Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto (1764)

Walpole, Horace, The Castle of Otranto: A Story. 1764


Rating: 7/10

The Castle of Otranto at Goodreads
The Castle of Otranto at ISFdb
The Castle of Otranto at IBList

For other Friday's Forgotten Books, this week please visit B.V. Lawson's in reference to murder.

During the latter era of the Crusades, Prince Manfred, overseer of Otranto, is profoundly shaken when his sickly son and only heir is killed by an over-sized helmet on the morning of his betrothal to the beautiful Isabella. Alas, the curse of Manfred appears to be coming to fruition, vengeance against his lineage that had unlawfully taken ownership of the region and castle of Otranto. Soon thereafter heroic peasants, ominous knights, comedic servants and colossal spectres abound at the castle while Manfred attempts to salvage his lineage via some vulgar attachments.

A great deal has been written about this little novel, from the elements that help establish Gothic fiction to its historical context, and much of the criticism and historical evaluation of The Castle of Otranto is fascinating. Walpole chose to publish the text under the pseudonym William Marshal, and went to great lengths to convince the public that Marshal was merely translating a recently discovered manuscript by the (fictional) Italian Onuphrio Muralto from the early medieval era. Critics were fascinated by the translation and the work itself, and the book sold well, so that Walpole admitted to its authorship, resulting in critics panning the book for its overly melodramatic style and its purely Romantic approach. Readers, however, continued to be entertained.

The novel is marred for modern readers due to its incredible level of melodrama and the sudden reveal of information, a kind of deus ex machina, that exposes secrets unknown to the reader and most characters, information withheld, that brings the plot to its conclusion. With patience, however, the novel is enjoyable partly because of its melodrama, and though the prose is uneven, the ambitious use of language is often unique and a treat to the linguistic portions of our brains. Taken tongue-in-cheek of course, the nearly absurdist humour continues to be effective, though the villain Manfred is at these moments comical himself in his frustrations, diminishing his status as über melodramatic bad guy. The intense melodrama and wild humour make for an unusual mix, yet help to raise the novel above the weights of darkness and gloom that otherwise drag after steady, uninterrupted reading.

Despite its positive and eccentric elements, The Castle of Otranto remains consistently reputed as a terribly dull work that launched an incredibly rich and lucrative literary and eventual film (sub)genre. The novel's quasi-historical elements, broad yet ruinous landscapes, gloomy themes and tone, powerful characters and emotions, not to mention the requisite appearance of a ghost, helped to enliven imaginations of the later Victorians who themselves propelled the literary Gothic forward into the twentieth century. Since then film has broadened its scope so that the Gothic appears a full-fledged genre of its known. The seventeenth century Gothic borrowed from medieval history and poetry, whereas current Gothic fiction borrows heavily from the eighteenth century, reminding us of just how long the genre has been striving, since while it borrows heavily from the past, the contemporary form finds itself attached to a century beyond the genre's initial works.

What I liked about The Castle of Otranto as a novel rather than a literary artifact is the mysterious giant phantom whose body parts appear at different parts of the castle. Truly creepy to this day, its effect weakened by the comedy surrounding servants trying to explain their sight of it. The idea of two leaders planning to marry each other's daughters in order to guarantee that each has an heir to their respective kingdoms is both interesting and sickening, controversial even in its day. We have a medieval priest who fathered a son, and two princess heroines who love the same heroic peasant. Walpole wrote in a later edition preface that he was attempting to combine elements of both traditional and contemporary romance. I believe the intention since the book has elements of traditional chivalric romance along the lines of The Romance of the Rose, mixed in with quite modern ideas, like the hero who settles for the woman he does not love since she understands his grief over the woman he has lost and cannot stop loving. Life even for our heroes holds misery, a far removal from notions of classic romance.

