Book Review: Hella Weird by Calvin Demmer
Title: Hella Weird
Author: Calvin Demmer
Release Date: October 7th, 2024
*Huge thanks to Calvin for sending me a digital copy of this one!*
If you read horror and love short stories, and haven’t yet read anything from Calvin Demmer, you’re doing yourself a HUGE disservice. Demmer is easily one of the best short story writers churning work out right now and between his collections and his singular releases, he has a ton of work for you to dive into.
I went into this one fairly blind, though, judging by the A.A. Medina cover, I assumed something involving an apocalyptic-type event would be involved.
What I liked: Clocking in at roughly seventeen pages, Demmer shows you exactly why he’s a master at the short fiction craft with what he accomplishes within. We get a fully formed world, two engaging and fully formed characters, and we get creatures, tension, and a horrific reveal. Par for the course for Demmer. And, he’s worked within the post-apocalypse world before (not this one specifically).
We follow Hella, a woman who is working with fellow survivor, Hunter, as they navigate a world filled with creatures, mutated people and survivors scavenging for scraps. Hella is strong, but also reserved, befriending Hunter, but only to a certain degree, not letting him fully know her.
It’s this underlying tension, where Hunter asks questions and Hella gives short answers that ultimately builds these two up far more than should be possible within such a short page count, but it’s what pulls us along, knowing soon, the shit will hit the fan.
And when it does, Demmer does what he does best – shatters the readers expectations and predictions. The ending was dark and perfect.
What I didn’t like: It’s a short story, so obviously the biggest short coming is that this is only seventeen pages. I always want more, longer, Demmer stories, but he does such a wonderful job of creating things in micro-doses that you also understand why he attacks it like this.
Why you should buy this: Demmer fans will be all over this, and if you’re looking for a deeply unsettling slump buster, this short story will be the perfect answer for you. Demmer demonstrates once again that his short fiction is second to none. Phenomenal.
5/5
