D. Harlan Wilson returns with another ferociously mindbending collection of short fiction. Masked in absurdity, these stories reveal the horrifying...
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reviews
Jun 29, 2011
Anita
rated it: 
I’m unsure even how to begin this discussion. Thematically, I’m completely screwed. So I think I’m going to concentrate on examples of all the story types present in this book.
First, the six-word story. It is also the first story in the book. “6 Word Scifi”:
Mechanical flâneurs goosestep across the prairie.
Thank god I went through a heavy Baudelaire phase or I would have had no idea what a “flâneur” is. As six word stories go, it’s not bad. I think Hemingway stil More...
First, the six-word story. It is also the first story in the book. “6 Word Scifi”:
Mechanical flâneurs goosestep across the prairie.
Thank god I went through a heavy Baudelaire phase or I would have had no idea what a “flâneur” is. As six word stories go, it’s not bad. I think Hemingway stil More...
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Jun 23, 2011
Garrett
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D. Harlan Wilson's stories are like the titular mutants of this book. They do not belong. They are offbeat mutants that sometimes carry with them a feeling of just plain wrongness. They are reality deviants and infiltrators and don't seem to be composed of the proper parts. A father and daughter look at a whale in a petstore. The image of a giraffe haunts a man. Language and reality break down. Nonsensical crimes happen in obscure hotel rooms. These parts are wrong. The union of Kafka, Ligotti a
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Mar 21, 2011
G.
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They Had Goat Heads by D. Harlan Wilson - Review by G. Wells Taylor
D. Harlan Wilson’s collection They Had Goat Heads (© 2010 Atlatl Press) almost explodes in your hands. The author’s deft and rapid-fire writing style reaches critical mass in seconds and a literary event of cosmic magnitude occurs. Then you realize you were standing too close: you’re not in real time or space anymore.
Years ago I was lucky enough to review Wilson’s collection, The Kafka Effekt (© 2001 Erase More...
D. Harlan Wilson’s collection They Had Goat Heads (© 2010 Atlatl Press) almost explodes in your hands. The author’s deft and rapid-fire writing style reaches critical mass in seconds and a literary event of cosmic magnitude occurs. Then you realize you were standing too close: you’re not in real time or space anymore.
Years ago I was lucky enough to review Wilson’s collection, The Kafka Effekt (© 2001 Erase More...
Dec 01, 2011
Scott
rated it:
D. Harlan Wilson's collection THEY HAD GOAT HEADS is an either/or proposition; you're either going to love this assemblage of irreality or you'll be baffled and left cold. Which camp you'll fall into depends on your tolerance for absurd, often obtuse fiction, but for the adventurous reader the rewards are many.
GOAT HEADS bursts with a wealth of bizarre imagery and alien, dream-like scenarios. In "Whale--with a Surprise Alternate (Happy) Ending!!!" a father and daughter bond More...
GOAT HEADS bursts with a wealth of bizarre imagery and alien, dream-like scenarios. In "Whale--with a Surprise Alternate (Happy) Ending!!!" a father and daughter bond More...
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Mar 05, 2011
Kathryn
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A word of advice for anyone interested in reading this book - I do not recommend reading it straight through, from beginning to end, in one sitting. I do not recommend reading more than 1 long or 1 or 2 short pieces together. I started reading straight through and found myself becoming a little lost and even disliking some of what I was reading. So I stepped away and read a little each day, including rereading the bits I had started to dislike, and the entire book felt better, or I felt better a
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Jun 02, 2011
Steve
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This collection of absurd, surreal, irreal, bizarro flash and short fiction is dedicated to the memory of Stanley Ashenbach, who is still alive.
I met D. Harlan Wilson recently at a convention. She was a very kind old woman who lent me a hand in removing a coral snake from my glove compartment. I did not return the hand yet, however. I sent it to this person as a warning to never touch styrofoam bearing my name again.
If you love strange, dreamlike, "irrealist" fictio More...
I met D. Harlan Wilson recently at a convention. She was a very kind old woman who lent me a hand in removing a coral snake from my glove compartment. I did not return the hand yet, however. I sent it to this person as a warning to never touch styrofoam bearing my name again.
If you love strange, dreamlike, "irrealist" fictio More...
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Oct 24, 2011
David
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These are some intriguing stories. At the very least, they aren't ordinary. Ranging anywhere from absurd to completely surreal, these stories have marvelous images, puzzling leaps, and wild imagination. Some of the stories may be a little further out there than would be my own particular bent, but it was a delight to be able to be befuddled over them for a while. And they do make a kind of sense...which scares me more than anything else about the book.
Nov 29, 2011
Asphodel
rated it: 
The novelty wore off really fast. I kept noticing lots of repetition of certain obscure words. A quick short story in a magazine is one thing but a whole bunch of this tripe one after another....
No thanks
No thanks
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Feb 12, 2012
Georgina
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Weirdly wonderful. Not sure that I understood many of these outrageous and brilliantly-written stories, but I certainly had fun trying.
Sep 18, 2011
Henrik
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It was like a word association game gone wrong, very wrong. None of the stories made any kind of sense, thank god it wasnt't very long.
Jul 25, 2010
Chris
rated it:
Great collection of flash fiction and short stories. Much of the writing is non-traditional (I don't like to say experimental), but for me, the best stuff is odd despite its straightforward nature. My favorites are "The Arrest," in which 7 men try to arrest each other, and "Chimpanzee," which is very odd and disturbing.
The stories, ranging from six words to several pages all seem appropriate in length, and are complete stories, which is often not the case with fl More...
The stories, ranging from six words to several pages all seem appropriate in length, and are complete stories, which is often not the case with fl More...
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Dec 10, 2010
Marvin
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D. Harlan Wilson is certainly in a class by himself. This collection of short fiction, shorter fiction and flash fiction is all over the place but is full of fantastic imagery, disturbing actions, and quick wit. Even at it's weirdness, and it gets really weird, the author's words flow as this is all very natural. Sometimes there is an effortless feel of loose association even though almost all the stories have some kind of plot involved. My favorite stories are "The Arrest", "Whal
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Mar 09, 2011
Sheri
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"Bizarro" fiction, which isn't my favorite, but some good stories in there. Review to come at Rise Reviews online tomorrow.
Oct 02, 2010
Thomas
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This is a fine collection of stories,vignettes and flash fictions that are in turn funny, absurd and menacing. The gems of this collection are: The Arrest, The Movie That Never Was, The Storyteller, P.O. Box 455, Whale!, Quality of Life, and The Kerosine Lantern Tour. In a class by itself is the illustated story called The Sister , in which atrocity is piled upon atrocity in such adead-pan manner to express the horror and absurdity of the modern world.
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Oct 06, 2010
Emma
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A well written piece By D.Harlan Wilson
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Feb 09, 2012
Donald
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Enter his world again another short story collection from the great D. Harlan Wilson. Living monster trucks, beneath a pink sun, a dead chimpanzee with a balloon celebration and a little gun play.
Wilson's shorts are surreal and hilarious this guy could make a man with the blues laugh and crack a rib. One of my favorite authors.
Wilson's shorts are surreal and hilarious this guy could make a man with the blues laugh and crack a rib. One of my favorite authors.
Sep 16, 2011
This is just not my cup of tea. I feel I can't fairly review this book. I will try reading it again at some point, but the couple of stories that I got through I kind of hated.
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