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The Dissolution of Small Worlds
Eerie and unnerving events are welcome reads for horror and weird fiction aficionados, and Kurt Fawver's new collection a group of work-study students grow obsessed with a particular, otherworldly room at the university library; a monster's mother wants her to assume a traditional life; and a mysterious calling haunts an elderly man at a nursing home; strange Halloween traditions draw a writer to a remote town. Contains the Shirley Jackson Award-winning story “The Convexity of Our Youth.”
288 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2018
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January 23, 2019Contents:
001 - "The Myth of You"
017 - "Special Collections" - (2016)
039 - "A Silence of Starlings" - (2016)
059 - "Marrowvale" - (2015)
075 - "The Cone of Heaven" - (2016)
091 - "Ensoulment" - (2013)
111 - "From the Ground, the Souls Burnt Clean" - (2015)
121 - "The Gods in Their Seats, Unblinking" - (2018)
145 - "Do You Hear What I Hear?"
151 - "The Kindness of Surrender" - (2015)
165 - "Every Weeknight at Seven and Seven-Thirty" - (2014)
177 - "The Final Correspondence of Sabrina Locker"
219 - "An Interview with Samuel X. Slayden" - (2015)
237 - "All That Is Thrown Away" - (2016)
253 - Acknowledgements
254 - Publication Credits
255 - About the Author
Cover: The Dissolution of Small Worlds by Varsam Kurnia
This is an Uncorrected Advanced Readers copy. Publication date is July 3, 2018.
001 - "The Myth of You"
017 - "Special Collections" - (2016)
039 - "A Silence of Starlings" - (2016)
059 - "Marrowvale" - (2015)
075 - "The Cone of Heaven" - (2016)
091 - "Ensoulment" - (2013)
111 - "From the Ground, the Souls Burnt Clean" - (2015)
121 - "The Gods in Their Seats, Unblinking" - (2018)
145 - "Do You Hear What I Hear?"
151 - "The Kindness of Surrender" - (2015)
165 - "Every Weeknight at Seven and Seven-Thirty" - (2014)
177 - "The Final Correspondence of Sabrina Locker"
219 - "An Interview with Samuel X. Slayden" - (2015)
237 - "All That Is Thrown Away" - (2016)
253 - Acknowledgements
254 - Publication Credits
255 - About the Author
Cover: The Dissolution of Small Worlds by Varsam Kurnia
This is an Uncorrected Advanced Readers copy. Publication date is July 3, 2018.
November 9, 2018
Kurt Fawver's second collection of short fiction is even better than his first, the excellent Forever, in Pieces (Villipede, 2013). I had read a few of these stories previously in anthologies and periodicals but most were new to me, and indeed three stories are original to this collection.
Favorite stories for me include the epistolary "The Final Correspondence of Sabrina Locker," the reality-bending "The Gods in Their Seats, Unblinking," and the horribly logical "Ensoulment." Special recognition goes to "The Cone of Heaven," which managed to upset me in a way few stories ever have. That may not sound like high praise, but it is.
These stories are dark and creative, and Fawver's distinct voice comes through in each. Highly recommended for fans of literary horror.
Favorite stories for me include the epistolary "The Final Correspondence of Sabrina Locker," the reality-bending "The Gods in Their Seats, Unblinking," and the horribly logical "Ensoulment." Special recognition goes to "The Cone of Heaven," which managed to upset me in a way few stories ever have. That may not sound like high praise, but it is.
These stories are dark and creative, and Fawver's distinct voice comes through in each. Highly recommended for fans of literary horror.
August 19, 2024
Magnífica colección de relatos de un autor que no conocía, y que descubrí a través de la imprescindible página de Marcheto, Cuentos para Algernon, donde ofrecía la traducción del genial cuento ‘Colecciones especiales’.
Se trata de fantasías oscuras, extrañas, terroríficas, pero sobre todo imaginativas. ¿Existe el sentido de la maravilla más allá de la ciencia ficción? Está claro que sí.