The Castle of Otranto is not a book I would recommend to the casual reader, nor to the canon of western literature. It is a fascinating and important literary artifact, but not necessarily a good book. Anyone wishing to trace the evolution of English literature, or to even grasp certain threads that bind contemporary mainstream fiction to the past, would benefit with a close read. Anyone wanting an entertaining summer read, classic or otherwise, has numerous superior options.

A scene from the 1979 short film by Jan Švankmajer

Not only an interesting postmodern film, a false documentary of a false history, but The Castle of Otranto was adapted into a short comic. Less an adaptation but a kind of interpretation, dropping and exchanging some major story elements, and they managed to get the publication date wrong. You can read the comic here.

Daniel Wallace, Big Fish (1998)

Wallace, Daniel, Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions, Pandher Books, 1998
_____________, Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions, Algonquin Books, 2012 (pictured)

Rating: 5/10

Big Fish at Goodreads
Big Fish at IBList

For more Friday's Forgotten Boooks, please visit Todd Mason's blog.


With its minimal plotting and abundance of anecdote, Big Fish reads more like an extended character sketch than a full-fledged novel, in which narrator's father Edward Bloom overshadows every other aspect of the book, including the narrator himself. While character sketches can be rewarding, narrator William is so removed from the narrative, there only to tell us how absent his father was and simultaneously how much he loved him, that a novel about story-telling fails to produce a good story-teller.

Ironically, the narrator is presenting us with an absent father, while as a reader I found myself flipping through pages of an absent narrator, a voice informing me of his presence and surface identity, but otherwise removing himself from the narrative. While I enjoyed some of the anecdotes and found some of the situations interesting, I was unable to immerse myself in the overarching story-line. The narrator appears unsure as to how to present much of his material, either through his own semi-defined voice or in awkward attempts to usurp the voice of his masterful story-teller father.

The subtitle "A Novel of Mythic Proportions" is appropriate, since many of the stories are borrowed from myth. There are elements of Odysseus and Heracles interspersed, with both tremendous voyage and insurmountable task applied to various Bloom adventures. Bloom is driven by a seemingly higher purpose though it might not be the Olympian rulers. Rather than any god he is driven by a selfish and often childlike need to possess or to experience, to live under his own terms. A difficult character to like, and while I did not dislike him I was often left indifferent. I can admire Odysseus for his cunning, perseverance and pure love of Penelope; I can admire Heracles for his boundless feats and victories (though not for the rape). I cannot admire Bloom, though a unique eccentric, for his inverted existence and neglect of those around him, including those characters in his mythology, such as the abandoned swamp woman Jenny Hill.

Bibliography: John Keefauver

Unique and relatively unknown author John Keefauver deserves a greater audience. I have attempted to collect bibliographical data. For any additional publications or to correct any data, please comment or email at casual.debiris [at] gmail [dot] com.

A story was published in The Capilano Review, 1979.

In 1968, Keefauver won seventh place in the Writers' Digest Short-Short Story Contest, for stories on any topic up to 2,000 words, earning $100. This is according to the 15 August 1968 issue of the weekly The Carmel Pine Cone. It is not clear what the story was titled nor whether it was published anywhere.

