Little Things

by John R. Little, Alex McVey (Illustrator), Mort Castle (Introduction)

Little Things
by John R. Little

John R. Little has been publishing his unique brand of short stories for
almost 30 years. Little Things is a retrospective of his career, containing
his best work. The stories in this collection will make you feel a sense of
wonder. Some will shock you, make you sad, bring laughter, scare you, and
they will sear into your memory. These stories are disturbing, uplifting,
thought-provoking, exciting, melancholy, horrifying, and sweet... all at
once.

Table of Contents:

Introduction by Mort Castle
Volunteers Needed
Tommy's Christmas
Growing Up
3:26 a.m.
Those Little Cameras!
In the Boys' Clubhouse
Ever After
Welcome to Inferno
Climbing Mount Turnpike
The Jameson House
The Thief of Time
Accordion Season
The Oasis
Cruel Eyes
The Slow Haunting
Following Marla
Sammy
George's Head
Flies
My Little Jillian
The Wishing Stones
Placeholders
Story Notes

Genres: Horror

352 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2010

Reviews

[Monster]

John R. Little is a Bram Stoker and Black Quill award winner, and Little Things is a career-spanning collection of some of his best short stories. Strong writing highlights 23 tales that range from subtle to startling. Many of the pieces presented here have a classic Twilight Zone feel, and, although some of the endings are predictable, that doesn't take anything away from their entertainment value. It's easy to see Little's growth as a writer, from simple storyteller to master craftsman.

Highlights include "Tommy's Christmas", a nice twist on the old "kid catches Santa in his house" story;
"Doing Daddy", a sad tale of parental care, with a surprise ending; "Accordion Season", a tale too bizarre not to love; "The Jameson House", a coming of age story with a GREAT twist. I never saw it coming. My personal favorite. In “Ever After”, we discover what secret keeps Janie’s father looking so young, and in "Those Little Cameras!" the reader wonders if this is the next step in reality television? Finally, "Placeholders" is a masterfully complicated story that all fits together in the end, and an amazing piece of fiction.

It's tough choosing just a few stories to highlight. I could go on and on about most of the tales in this fantastic collection. John R. Little is deserving of the praise and rewards that have already come his way, and, if there is any justice, should become a household name.
Highly recommended for libraries and ANYONE who likes plain old good writing.

Contains: Strong language, violence and sex.

Reviewed by: Erik Smith

[Donald · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this collection! There are twenty-three stories in it and not a lame one in the bunch.

The circular nature of "Volunteers Needed" is masterfully accomplished and really acts as the hook. It's a great opening story. I wonder if the same hundred bucks gets used.

All of these stories are fairly short because they do not need to be any longer. Each is assembled conservatively enough so that every word pulls its weight.

Sometimes you're treated to something a bit bizarre as in "Growing Up" with Harry and Harry Jr. or with the rats in "3:26 am", but the most out-there story in the bunch has to be the coming of age tale titled "Accordian Season."

The idea presented in "Cruel Eyes" is fantastic. Peering into the eyes of your executioner has to be a wild experience. And the helping hand in "Climbing Mount Turnpike" is a little eerie. You can't go back but the top is just out of reach. The story told in "George's Head" sounds like one of those yarns spun on a lazy afternoon to scar the younger kids, and the same goes for "The Jameson House."

Each of these stories seems to have started out with a neat idea, a cool concept, a unique observation, and just run away with it.

By far my favorite is the last story, "Placeholders." It is also the longest. The way it transpires makes you wonder what it's all about. The reveal is slow, yet well paced. The outcome is quite satisfactory.

Thanks John. What a great bunch of stories!

[Isidore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Idea and plot drive these stories, rather than style, and I doubt rereading them would reveal previously unsuspected complexities or depth, so I suppose in "literary" terms they are rather artless. On the other hand, I found them consistently entertaining and sometimes enthralling.

I think what turns the trick is Little's emotional involvement in his writing. There is often such intensity of feeling that one is swept along in spite of reservations. I find his rejection of a cool authorial mask very appealing.

As for those plots and ideas, he is sometimes inspired, and sometimes works already familiar material. He shows an interesting absurdist streak in stories like "Accordion Season" and "3:26 a.m." "The Jameson House" is a fairly orthodox haunted house story put over very competently (apart from an unconvincing final twist); "The Slow Haunting" is a completely unorthodox ghost story which utterly eclipses it; "George's Head" falls somewhere between the two. "The Oasis" is memorably grotesque. Little's deep feelings and attractive sentimentality make "In the Boys' Clubhouse" and "Following Marla" very moving. "Placeholders", although based on a simple idea, is a nightmarish powerhouse. By contrast, "Welcome to Inferno", "My Little Jillian", "Cruel Eyes" and several others offered few surprises.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hit and miss. Some good ones though.