Se trata de fantasías oscuras, extrañas, terroríficas, pero sobre todo imaginativas. ¿Existe el sentido de la maravilla más allá de la ciencia ficción? Está claro que sí.
September 18, 2020
Fawver is an author I've been curious about for several years and there were several stories here I liked, but I will admit I was pretty disappointed by most of these. Some of the plot elements of these stories are too jarring and outlandish compared with the more subtle weird fiction I prefer. These too often take me out of the story entirely. But my main problem was the endings often disappointed me. I liked several of the situations Fawver creates, but it didn't feel like he knew how to bring them to a proper conclusion. None of the stories really blew me away, but there were a handful that were good.
By far the best story was "The Final Correspondence of Sabrina Locker." This is the longest story and Fawver builds up a great setting and mood, while gradually introducing us to original and unpredictable weird elements. "All That Is Thrown Away" and "The Cone of Heaven" are both quite good, although each have those outlandish plot elements which took me out of the story at times. Almost every story has its moments at least, but "...Sabrine Locker" was the only one that really impressed me.
The Myth of You - A really strange start, but I liked where this story ended up. An all-consuming force is born as a freak in a hospital, and it consumes every person and their memories it comes into contact with.
Special Collections - This one was pretty good, unpredictable, a little eerie, and ends with a humorous wink. A "Special Collections" room at a college will cause anyone who enters it alone to disappear, creating a dark obsession with those who work there.
A Silence of Starlings - This is a good mixture of creepiness, suspense and expectation, but the ending totally lost me. A group of elderly people in a nursing home discover one morning that the outside world seems to have come to a standstill.
Marrowvale - I like these weird little small town, folk horror stories. Good build up and everything, but again the ending left me wanting. A travel writer documents a very strange Halloween tradition in a tiny Pennsylvania town.
The Cone of Heaven - I liked this one, it's a bit more philosophical, I was reminded of a Ligotti quote, "For Bahnsen, a purposeless force breathes a black life into everything and feasts upon it part by part, regurgitating itself into itself, ever-renewing the throbbing forms of its repast." A woman dies and discovers the afterlife is nothing like her religious studies predicted.
Ensoulment - There's a bit of dark humor, some interesting philosophical ideas, a bit of religious parody and even a touch of antinatalism here. Kind of an odd-ball story compared with the others. A priest orders a droid to act as security for the church, and after some conversations on religion the droid starts to take some doctrines far too literally.
From the Ground, the Souls Burnt Clean - This one is a sort of an updated version of a Ray Bradbury tale, The Scythe, which has a very similar theme and immediately came to mind. A logging company comes across a field with a mysterious power.
The Gods in Their Seats, Unblinking - This is one I read previously in the first issue of Vastarien, I'll just paste my original thoughts here: This is a unique story, in the form of a one act play, with a brief introduction about how it is seemingly cursed. An inmate in an asylum tells his psychiatrist that he believes he is being watched and studied -- and much more.
Do You Hear What I Hear? - A very short, but well-paced and suspenseful little horror tale. On Christmas Eve night a man and his young daughter attempt to stay safe from a mysterious force outside the house.
The Kindness of Surrender - Didn't like this one at all. A girl is taken in by a woman as a kindness, but the girl is hardly what she seems.
Every Weekend at Seven and Seven-Thirty - I can appreciate this story for its grim, depressing power. Dark stuff. A man who's life is a mess inherits an old television on which he sees a better, alternate reality.
The Final Correspondence of Sabrina Locker - OK, now we're talkin'. This is by far the longest story in the book, twice as long as anything else here, and easily my favorite. I appreciated the slow building of atmosphere and place and suspense. In a series of letters a woman staying with her husband in a rural New England inn tells her sister about various mysterious happenings she encounters, connected with a cursed reservoir.
An Interview with Samuel X. Slayden - This one was "OK," it's certainly "horrific," perhaps a commentary on the publishing world(?). In an interview a horror anthologist reveals the extreme measures they have used to get the best work out of their authors.