Bibliography

• "The Inside Out Black Whites and the Inside Out White Blacks," The National Review.
• The Joys of National Review 1855-1980, Ed. Priscilla L. Buckley. National Review, 1994. (180-181)
• "The Cat," The Old Line: Monthly Student Magazine of the University of Maryland, 16:2, 1949. (13-14)
• "A Walk on the Stepped on Side with the Man with Golden Hair Growing Out of a Golden Toe," Carolina Quarterly, 11:1, Fall-Winter 1958. (46-57)
• "Spring Revival," Caper, 6:1, January 1960. (41-42)
• "Kali," The Fifth Pan Book of Horror Stories, Ed. Herbert van Thal. London: Pan, 1964. 189-200
• "Give Me Your Cold Hand," The Sixth Pan Book of Horror Stories, Ed. Herbert van Thal. London: Pan, 1965. 93-109
• "The Last Experiment," The Seventh Pan Book of Horror Stories, Ed. Herbert van Thal. London: Pan, 1966. 95-105
• "Mareta," The Seventh Pan Book of Horror Stories, Ed. Herbert van Thal. London: Pan, 1966. 106-116
• "The Most Precious," The Eighth Pan Book of Horror Stories, Ed. Herbert van Thal. London: Pan, 1967. 21-28
• "The Diligent Barber," Daring, 8: 7, October 1969. 18-19
• "Special Handling," Alfred Hitchcock Presents: A Month of Mystery. Ed. Alfred Hitchcock (Robert Arthur). New York: Random House, 1969. 283-287. Reprinted in A Month of Mystery: Book Two, Ed. Alfred Hitchcock (Robert Arthur), London: Pan Books. 103-107
• "The Great Three-Month Super Supersonic Transport Stack-Up of 1999," Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories to Stay Awake By. Ed. Alfred Hitchcock. New York: Random House, 1971. Reprinted in Stories to Stay Awake By: Part I, Ed. Alfred Hitchcock. London: Pan Books, 1973. 219
• "How Henry J. Littlefinger Licked the Hippies' Scheme to Take Over the Country by Tossing Pot in Postage Stamp Glue," National Review, 22 October 1971. Reprinted in Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories to Be Read with the Door Locked. Ed. Alfred Hitchcock. New York: Random House, 1975 (109-114); Stories to Be Read with the Door Locked. Ed. Alfred Hitchcock. New York: Random House, 1977
• "The Pile of Sand," The Texas Quarterly, 14:3, Autumn 1971. Reprinted in Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories to Be Read with the Lights On. Ed. Alfred Hitchcock (Harold Q,. Masur). New York: Random House, 1973; The Carmel Pine Cone, 25 September 1975. 8-9
• "Paste a Smile on a Wall," The Smith #15, 1974. (153-159) Reprinted in Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Master's Choice. Ed. Alfred Hitchcock, New York: Random House, 1979. (183-188)
• "Scream!" The 15th Pan Book of Horror Stories. Ed. Herbert van Thal. London: Pan, 1974. (107-112)
• "The Chocolate Man," Eternity SF #4, February 1975. (29-34) Reprinted in Eternity Science Fiction #1, 1979. (52-57)
• "The Great White Southern Sardine," The National Review, 6 August 1976. 843
• "The Great Moveway Jam," Omni, 1:6, March 1979. (71-75)
• "The Rocks That Moved," Omni, 1:10, July 1979. 103-134) Reprinted in The Best of Omni Science Fiction #3. Eds. Ben Bova and Don Myrus. Omni Publication, Inc., 1982. (74-77)
• "The Jam," Sewanee Review, Vol. 88, No. 3, Summer 1980. 383-398
• "Giant on the Beach," Omni, 2:7 April 1980. (49-52) Reprinted in The Best of Omni Science Fiction #4. Eds. Ben Bova and Don Myrus. Omni Publications Inc., 1982. (128-130)
• "Snow, Cobwebs, and Dust," Shadows 4. Ed. Charles L. Grant. New York: Doubleday, 1981. (167-170)
• "Body Ball," Omni, 3:4, January 1981. (72-77) Reprinted in The Best of Omni Science Fiction #5. Ed. Don Myrus. Omni Publications, Inc., 1983. (120-123)
• "Escape," Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone Magazine, July 1981. (74-79)
• "Neutron Warhead vs. Mustard Gas," Pulpsmith, 1981.
• "Uncle Harry's Feet," Short Story International, 4:16, December 1984. (59-
• "The Ventriloquist," Pulpsmith, 1985.
• "Cutliffe Starkvogel and the Bears Who Liked TV," The Best of the West. Ed. Joe R. Landsdale. New York: Doubleday, December 1986. (52-58)
• "Candy Skulls," Pulpsmith, 7:1 Spring 1987. (98-120)
• "Kill for Me," Masques III. Ed. J.N. Williamson. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989. (285-292) Reprinted in Fleshcreeper: Startling New Works of Horror and the Supernatural. Ed. J.N. Williamson. Robson Books, 1990; Darker Masques, Ed. J.N. Williamson. New York: Pinnacle Books, 2002. (272-278)
• "Uncle Harry's Flying Saucer Swimming Pool," The New Frontier: The Best of Today's Western Fiction. Ed. Joe R. Lansdale. New York: Doubleday, 1989. (29-33)
• "Dead Voices Live," Dark at Heart. Eds. Joe R. Lansdale and Karen Lansdale. Arlington Heights, IL: Dark Harvest, 1992. (241-252)
• The Three-Day Traffic Jam. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Adults, 1992.
• "The Tree," Manoa, Vol. 9, No. 2, Century of Dreams: New Writing from the Philippines, Winter 1997. 86-90

