Aberrations of Reality

by Aaron J. French

Do we always walk in two worlds? Our own we know, or think we know, and another we only glimpse? These twenty-two tales exploring occultism, religiosity, spirituality, existentialism, metaphysics, and the supernatural will attempt to answer that question. From the mind of Aaron J. French, Editor-in-Chief of Dark Discoveries magazine and noted Lovecraftian, comes Aberrations of Reality. Enter the New Age of weird fiction.

"Throughout this fiery modern grimoire of mystical horror, we're conscious of the restless urgency of the writing, as if the author is working against time to conjure onto the pages a sequence of transformations that must be seized and fixed before they dissolve again. Indeed, the task for the acolyte of the literary Mysteries today is to convey strange possibilities in a modern tongue, one which responds to the ceaseless now with news of a different eternity. They must have a need at least to suggest that there are aberrations in the world we usually take for reality. And, as the title of this book suggests, Aaron J. French is one of those willing to respond to that task." -from the Introduction by weird fiction author and critic Mark Valentine
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Table of Contents  
1)      Here & There...
2)      Doubting Thomas
3)      Dwellers in the Cracks
4)      Rebirth in Dreams
5)      Horror Fiction as Mystical Didactic Experience
6)      A Storm of Lightning
7)      Whirling Machine Man
8)      The Graffiti Ghosts
9)      What Lay East, Lay West
10)  Golden Doors to a Golden Age
11)  The Paladin
12)  The Christ
13)  Tree of Life
14)  When Clown Face Speaks
15)  My Stalk
16)  The Four Transitions of the Soul upon Death by David P. Reichmann
17)  {(California Sea + Cosmic Man) - Humankind} + Anadyr, Russia = Apocalypse
18)  The Lake
19)  Flame of Freedom
20)  Ramifications of Embrace
21)  Marked as Urgent
22)  The Year of Our Lord

390 pages, Paperback

First published September 29, 2014

Reviews

[Marvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aaron J. French's collection of mystical fiction may not always an easy read. I believe that is because the average reader has learned to strive on a steady diet of zombies, vampires and ghosts that are designed to scare and not necessarily to make you think. Aaron J. French makes you think. He eschews the easy scare and gravitates toward the confounding and inexplicable. The stories in Abberations of Reality are often as mystical and forbidding as the collection's title. But that plays into the strength of the author as his writing is as intelligent as it is otherworldly.

The stories in this collection seem to hark back to an older tradition. They are not Lovecraftian as much as they are Blackwoodian, if such a term exists. Like Algernon Blackwood, and to a lesser extent William Hope Hodgson, French seems not so much terrorized of the unexplained as in awe. All of the stories have a theme regarding alternative realities and universes overlapping into our own reality usually with devastating consequences. Most of the tales involve dreams as a important part of the plot and as a clue to understanding different realities. The first story titled "Doubting Thomas" is a fitting one as it involves a hedonistic seeker whose idol, a Alister Crowley clone named Phillip P. Vernon (uncomfortably close to another name I am familiar with, don't ya think?), who "gets religion" so to speak. It has a nice open-ended climax that keeps you wondering after you turn the page. The next story. "Dweller in the Cracks" despite its Lovecraftian title is a bit more conventional involving cats and neighbors that may not be what they appear to be. Perhaps the best and scariest story is "Whirling Machine Man" a gruesome tale involving a private investigator seeking answers to the disappearance and subsequent amputation of a young boy. I was also pleasantly spooked by "When Clown Face Speaks" mainly because clowns have always made me uncomfortable to begin with. "Golden Doors to a Golden Age" is one of those stories that reveal an admiration of the mystical as well as a fear of the unknown, as does "Tree of Life". Most of these tales uses religious symbols quite well and many of them are brave enough not to disguise the spiritual aspects of their plot. Overall, French's collection is quite strong and if there are some stories that do not work as well as you would hope, a stronger one will soon be found. I would recommend this to any lover of short fiction and equally, to any aficionado of intelligent horror and fantasy.

[David Agranoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a good novel as much as anyone but there is no greater way to get to know a writer than to read a collection of short fiction. A good short story collection will have stories that vary in length, tone and style. This can inform a reader about a writer's potential range more than a single novel. Aaron French is clearly well read in the genre, a varied array of influences but classic and modern bleed through on every single page.

When I review a short story collection I often remember more about the tone and vibe of the book than I do the actual stories. I normally pick out stand-out stories but I can say there was not one that I thought was a dud. There was subtle humor at times but some stories took on a nearly mystical feeling.

Clearly influenced by early weird tale writers like Machen, Blackwood and of course Lovecraft French is able to mine that vibe while still feeling modern. My three favorites in the collection were "Graffiti Ghosts," a creepy tale "When Clown Face Speaks," and the thoughtful "The Four Transitions of the Soul Upon Death by David P.Reichmann."

This is a well written collection of razor sharp horror fiction. French has strong understanding of what makes the weird tale work. I am glad he got the gig editing short fiction for Dark Discoveries, they will be in good hands. Reality is always in question during this collection but the quality never is. Every library serious about intelligent high brow horror must get this book.

[Michael Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

A genuinely impressive and entertaining collection of weird and esoteric horror stories. Most of the stories within contain a blend of occult ideas mixed with SF/F concepts and suffused with a outré dream imagery. Some standouts to me were the weird-western purgatorial sojourn “What Lay East, Lay West,” the moving story of a disillusioned seeker in “Doubting Thomas,” the weird murder mystery “Dweller in the Cracks” (which features a pretty unique body-swap sequence at the twist), the fever-dream fairy-take “My Stalk,” and the world-ending by way of a Jack-Kirby-monster tale “{(California Sea + Cosmic Man) - Humankind} + Anadyr, Russia = Apocalypse”. Many of these stories deal with apocalypses, though, in both the commonly understood Biblical reference and in it’s truer etymological form of an “uncovering,” or “revelation,” as characters are dislocated from their everyday lives by strange and profound phenomenon they can only struggle to understand. All-in-all I would highly recommend this collection to those who are fans of grand cosmic-scale SF horror, and / or those who have an interest in occult and esoteric concepts.