All That Is Thrown Away - I thought this was an excellent story, some of the elements of it bordered on that "outlandish" nature I mentioned, but it's such a great tale of regrets and missed opportunities. It feels very genuine and I liked the ending where the universe simply offers no answers. A janitor working overnight in a university which has had a series of strange disappearances finds out why.
The Convexity of Our Youth - Eh. This story is full of metaphors and has much to say about how people sweep things under the rug, but I didn't care for it. A mysterious ball appears at random places, transforming children into things that are, and yet aren't them anymore.
By far the best story was "The Final Correspondence of Sabrina Locker." This is the longest story and Fawver builds up a great setting and mood, while gradually introducing us to original and unpredictable weird elements. "All That Is Thrown Away" and "The Cone of Heaven" are both quite good, although each have those outlandish plot elements which took me out of the story at times. Almost every story has its moments at least, but "...Sabrine Locker" was the only one that really impressed me.
The Myth of You - A really strange start, but I liked where this story ended up. An all-consuming force is born as a freak in a hospital, and it consumes every person and their memories it comes into contact with.
Special Collections - This one was pretty good, unpredictable, a little eerie, and ends with a humorous wink. A "Special Collections" room at a college will cause anyone who enters it alone to disappear, creating a dark obsession with those who work there.
A Silence of Starlings - This is a good mixture of creepiness, suspense and expectation, but the ending totally lost me. A group of elderly people in a nursing home discover one morning that the outside world seems to have come to a standstill.
Marrowvale - I like these weird little small town, folk horror stories. Good build up and everything, but again the ending left me wanting. A travel writer documents a very strange Halloween tradition in a tiny Pennsylvania town.
The Cone of Heaven - I liked this one, it's a bit more philosophical, I was reminded of a Ligotti quote, "For Bahnsen, a purposeless force breathes a black life into everything and feasts upon it part by part, regurgitating itself into itself, ever-renewing the throbbing forms of its repast." A woman dies and discovers the afterlife is nothing like her religious studies predicted.
Ensoulment - There's a bit of dark humor, some interesting philosophical ideas, a bit of religious parody and even a touch of antinatalism here. Kind of an odd-ball story compared with the others. A priest orders a droid to act as security for the church, and after some conversations on religion the droid starts to take some doctrines far too literally.
From the Ground, the Souls Burnt Clean - This one is a sort of an updated version of a Ray Bradbury tale, The Scythe, which has a very similar theme and immediately came to mind. A logging company comes across a field with a mysterious power.
The Gods in Their Seats, Unblinking - This is one I read previously in the first issue of Vastarien, I'll just paste my original thoughts here: This is a unique story, in the form of a one act play, with a brief introduction about how it is seemingly cursed. An inmate in an asylum tells his psychiatrist that he believes he is being watched and studied -- and much more.
Do You Hear What I Hear? - A very short, but well-paced and suspenseful little horror tale. On Christmas Eve night a man and his young daughter attempt to stay safe from a mysterious force outside the house.
The Kindness of Surrender - Didn't like this one at all. A girl is taken in by a woman as a kindness, but the girl is hardly what she seems.
Every Weekend at Seven and Seven-Thirty - I can appreciate this story for its grim, depressing power. Dark stuff. A man who's life is a mess inherits an old television on which he sees a better, alternate reality.
The Final Correspondence of Sabrina Locker - OK, now we're talkin'. This is by far the longest story in the book, twice as long as anything else here, and easily my favorite. I appreciated the slow building of atmosphere and place and suspense. In a series of letters a woman staying with her husband in a rural New England inn tells her sister about various mysterious happenings she encounters, connected with a cursed reservoir.
An Interview with Samuel X. Slayden - This one was "OK," it's certainly "horrific," perhaps a commentary on the publishing world(?). In an interview a horror anthologist reveals the extreme measures they have used to get the best work out of their authors.
All That Is Thrown Away - I thought this was an excellent story, some of the elements of it bordered on that "outlandish" nature I mentioned, but it's such a great tale of regrets and missed opportunities. It feels very genuine and I liked the ending where the universe simply offers no answers. A janitor working overnight in a university which has had a series of strange disappearances finds out why.
