A Garden Fed by Lightning

by Marshall Moore

Marshall Moore's short fiction is propelled by a scathing wit and a dark imagination, and he does not shy away from taking readers down roads that are less traveled and rarely even mapped. In the title story, a con man cons a beguiling con artist... or does he? In "Grape Night," a new arrival in Hong Kong enjoys the pleasures and terrors of a wine-tasting party with visiting gods from the Greek pantheon. In "Underground," the minotaurs who secretly control urban life welcome a new member of their bloodthirsty elite. And in "Cambodia," a country's genocidal past and its cosmopolitan present collide atop a ruined temple. In A Garden Fed by Lightning, as in his two previous short-story collections, Moore spans multiple genres of fiction and subverts them all.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories

222 pages, Paperback

Published November 8, 2016

About the author

Marshall Moore is the author of several books: The Concrete Sky (Haworth Press, 2003); Black Shapes in a Darkened Room (Suspect Thoughts Press, 2004); An Ideal for Living (Lethe Press, 2010); The Infernal Republic (Signal 8 Press, 2012); Bitter Orange (Signal 8 Press, 2013); A Garden Fed by Lightning (Signal 8 Press, 2016); Inhospitable (Camphor Press, 2018); and I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing (Rebel Satori Press, 2022). With Xu Xi, Moore is the co-editor of The Queen of Statue Square: New Short Fiction from Hong Kong (Nottingham: Critical, Cultural & Communications Press, 2014). A collection of his short stories (Sagome nere) was published in Italian by 96, rue de-la-Fontaine Edizioni, in 2017. With Sam Meekings, he has coedited two academic books on the subject of creative writing: The Place and the Writer: International Intersections of Teacher Lore and Creative Writing Pedagogy (Bloomsbury, 2021) and Creative Writing Scholars on the Publishing Trade: Practice, Praxis, Print (Routledge, 2021).

Forthcoming:

Blood and Black T-Shirts: Dispatches from Hong Kong's Descent into Hell 2019-2020 (Camphor Press, 2023);

Love Is a Poisonous Color (Rebel Satori Press, 2023), short story collection no. 4;

and a third coedited academic book that will focus on the concept of creative practice.

As of 2020, he lives in Cornwall, England, after more than a decade in Hong Kong and several years in the outskirts of Seoul.

Note from MM 8 Aug 2022: I'm listed as the author of short stories that appear in a few supernatural anthologies, and the links connect to my account. I suspect this is another writer with the same name. No disrespect to whoever this might be, but we're not the same person.

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marshall Moore is as great as ever. Here are more eerie stories filled with the weirdness that makes me love his writing.

[Jasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Garden Fed by Lightning is a fascinating collection of short stories ranging from only slightly odd to full-blown horror. There's definitely a story that will appeal to everyone.

There were a few stories that I felt a little indifferent about. They were good, and there was nothing wrong with them, but they didn't give me the same "oomph" of emotion I got from certain other stories.

I also am having a hard time figuring out my absolute favorite. Fetch, the very first story, was really well-done. It was strange and exciting, and I kind of wish I had my own little doggy in the corner of my computer screen, assisting me in some not-so-normal ways.

Underground is probably the most terrifying, for me at least, because minotaurs are scary as all get out. I've always been afraid of strange things as a kid: sheep, goat, deer. Minotaurs sort of have that vibe going on, and the thought of coming face-to-face with one and realizing the horrifying truth behind why they're in your city is just...no.

There were also a couple of stories — A Balloon Party and The Platinum Scalpel Society — that made me go, "Uh...what just happened?" That's a good thing, by the way. Those stories are crazy and fascinating.

Overall, I really enjoyed A Garden Fed by Lightning, and I would definitely read more by this author. Especially short stories, as I am a sucker for a really well-done short horror story. It's why I prefer Stephen King's anthologies over his actual novels.

If you're a reader looking for something different, but in the same vein as Stephen King's short stories, check out Marshall Moore. This may have been my first book by him, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Sage Nestler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short Review
A Garden Fed by Lightning is a collection of eclectic short stories that shouldn't work...but do!

Full Review
I am a big fan of short story collections, and A Garden Fed by Lightning was just my type of book.  A book full of bizarre stories in various genres?  Sign me up! The short story is an art that only a few authors can master, and I went into Marshall Moore's work with a hopeful and open- mind.  Based on the synopsis, I knew I was in for a treat, and Moore did not disappoint.

Sometimes multi-genre short story collections aren't cohesive, but the placement of each short story in Moore's work transitioned smoothly.  Moore delved into the darker side of literature with his stories, but I found them comical nonetheless.  Dark humor is just my cup of tea, and Moore has mastered it.  Each of his stories reminded me of The Twilight Zone with a fantastical twist, and my emotions were all over the place.  I haven't had an author move such a variety of emotions within me like Moore has.  He challenges the reader to look into a deeper part of themselves as they read his work, and the sensation is almost unsettling.  

A Garden Fed By Lightning is a hodgepodge of stories that span the eclectic genres of horror, fantasy, and sci-fi with contemporary elements.  The only reason I didn't give it 5/5 stars is because Moore's writing could be longwinded at times.  However, Moore's work is broad, and his work is sure to touch just about any reader.  If you love The Twilight Zone, or dark sci-fi/fantasy, then you are sure to get a kick out of A Garden Fed By Lightning.  I know I did!

[Elizabeth Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

(I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway, sorry it took me so long to read, the holidays really threw me off scheduled!)

The stories cover a wide array of topics, from The dark side of the moon to a wine tasting party with the Greek gods, to balloon parties...Short, and easy to read, there's bound to be something you enjoy.

[Samantha Gunning]

I won this book via Goodreads Firstreads Giveaway. I received a paperback copy.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of short stories left me reeling. I wasn't sure what to expect going in, and I was definitely not prepared for the rich, dark, and quirky stories that awaited me. After the first few stories, I became familiar with Moore's writing and his propensity to twist each story at its end (also it feels like he repeats character descriptions), but the subsequent stories I read retained their ability to delight and sometimes shock. I suspect that most people who read this book will walk away with at least one of its stories seared onto their imagination.