Shadow Harper, which was the perfect blend of etheral and real for its length, and Myrtle.

The stories are proofed; I was not distracted by typos or grammatical errors. However, there is a difference between superficial editing and story editing. Many of the stories needed editing to be good short stories.

In an anthology, it seems to me there are two tasks for the editors: editing and curating. The most profound issue is the oblique entry into a story world. While common as a device in longer format fiction. In an anthology of short stories it wastes pages. In a few stories I was just unable to determine what was happening. In one a female character is given a name usually reserved for males. Since she is interacting with three boys I was unsure whether she was the named character. By the time I figured it out I was too dismayed to finish the story.

Another curating issue, or book design issue, are the subtitles that appear under each author's name with the author and the author's place of residence between the two. At first, I thought they were descriptions of the author: the first was Debut Author, another was Guest. Reading on though, I realized that was not the case. They were just unnecessary and confused me.

The biggest issue I had with the anthology was that it was too many stories with the same theme. In most instances it was about fan or fantasy conventions, like comic con, Twi-con or Dragon-con. There were a few different gatherings, like a cruise or academic conference. Most stories featured fan cons where someone wasn't just dressed-up like an alien or fantasy creature, they were one. If this were an anthology of slightly longer stories with this theme it wouldn't have become tedious, but I felt I was reading the same story over and over.

Anthologies are a tough call. After all, I liked six of the twenty two, found three or four simply unreadable and the rest were meh to bleh! If I had a star rating system I guess that would place it smack-dab in the center at two-and-a-half.(less)

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Jan 01, 2012 Ira Nayman rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I should admit that, although the anthology is not going to be launched for two weeks, I just finished reading a copy of UnCONventional that I was given because I contributed a story to it. (The second Antonio Van der Whall, object psychologist story to see print, which is called "Escalation is Academic.") So, knowing that I have a personal stake in what happens to the book, read this review accordingly.

UnCONventional IS THE GREATEST COLLECTION OF STORIES SINCE THE BIBLE! NOT ONLY WILL IT ENLIVE...more I should admit that, although the anthology is not going to be launched for two weeks, I just finished reading a copy of UnCONventional that I was given because I contributed a story to it. (The second Antonio Van der Whall, object psychologist story to see print, which is called "Escalation is Academic.") So, knowing that I have a personal stake in what happens to the book, read this review accordingly.

UnCONventional IS THE GREATEST COLLECTION OF STORIES SINCE THE BIBLE! NOT ONLY WILL IT ENLIVEN YOUR DULL AND MEANINGLESS EXISTENCE, BUT READING IT WILL HELP YOU LOSE WEIGHT AND MAKE YOUR TEETH WHITER!

Okay, I may be exaggerating a bit. Let's just say that UnCONventional is a fun read that most fans of fantasy and science fiction are likely to enjoy.

The basic concept is, I think, pretty fresh: strange goings on go on in and around large public gatherings. The obvious one is science fiction conventions, which is the basis of several stories. However, the writers have ranged quite far afield, and the setting include an academic conference, a dog show and a sea cruise. The goings on also vary, including vampires, werewolves, aliens, mermaids and other complications that are harder to describe.

Vikki Ciafone's "Belief" and Daniel A. Cohen's "Ascension" are quite funny (the latter has an especially wonderful punchline). I loved the concept and execution of Kimberley Long-Ewing's "M.U.S.E." And, the collection ends with a very strong story, Anthony Francis' "Steampunk Fairy Chick," which reminded me of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension in the way that it incorporates wildly diverse elements into an action-packed story.

I should also say that the conceit of conventions is carried through in the design of the book. The table of contents, for instance, is divided into "panels," with the authors listed as "panelists." Not only that, but each story's title is displayed as a con badge. Some readers might find these touches a little precious; I thought it was delightful.

UnCONventional is a fun read. Most fantastic fiction fans, especially those who attend cons (as I have been doing a lot in the past two years) will really enjoy it.