The Convexity of Our Youth - Eh. This story is full of metaphors and has much to say about how people sweep things under the rug, but I didn't care for it. A mysterious ball appears at random places, transforming children into things that are, and yet aren't them anymore.
September 18, 2018
Click here to read my full review at Signal Horizon It is obvious from the first page of The Dissolution of Small Worlds that if you are looking for a rehash of horror that has been successful before, keep looking. If you are like me, constantly on the hunt for works that don't just change the backdrop, but really do take us in new directions and to uncharted corners of the vast landscape of what horror can be, The Dissolution of Small Worlds is a must have addition to your bookshelf or Kindle library. If you want a sneak peak at where horror is headed in the future, don't delay and chart a course to this rising literary star on the horizon.
June 13, 2020
It's been a few months since I've read both this collection and the author's debut, Forever, in Pieces, but I've been unable to stop thinking about them. My god, these are some of the most astonishingly original and fucked up stories to ever come out of the weird fiction community. Right up there with Jon Pagett's The Secret of Ventriloquism and Nicole Cushing's The Mirrors.
September 4, 2021
4.5 estrellitas
Una de las antologías con las que más he disfrutado últimamente. Kurt Fawver me parece uno de los autores más interesante y originales del género fantástico ahora mismo, que consigue engancharme totalmente con la mayoría de sus cuentos, todos ellos originales y muy bien escritos, además de bastante inquietantes. De lectura imprescindible para los amantes de la literatura weird y oscura.
Una de las antologías con las que más he disfrutado últimamente. Kurt Fawver me parece uno de los autores más interesante y originales del género fantástico ahora mismo, que consigue engancharme totalmente con la mayoría de sus cuentos, todos ellos originales y muy bien escritos, además de bastante inquietantes. De lectura imprescindible para los amantes de la literatura weird y oscura.
November 21, 2020
3.5/5.0
November 11, 2021
Absolutely incredible collection of weird/horror short stories. Nearly every story in this collection is a hit, which is rare these days. Fawver is now a favorite author of mine, and I'll gladly be reading everything he writes - already pre-ordered his next one!
Stories that stood out to me (trying not to list them all here), in order of appearance:
- The Myth of You: The first story in the collection, draws you in with absolutely gorgeous prose.
- A Silence of Starlings: Heart-breaking, especially for those people with grandparents in homes/hospitals.
- The Gods in Their Seats, Unblinking: Probably my favorite piece in the entire collection, this one is a play. One of the scariest stories I've ever read. Breaks the fourth wall and then some. Can someone please adapt this play in real life? PLEASE??
- The Convexity of Our Youth: This one, jeez. What a way to end. There's some messages layered in here maybe, but at the end of the day, it's just a story about an orange ball.
Stories that stood out to me (trying not to list them all here), in order of appearance:
- The Myth of You: The first story in the collection, draws you in with absolutely gorgeous prose.
- A Silence of Starlings: Heart-breaking, especially for those people with grandparents in homes/hospitals.
- The Gods in Their Seats, Unblinking: Probably my favorite piece in the entire collection, this one is a play. One of the scariest stories I've ever read. Breaks the fourth wall and then some. Can someone please adapt this play in real life? PLEASE??
- The Convexity of Our Youth: This one, jeez. What a way to end. There's some messages layered in here maybe, but at the end of the day, it's just a story about an orange ball.
August 17, 2019
Kurt Fawver has created an intensely cerebral volume of horror. In "Dissolution," Fawver manages to walk the lines between big ideas, profound terror and intense character work. It's true that he doesn't manage all three in every story. After all, who could? But we are treated to different exemplifying pieces of Fawver's mastery of the genre.
Particularly interesting is Fawver's ability to create "meta-fiction." "The Gods in Their Seats Unblinking," is one example, as is the very potent opening tale about myth-making. Not every writer can speak directly to the reader in such a prosaic, captivating way.