A.W. Gifford & Jennifer Gifford, eds., For All Eternity, 2012

Gifford, A.W & Jennifer L. Gifford, eds. For All Eternity: Tales of the Seven Deadly Sins. Grayson, GA: Dark Opus Press, 2012.

Interior artwork by Chaz Kemp
Cover art by A. W. Gifford

Rating: 5/10

[NOTE. This blog post has been flagged for inappropriate content, specifically for malware. I believe this was the result of the link to the Bête Noire/For All Eternity website, which appears to have been corrupted. I have now removed that link and hopefully as is now well. January 2023]


Publishers of Bête Noir Magazine released their second anthology last year, a small seventy-eight-pager featuring seven stories, each representing one of the cardinal sins. The concept has been put to use for the anthology in the past, and I even recall a popular US magazine contest many years ago employing the theme for a vast monetary reward and selected a gluttony tale as its winner. For All Eternity generally relies on genre tales, fantasy with elements of horror, to tell of situations featuring each sin. A good quick read overall, there were two stories I simply did not like, though I was pleased to see that the book did not discriminate and included a non-genre story which is among my favourites.

Overall there is good variety in approach, setting (time and space) and interpretations of each sin, some more straightforward than others. My two favourite sins as per the anthology are wrath and pride.


A Fragment of Shadow by Renee Carter Hall.     5/10

Glass blower Giuliano inadvertently infuses his latest glass pieces with the searing envy he's been nurturing toward successful rival Silvio. The glass turns black and beautiful, unique as well as deadly. An interesting idea. I particularly liked that Giuliano is an average "good guy" victimized by a natural deep-rooted feeling. Though I did not care for the personification of his feeling as some kind of demon.


Zion by Michael Beers.     5/10

Prophet Propet tries to convince the starving populace to enter the yellow ships and sail to the planet Zion, where they can achieve freedom from consumerism and other gluttonous desires. A missed opportunity as some good satire is impaired by familiar territory, unnecessary pathos and too many typos.


Hearts of Gold by Die Booth.     6/10

Walter de Aurum (aurum being Latin for gold) purchases a vial of vengeance from local witch Mother Pellar (pellar being a kind of English conjurer) and later not only refuses to pay, but has the nerve to disrespect the woman in public. Being a prideful witch (the story encapsulates the sin of greed; pride is still to come), she curses the man. Author Booth continues to delve in his interest in classic horror themes and tropes, and hence "Hearts of Gold" is familiar ground, though a good quick read with a nice ambiguous finish. I had trouble only in believing that de Aurum, clearly made out to be not of the superstitious ilk, would visit a pellar witch. A more traditional tale of the likes of Le Fanu or M. R. James would have addressed this apparent character flaw, but then again those tales tended often to be quite lengthier with considerable build-up and characterization. Otherwise good but for some ineffective similes.