(less)

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Jan 25, 2012 Marcie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I love the concept of this book. "Twenty-Two Tales of Paranormal Gatherings Under the Guise of Conventions" is written on the front cover. I couldn't resist the urge to read this book because of that. After all how many times have you seen someone dressed up for a convention, whether it be on television or in real life, and seriously started to wonder about their lives. This book explores what it would be like if the werewolf convention actually has real werewolf attending or if the person sitti...more

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Feb 06, 2012 Bethzaida rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I think UnConventional is the second anthology I’ve ever read. The thing is that these books don’t call my attention. Why invest my time reading short stories when I can be reading a whole book? But when I saw that Spencer Hill was going to publish an anthology and Kate Kaynak was one of the authors, I had to give it a try. And Oh. My. God. I loved it! There are some pretty awesome authors in this book. I’m not gonna lie, some stories I didn’t get. With 20 plus authors with different writing sty...more

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Jan 13, 2012 Shellie Cruz rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: arc

I absolutely loved this! There are 22 short stories that take you on a ride of their own. I love the different types of stories that were in here, it has opened me up to reading more of things that I normally wouldn’t. I fell in love with some of the stories and didn’t want them to end! In UnCONventional you have a little bit of everything ranging from Vampire, Witches, Mermaids, Fairies, Werewolves, Superhereos…you name it!

Some of the stories that I liked the best were-
Myrtle by Melina Gunnett...more

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Jun 01, 2012 Liyana rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My take on short story collections is like this: if I like majority of the stories, the anthology gets an overall positive liking. I'm going to highlight the stories that wowed me, and those that I generally liked. For those that I didn't, I'll mention it, maybe state why and then move on. Because that's what I'll do when reading the book from then on, skip over that particular story and pretend it doesn't exist. Maybe one day I'll reread to see if my opinion's changed. If so, I'll address that...more My take on short story collections is like this: if I like majority of the stories, the anthology gets an overall positive liking. I'm going to highlight the stories that wowed me, and those that I generally liked. For those that I didn't, I'll mention it, maybe state why and then move on. Because that's what I'll do when reading the book from then on, skip over that particular story and pretend it doesn't exist. Maybe one day I'll reread to see if my opinion's changed. If so, I'll address that in a Reread Retrospect post.

This is a good collection of short stories, I'm glad to say. They all deal with conventions (hence the CON in UnCONventional) which are usually mad and hassling without the supernatural elements. Divided into dealing with different types of supernatural creatures. This works out neatly, but at the same time, makes it easier for me to see which are the stronger stories.

It starts off with what was my favourite story in the collection, Family Ties by Keshia Swaim. I wouldn't mind more of this, because along came Myrtle by Melina Gunnett, which became my favourite story there. Serious favourites. Strong characterisation, deftly plotted, and of course, emotionally resonant. With what? I dunno, it made me feel, man.

There's the prerequisite hot boy, which I loved. It's like a staple in short stories, that hint of romance and promise of continuation. I'll be rereading both stories, and checking out future works of the authors.

There are also LGBT stories, such as 'Photo of a Mermaid by Trisha J. Woolridge.' I didn't like it, if only for the sole reason that there's too much dialogue overshadowing the plot, which is unfortunate, because it could have been something to watch out for.

The thing I absolute love about this anthology is that it spans a wide range of paranormal scenarios, though it's not just paranormal but has bits of steampunk, superheroes and scifi. You have your alternate realities, your feuding fae factions, and your hungry comic books. If you're a paranormal/fantasy fan, who like me, wants to broaden their reading spectrum within the same genre, this is the book for you. A catalogue, sorta.(less)

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Dec 30, 2011 Franny (Mind Reader) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Anthologies are new to me, and since this was my first one, I'm not entirely sure about how to review it.
Overall, it was a really pleasurable reading, lots of different styles and subjects and it was very interesting to see the different POVs of each writer.
I would like to spend a few words on the stories I really really loved.
FAMILY TIES: Keshia is a debut author and her story about the fey was very nice. She really left me hanging at the end so I hope I will read more of her somewhere else,...more

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Apr 03, 2012 Patricia Puckett rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: anthologies-featuring-my-stories

Discloure: I am the author of the story "So, These Monsters Walk into a Con" in this anthology.