Particularly interesting is Fawver's ability to create "meta-fiction." "The Gods in Their Seats Unblinking," is one example, as is the very potent opening tale about myth-making. Not every writer can speak directly to the reader in such a prosaic, captivating way.
June 2, 2019
So far, the early stories are what I'd expect from the author of Shirley Jackson-awardee "The Convexity of Our Youth". There are clever ideas, developed in entertaining and often funny ways. The writing is competent and reasonably tight, but the stories tend not to make a deep impression on me.
I'm in the middle of "Marrowvale", which is a bit different in ways that I don't enjoy. I love the idea, with the journalist narrator traveling to a small town with odd Halloween customs. (I'm a fan of Ossian Brown's Haunted Air: Anonymous Halloween photographs from c. 1875–1955, for instance.) But there are quite a few moments that seem less tight than the earlier stories. And in a weird/dark fiction piece, it really bothers me when the narrator tells me, over and over, how nervous/anxious/terrified s/he is. Within a few pages, we get
And:
Then:
This is too bad. The weird objects the narrator encounters are quite interesting and disturbing, and I'm looking forward to finding out their roles in the rituals.
Update: the newer stories seem to work better, so I skipped the older pieces.
I'm sure there are a lot of readers who enjoy this kind of writing. But I have a lot of trouble with the long-windedness of (say) "The Final Correspondence of Sabrina Locker". I know the narrator is an older woman who might have an overactive imagination, who is writing letters to her sister. But it's hard for me to see a letter beginning:
Umm, haven't we read enough Lovecraft, Ligotti etc to know that Reality is a Sham? Do we need to be told this again, in such detail? There are ideas in the story that I find intriguing. But I always find a glimpse of the horrific truth to be more effective than extended, heavy-handed elaborations.
I'm in the middle of "Marrowvale", which is a bit different in ways that I don't enjoy. I love the idea, with the journalist narrator traveling to a small town with odd Halloween customs. (I'm a fan of Ossian Brown's Haunted Air: Anonymous Halloween photographs from c. 1875–1955, for instance.) But there are quite a few moments that seem less tight than the earlier stories. And in a weird/dark fiction piece, it really bothers me when the narrator tells me, over and over, how nervous/anxious/terrified s/he is. Within a few pages, we get
For no reason I could have possibly explained, my stomach twisted in knots.
And:
... and felt a bolt of panic crash through my chest.
Then:
I shuddered at the thought of the helmet being placed upon my head...
This is too bad. The weird objects the narrator encounters are quite interesting and disturbing, and I'm looking forward to finding out their roles in the rituals.
Update: the newer stories seem to work better, so I skipped the older pieces.
I'm sure there are a lot of readers who enjoy this kind of writing. But I have a lot of trouble with the long-windedness of (say) "The Final Correspondence of Sabrina Locker". I know the narrator is an older woman who might have an overactive imagination, who is writing letters to her sister. But it's hard for me to see a letter beginning:
The history of everything must be rewritten as a series of blank pages. The laws of science and the dictums of religion must be rephrased as jokes, for that's what they are. I feel as a mite would if it had the power to discover that the skin upon which it lives is not a fixed world, but merely the surface of yet another confused creature bound in chains of ever-increasing magnitude and complexity.
Umm, haven't we read enough Lovecraft, Ligotti etc to know that Reality is a Sham? Do we need to be told this again, in such detail? There are ideas in the story that I find intriguing. But I always find a glimpse of the horrific truth to be more effective than extended, heavy-handed elaborations.
July 1, 2021
I've read this collection a dozen times. And I'm just now writing a review. Because I still process these stories ok a daily basis. Not that there was any doubt that Kurt Fawver is a genius, but because I couldn't properly put my thoughts into words. I'll keep it vague, because I should. This is a life changing collection of disturbing, uncomfortable, painful truths. Kurt has a way of cutting you with a familiar knife that you insist is too dull to penetrate. You might think that you aren't ready for Kurt Fawver. And you're probably right. But you need to take the plunge. He is a genius.