Lecherous by Marten Hoyle.     3/10

Speaking of ineffective similes... "Lecherous" deals with a gay man telling of an online hookup incident that has cured him of seeking hookups online. Unfortunately there are no surprises and little of interest in this piece. Admittedly, however, I've gained respect for its author via the brief candid author profile at the story's end.


The Corpse Road by Christian Larsen.     6/10

A hundred years after the start of the American Civil War, The Twilight Zone aired its semi-known episode "The Passersby," featuring a Confederate sergeant portrayed by likeable character actor James Gregory stopping on a dusty road as soldiers continue to file by. Given how predictable (by today's standards, at least) the episode is, I'm not really spoiling anything (spoiler alert!) by letting you know that the people passing by, those "passersby" of the title, are victims of the war.

In Larsen's take we find a soldier named Judson holed up in a roadside shop as men and women file by along "The Corpse Road." Our hero and readers are aware early on that the passersby here are dead, making their way west where hell resides. Judson discovers that while he cannot march east, he can actually stop and remain in the limbo of the road, which he has chosen to do. Here he can wonder why he, the good God-fearing man that he is, is directed west rather than the heavenly east. A good rendition of pride, particularly since in the classical Christian sense hubris was associated with the belief of one's self in relation to heaven, the cardinal sin implying that man has no right to place himself on a similar plane with God. Also a good alternate take on The Twilight Zone idea, with some good
, steady prose. I wonder only at the advanced damage to these corpses, and wonder how the legless would make the journey either east or west. In "The Passersby" victims marched the road with bodies intact.


Deadweight by Ken MacGregor.     3/10

Gregory Simmons is content to collect his worker's compensation earnings and waste his existence on take-out and a video game called Gods of Kromm. Unfortunately he is so disassociated from the world around him that he is unaware the building he is living in has been condemned and that the demolition crew is approaching. The story unfolds as you would expect, yet not too believably. I'm quite certain the municipality or demolition company would make damn sure no one was living in the building prior to letting loose the wrecking ball, not because they care so much but imagine the lawsuit and terrible public image. Moreover, if the building is being torn down there would be no electricity, so unless that video game is a figment of poor Gregory's imagination, then the wrecking ball is a figment of the author's. Double moreover, no restaurant would deliver to a building with a condemned notice on its front door, doors which should be barred to the public. Perhaps Simmons himself lives somewhere where such rules don't apply, perhaps in Kromm itself.


Mauschwitz by Brandon French.     6/10

The only non-genre story in the bunch, the title (seemingly borrowed from Art Spiegelman) refers to a tyrannical executive hovering over a team of marketing specialists over the re-release of some Walt Disney classics. Told through the point of view of wrathful Dani Lauer, the story deals with a woman who comes to terms with a part of herself through the death of a seemingly hateful man. Written with a combination of light humour and fervent energy, I was surprised when the story grew beyond its limitations to achieve something pertinent. I also like that the Disney universe is imbued with the hateful and the wrathful, imbibers and cynics, and only hoping that the Disney Corporation does not take out a lawsuit.

Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus (2011)

Morgenstern, Erin, The Night Circus, NY: Doubleday, 2011.

The enticing cover is by Helen Musselwhite

The Night Circus at ISFdb
The Night Circus at Goodreads
The Night Circus at IBList

Rating: 4/10


There is a lasting cultural tradition linked to the circus, both as concept and in fact. While circuses no longer generate the kind of interest from visitors they once did, what with the incredible alterations to our sources of entertainment, particularly as affected by modern technology, as well as our evolution from primitive gullibility, there still exists within pop culture a fascination with the circus. Whether it be an unfortunately short-lived series such as Carnivale or a persistently beloved novel such as Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes, even if we haven't visited an actual circus, replete with acrobats, animals, a bearded lady and numerous clowns, we are drawn to visit them via representations of circus. Everyone has gone to the circus: Charlie Chaplin, the Marx Brothers, James Bond, Dumbo, Brother Cadfael, vampire hunter Anita Blake, Batman & company, Cecil B. DeMille, Federico Fellini, John Wayne, Curious George and so forth. The circus permeates our imagination and offers so much possibility.

