Bone Marrow Stew

(Tasmaniac Publications 2011; HC limited, 460 pgs.)

BONE MARROW STEW is a fantastic short story collection from Tim Curran. With stories ranging from a man who can resurrect the dead in Paris, a theoretical physicist who sees into another dimension, the people caught in the middle of a migration of epic proportions on a mining colony and the things the men on a prison road crew actually do, there is something here for everyone.

My favorite story in the collection (although it's hard to choose) is "The Chattering of Tiny Teeth" about the things seen on a muddy, trench-filled battlefield in Flanders during World War I; it's so much worse than the dead, dying and usual horrors of war. Another favorite of mine is "Queen of Spades" about a group of children trying to scrape out an existence in a bombed out city during World War II; what's come looking for these children may be worse than the Nazi soldiers they were able to hide from. And how could I possibly leave out "The Legend of Black Betty", a tale about zombies and voodoo in the Old West.

Other great stories include "The Puppeteer" about the things that puppets may be able to do when no one is looking; "One Dark September Night…" about the scars one man has carried from a night with his friends; "The Architecture of Pestilence" about a snake-oil salesman and the consequences of his actions; and "Reign of the Eater" about the bringer of death….this one reads like dark poetry.

BONE MARROW STEW is an amazing collection. Tim Curran has a way of writing that draws you into the story. It's as if you're really there. You can almost hear the sounds and smell the smells. His prose is descriptive, dark and visceral. The introduction by Simon Clark and artwork by Keith Minion (the cover was designed by Deena Warner) just add to the collection. If you've never read anything by Tim Curran this is a good place to start. Have I mentioned that I'm a huge Tim Curran fan?

Review by: Colleen Wanglund