June 6, 2021
Un gran descubrimiento. Leí «Special Collections» traducido al español hace poco y me gustó tanto que tuve que buscar más del autor. Ninguna historia me ha dejado indiferente, ninguna me ha desagradado, en todas he subrayado encantada, en definitiva ha entrado en mi categoría de «autores que te hacen clic».
Las voces narradoras están tan cuidadas que maravillan. Gusta de voces poco corrientes o consideradas arriesgadas que resultan impecables.
Los personajes invitan desde el primer momento a que te identifiques con ellos, en un formato de cuento o historia corta ésa es su función y cumplen sobradamente.
No abusa de adjetivos o adverbios en las descripciones, cada palabra está ahí por lo que vale y cuesta imaginarse a otra en su lugar. Precisión quirúrgica a la hora de transmitir pensamientos o sensaciones.
Las ideas de las historias son muy originales y sorprendentes, de todas quieres saber algo más. Habla de lo inquietante y lo extraño transportándote directamente a ello, imposible no sumergirte en lo que sucede.
Valorando seriamente adquirirlo en papel y comprobando cada pocos días si hay noticias sobre la nueva colección que sacará este año.
Directo a mi lista de 6 estrellas.
Las voces narradoras están tan cuidadas que maravillan. Gusta de voces poco corrientes o consideradas arriesgadas que resultan impecables.
Los personajes invitan desde el primer momento a que te identifiques con ellos, en un formato de cuento o historia corta ésa es su función y cumplen sobradamente.
No abusa de adjetivos o adverbios en las descripciones, cada palabra está ahí por lo que vale y cuesta imaginarse a otra en su lugar. Precisión quirúrgica a la hora de transmitir pensamientos o sensaciones.
Las ideas de las historias son muy originales y sorprendentes, de todas quieres saber algo más. Habla de lo inquietante y lo extraño transportándote directamente a ello, imposible no sumergirte en lo que sucede.
Valorando seriamente adquirirlo en papel y comprobando cada pocos días si hay noticias sobre la nueva colección que sacará este año.
Directo a mi lista de 6 estrellas.
January 22, 2023
The absolute terror of death. Thinking you lived a godly and good life only to disappear into the nothing as though you never existed.
December 25, 2021
new twisted aspects of familiar bleakness
It's hard to explain what Kurt achieves with his writing, I think it's the best way to describe as a person you'll great with "Oh hello, brother" if you have always felt deep, nihilistic otherness but never could put the fuckedupness of human existence into words. Kurt mixes up known flavours of dread with empathy and soul.
It's hard to explain what Kurt achieves with his writing, I think it's the best way to describe as a person you'll great with "Oh hello, brother" if you have always felt deep, nihilistic otherness but never could put the fuckedupness of human existence into words. Kurt mixes up known flavours of dread with empathy and soul.
June 30, 2022
This book was pretty difficult to come up with a rating for... I am actually editing this to be 4-stars after reflecting on how these stories really stuck with me. Some of the stories were spectacular, but some fell short. A few made me consider bumping this down, but many would have been 5-stars on their own. I like the way he names his stories. As much as I prefer to give an overall review as a collection, rather than going story-by-story, I think that's the only fair way to do this.
The Myth of You - I have a lot of strong opinions on this one and I think it's the reason why I didn't rate the book higher. It's an interesting concept, but I think it was in poor taste to put this one first in the collection. This was my first exposure to the author and almost it made me hate him. You (and me), the greedy, insatiable readers, are just gluttonous monsters. We've made him into a slave (even though he probably spent his career looking to get a collection like this published) and he HATES us for it. This is underscored by breaking up the story with condescending asides to the reader, as if to say "Are you following along, dumb-dumb?" or "See what I did there? I'm so clever, I bet you couldn't have thought of that without my superior guidance." Perhaps this is done in jest, but it made me finish the story thinking "Wow, what an ungrateful shit..."
Special Collections - This was pretty interesting. It was a bit meandering, but I think that made the narrator's opinion of the "second rule" all the more meaningful. Overall a pretty good story.