Though it is a circus as far as spectacle is concerned, The Night Circus adopts more of a Cirque du Soleil approach rather than a Barnum & Bailey approach, replacing more traditional circus elements with a specific type of performance. The acts in The Night Circus, like the acrobatics of Cirque, are very real; nothing like Barnum's "sucker" displays.

Unfortunately, despite a few good ideas and some nice touches, Morgenstern fails to generate wonder with her overly manipulative and consistently under-achieving novel. In the Morgenstern circus the only awe I experienced was with the consistent anti-climax of the carefully generated suspense. The author and marketing department claim there is a competition in the works, bitter and fierce, and yet the competition is illusory, vacuous and even comical. Our male competitor, the dense and dull Marco, knows his competitor is Celia, who is unaware that he is her rival. For over a hundred pages we wonder how she will discover the identity of her bitter competitor, someone she has been told to watch out for throughout most of her life, until finally, in comical fanfare he walks up to her and... tells her. What a reveal! Appropriate for the lunacy that is the circus of the night.

Moreover, Marco is a despicable male counterpart to Celia's ordinariness. Ultimately a selfish and immature boy, he treats his first woman poorly, even cruelly. Psychologists can tell us that a boy reveals himself in his treatment of his first partner, and if Marco's treatment of Isobel is indicative of his future relationships, then the limbo that ensnares Marco and Celia will prove to be a hellish eternity for the latter.

My greatest discovery related to this novel is how, as time passes and distance is created, I dislike this book more and more. At first I thought it dull and unnecessary, granted with some minor good points, like clock-maker Friedrick Herr Thiessen and a few scattered visuals, whereas now, a week or so after completing the novel, I am straining to control my fingers from spewing expletives, something I tend to do only in conversation.

The convenience of character and events allows the novel to unfold in a less than magical, obviously mechanical way. I wondered at its identity: can one class this as young adult, or would most young adults be bored with pages of description, its blacks and greys? On an emotional level the novel is certainly less than adult, as even promising characters such as Bailey are fated to become under-utilized and end up existing only as necessitated by the outcome. I continue to wonder who this novel appeals to and why it is so appealing. Reviews at Goodreads are mixed though the rating is fairly high, and, if we are to gauge by avatars, seems to appeal to all ages.

Ultimately, The Night Circus puts its audience to sleep.

Bookshops: House of Prose (Dubai)

House of Prose
Dubai, UAE
Jumeirah Plaza
Jumeirah Beach Road
(Another location at Dubai Garden Centre)
Visited: March 2013
Purchased: Sarah Waters, The Night Watch, $8

The problem with second-hand book stores in Dubai is that the range of books is limited. Primarily a tourist city, used book stores build their stock on items left behind by travellers, and even the most literate traveller, when on holiday, often chooses to read a mainstream thriller rather than something more challenging or esoteric. Last year The National (UAE) rated the House of Prose as one of the top second-hand booksellers in Dubai, though there are not many to choose from. While House of Prose is quaint and clean and certainly has a large number of books, the bulk of their collection is made up primarily of popular mainstream mystery and thriller novels. The classic literature section is embarrassingly tiny (though many classic novels can be found shelved alongside the general fiction, unless you feel Evelyn Waugh to be more Michael Connelly than, well, Evelyn Waugh.

In general the books are in good condition and sell for about half price or a little less. I would recommend the shop to anyone looking for something ordinary, a bestseller over the past twenty years or less, but not for those who like to browse or are hoping to come across something quaint or rare.