In my completely honest opinion, regardless of the inclusion of my story in this collection, this is an amazing anthology. The editing and format of this story is on a professional level, and there was a lot love in this work. It shows. I would love to take the time and talk about all the stories in this, but there were so many wonderful pieces. Instead, I'll just point out a few of my favorites:

"Mytle...more

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May 28, 2012 Deborah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-in-2012, booksfree, dragoncon, gr-authors, reviews

I've listed all of the stories, but I only rate the ones I like.

Family Ties by Keshia Swaim - 3 stars
Shadow Harper by Sherry Thompson - 3 stars
Myrtle by Melina Gunnett - 4 stars I would like to see more of this world.
Photo of a Mermaid by Trisha J. Wooldridge - 3 stars
Belief by Vikki Giaffone - 5 stars
The Sirens by Danielle M. LeFevre - 3 stars
M.U.S.E by Kimberly Long-Ewing - 3 stars
What We Found in Our Room by Will Morten - 3 stars
All in by Jennifer Allis Provost
Rejecting Your Reality by KT Pi...more

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Apr 19, 2012 Bundles of rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: arcs, own, review-copies, sent-to-me

What would you do if you were just visiting a convention and suddenly discovered by a group of fae's? Or you found a mermaid on a cruise ship? Well, that is just some of the many things that happen to the characters found in this book of twenty-two tales. Under the disguise of conventions, paranormal gatherings happen.....with the occasional human there.

My favorite short story was definitely Family Ties by Keshia Swaim. In this story, a high school bookworm named Brielle Reed who is super nervo...more

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May 07, 2012 Rachael rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, hooked-to-books-reviews

UnCONventional is a collection of paranormal short stories which may lead you to ask, why is Rachael reviewing this book since we haven't seen her review a paranormal anything yet? Well, I think that's actually a good angle for this book review. This collection of stories, broken up by different types of paranormal subjects (faeries (which I learned are not fairies, like Tinker Bell), vampires, werewolves, aliens, myths becoming realty, etc.) There are several stories of varying lengths in each...more

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Apr 17, 2013 Charissa marked it as i-ll-never-read-these · review of another edition

What is a filk? I can't find that word in any of my dictionaries.

Edit: How can you have magical sci-fi folk whatever music? O_O

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Feb 20, 2012 Savannah (Books With Bite) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Great book! Filled with so many tales of different paranormal guises, this book is great for anyone wanting a variation of stories.

2 likes · like · see review

Dec 30, 2011 Amy marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Sounds like the kind of book you read and pass along to your friends!

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Apr 10, 2013 Lou Berger rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My story "Event at MileHiCon" is included

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Feb 06, 2012 Darby Karchut rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What a hoot! I'm not a big fan of short stories, but UnCONventional has changed my mind! Bravo to all the authors!

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Dec 18, 2011 L.S. Murphy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There are some amazing stories in this collection that may make you second guess that guy dressed in silver at the next ComiCon or Dragon Con or whatever convention you plan on going to next year.

The best thing, the stories are FUN.

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Jul 10, 2011 Kate Kaynak rated it 5 of 5 stars · (Review from the author) · review of another edition

Shelves: spencer-hill-press

We just finished making the final cuts for this over at Spencer Hill, and the stories that will be included are AMAZING! If you like your spec-fic with a twist, make sure you pick up a copy of UnCONventional.

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Jan 06, 2012 Keshia Swaim rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Great collection! For a full review, visit 1bookaddict.blogspot.com

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Jan 02, 2012 Lisa Rogers rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A fun quick read that showcases many talented authors.

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May 25, 2012 Emily rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Read "the sirens"by my friend Danielle

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