A Silence of Starlings - This story reminded me of an elaborate retelling of Neil Gaiman's "The Day the Saucers Came". It was an interesting read that had nothing to do with the point the story was actually trying to convey (and I mean that in a good way).
Marrowvale - This was a great example of effective horror. Suspenseful and super creepy.
The Cone of Heaven - This was a bit abstract and I'm not sure it really made any clear point. Not a bad read, but not super cohesive.
Ensoulment - This was probably my least favorite in the colleciton. It was very predictable and not all that interesting to follow along to a conclusion I saw coming on page 1.
From the Ground, the Souls Burnt Clean - This had some cool Lovecraftian imagery, but again didn't really suck me into the story or characters.
The Gods in their Seats, Unblinking - This one had similar condescending vibes to "The Myth of You"; however, a bit more subtle. It was presented as a play with the characters aware (and terrified) of the audience. As a reader, I'll take the upgrade from greedy multi-mouthed monster to vengeful god ;)
Do You Hear What I hear? - Wasn't this a Family Guy bit? haha
The Kindness of Surrender - I enjoyed the way this one played out the internal struggle of the creature. It reminded me a little bit of the Kitsune/Kuhimo myths.
Every Weeknight at Seven and Seven-Thirty - This story was pretty creepy and did a good job conveying our yearning for the edited perfection we see on TV and Social Media.
The Final Correspondence of Sabrina Locker - This one was also very Lovecraftian in its imagery and world-building; however, I thought it perhaps dragged on a little too long.
An Interview with Samuel X. Slayden - This perhaps ties into the author's view of the audience, as established in "The Myth of You" and "The Gods in Their Seats, Unblinking", but coming from the other direction. SXS is willing to do whatever it takes to deliver a good story to our greedy little eyes. I think once the premise was established, it was a bit predictable with each subject brought up in the interview being variations on a theme, but still a decent read.
All that is Thrown Away - Spooky. This one was a more cohesive story with plenty of the wild, intangible imagery that pervaded the rest of the book.
The Convexity of Our Youth - This one was quite complex and a strong ending to the collection. It certainly speaks to our Xenophobia as a society and does so in a subtle, yet horrifying way.
The Myth of You - I have a lot of strong opinions on this one and I think it's the reason why I didn't rate the book higher. It's an interesting concept, but I think it was in poor taste to put this one first in the collection. This was my first exposure to the author and almost it made me hate him. You (and me), the greedy, insatiable readers, are just gluttonous monsters. We've made him into a slave (even though he probably spent his career looking to get a collection like this published) and he HATES us for it. This is underscored by breaking up the story with condescending asides to the reader, as if to say "Are you following along, dumb-dumb?" or "See what I did there? I'm so clever, I bet you couldn't have thought of that without my superior guidance." Perhaps this is done in jest, but it made me finish the story thinking "Wow, what an ungrateful shit..."
Special Collections - This was pretty interesting. It was a bit meandering, but I think that made the narrator's opinion of the "second rule" all the more meaningful. Overall a pretty good story.
A Silence of Starlings - This story reminded me of an elaborate retelling of Neil Gaiman's "The Day the Saucers Came". It was an interesting read that had nothing to do with the point the story was actually trying to convey (and I mean that in a good way).
Marrowvale - This was a great example of effective horror. Suspenseful and super creepy.
The Cone of Heaven - This was a bit abstract and I'm not sure it really made any clear point. Not a bad read, but not super cohesive.
Ensoulment - This was probably my least favorite in the colleciton. It was very predictable and not all that interesting to follow along to a conclusion I saw coming on page 1.
From the Ground, the Souls Burnt Clean - This had some cool Lovecraftian imagery, but again didn't really suck me into the story or characters.
The Gods in their Seats, Unblinking - This one had similar condescending vibes to "The Myth of You"; however, a bit more subtle. It was presented as a play with the characters aware (and terrified) of the audience. As a reader, I'll take the upgrade from greedy multi-mouthed monster to vengeful god ;)
Do You Hear What I hear? - Wasn't this a Family Guy bit? haha
The Kindness of Surrender - I enjoyed the way this one played out the internal struggle of the creature. It reminded me a little bit of the Kitsune/Kuhimo myths.
Every Weeknight at Seven and Seven-Thirty - This story was pretty creepy and did a good job conveying our yearning for the edited perfection we see on TV and Social Media.
The Final Correspondence of Sabrina Locker - This one was also very Lovecraftian in its imagery and world-building; however, I thought it perhaps dragged on a little too long.
An Interview with Samuel X. Slayden - This perhaps ties into the author's view of the audience, as established in "The Myth of You" and "The Gods in Their Seats, Unblinking", but coming from the other direction. SXS is willing to do whatever it takes to deliver a good story to our greedy little eyes. I think once the premise was established, it was a bit predictable with each subject brought up in the interview being variations on a theme, but still a decent read.
All that is Thrown Away - Spooky. This one was a more cohesive story with plenty of the wild, intangible imagery that pervaded the rest of the book.
The Convexity of Our Youth - This one was quite complex and a strong ending to the collection. It certainly speaks to our Xenophobia as a society and does so in a subtle, yet horrifying way.
January 8, 2021
You will not forget this story. Nor this story’s special ‘today’ today.
“The plot included ghosts and a talking dog and the president of the United States…”
The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long to post here.
Above is one of its observations.
“The plot included ghosts and a talking dog and the president of the United States…”
The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long to post here.
Above is one of its observations.
September 17, 2019
Three and a half stars. When he hits, the stories are amazing. When he misses (it could just be I missed it) I couldn’t even finish it. Still, the good stories are worth the price.
July 4, 2023
My second Fawver collection, but older than the first one I read. Weird always and tragic sometimes, I can't pick a favorite story in this collection because I truly liked them all.
June 1, 2023
I first discovered Kurt Fawver in an anthology and was so intrigued by his entry that I decided to seek out more of his works. I decided on this collection. His stories are creepy, mysterious, and unknowable. There's no nice, neat endings to these stories. But it's the journey itself, not the destination, that counts here.
Fawver has an old classic style of writing, evoking MR James or Lovecraft, with the characters seemingly from a different era.
The stories themselves are a mixed bag of hits and misses. But still worth the purchase price because the stories that WERE hits were quite phenomenal.
A couple of my favorites were: the Cone of Heaven - a dying woman discovers that God is not the being we've been led to believe He is; and An Interview With Sam X. Slayden - a publisher has invited several authors to a writer's retreat and workshop where they are then subjected to various physical and mental torture for the publisher to get the perfect stories from them.
Recommend to fans of the "weird tale".
Fawver has an old classic style of writing, evoking MR James or Lovecraft, with the characters seemingly from a different era.
The stories themselves are a mixed bag of hits and misses. But still worth the purchase price because the stories that WERE hits were quite phenomenal.
A couple of my favorites were: the Cone of Heaven - a dying woman discovers that God is not the being we've been led to believe He is; and An Interview With Sam X. Slayden - a publisher has invited several authors to a writer's retreat and workshop where they are then subjected to various physical and mental torture for the publisher to get the perfect stories from them.
Recommend to fans of the "weird tale".
July 1, 2020
Fawver is one of my favorite authors. The premise is each of his stories is always unique and disturbing. I love his oral history/ history book style tales of strange events that defy reason.
In this collection, Marrowville and God's in Their Seats, Unblinking are my favorites. An exploration of a strange horrifying Halloween tradition; and the text of a damned, forbidden play.
Considering I bought this for the title and the cover, I'm very grateful for what I was introduced to. I've bought all his collections, his chapbooks and anything else I can find. I demand more.
In this collection, Marrowville and God's in Their Seats, Unblinking are my favorites. An exploration of a strange horrifying Halloween tradition; and the text of a damned, forbidden play.
Considering I bought this for the title and the cover, I'm very grateful for what I was introduced to. I've bought all his collections, his chapbooks and anything else I can find. I demand more.
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