Shimmer: Number 16

Tobler, E. Catherine, ed., Shimmer #16, Salt Lake City: Shimmerzine Press, April 2013

Number 16 presents us with thirteen shorter short stories. There are some unfortunately weak entries in this volume, mingling with some effective ones. Despite a few good tales, the consistent tone and consistent shortness of these stories makes for a somewhat average read, an entirely different experience from Shimmer #15. I think I would prefer the magazine if it included greater variety in style, tone and in the case of this issue, length. The shorter stories make for a choppy, interrupted read, and the similarity in tone unfortunately fails to bind. Something longer? Something wilder? I don't think it would harm.

I do like Shimmer quite a bit, but do feel it can be better than it is, a feeling emphasized when reading a weaker entry. A quote on the magazine's back cover and included on its webpage opines that the magazine features stories "built on fresh ideas or at least interesting twists on established ones," and that fantastical elements pervade each tale either overtly or via "the mere shimmer of possibility..." While true with most tales here, a few fall astray of this definition. There are a surprising number of stories that have no fantastical element, though they do imply fantasy and I suppose that is the "shimmer of possibility."

Side-note: Shimmer has some entertaining author and staff profiles and little photos in their backpages which I genuinely enjoy. In fact, it makes me feel badly when I write less favourably about a particular story. This review, hence, makes me feel badly three times over :( My favourites are those by Leunig, Ginoza, Gardner, Jablonsky and Bell. (Sounds like a law firm.)

Shimmer website
Review of Shimmer #15

Overall Rating: 6/10


Ordinary Souls by K. M. Szpara     6/10
A man continuously attempts to reunite with his lover via magic, ignoring the suspicions that the practice has some unwanted consequences. Somewhat reminiscent of Robert Silverberg's very good novella, "Born with the Dead." As the quote on the magazine's back and its website suggests, an old(ish) idea presented in a fresh form.


Goodbye Mildred by Charlie Bookout     4/10
Aged serial killer reminisces about serial killer wife, Mildred. Brief piece and not very good. Little actual characterization prevents me from caring, despite the obvious attempt at pathos. There are several problems with the narration: husband is too poetic at times to be believable, and tells the story second person to Mildred with such basic linear plot detail as though she has no idea what they'd done together. Contrived and certainly not what I would call shimmery, as per the previously stated quote.


Opposable Thumbs by Greg Leunig     7/10
"Opposable Thumbs" is a first person narrative that slowly reveals itself, and I think I was a little slow to catch on. Among the stronger stories, it follows the thoughts a person who... but that would be giving it away. Notions of identity and purpose from one in an unusual position.


Word and Flesh by Dennis Y. Ginoza     7/10
In a post-apocalyptic setting, a baby is sold to the local church and is transformed into the word made flesh. A powerful and captivating little piece that projects extreme religious fanaticism onto the future, on a society more concerned with preserving the word of God than preserving the outside world. My favourite story in the collection.


The Revelation of Morgan Stern by Christie Yant. 6/10
The letter-journal of a woman traversing the desert amid the apocalyptic presence of killer angels in order to find her loved one. A well written and interesting story that falls apart a little at the end. Unfortunately I couldn't take the explanation of those angels too seriously, non in such a non-metaphorical guise, which unfortunately weakens the piece.


The Binding of Memories by Cate Gardner     7/10
In a world where memories are collected and released after one's death, in order that they may retrieve them in the afterlife, a woman must contend with her aunts while two men are stealing the memories of others. Dreamy and unique, a good concept well delivered, and a story that well represents the shimmery quote from above.


The Death and Life of Bob by William Jablonsky     7/10
After having clinically died, Bob re-awakens and returns to work. At first wary and afraid, his colleagues soon accept him once they realize what a kind and refreshing soul he is. Things are complicated, however, when one person believes he is a zombie and that God hates zombies. A strong story, both amusing and effective. Our narrator is the collective we, the workplace colleagues. The story deals with people looking for a saviour and those for a sacrifice. Miracles are looked upon selfishly, as in how we can individually benefit rather than how we, as a society, can be made a better place. Prejudice abounds.


The Sky Whale by Rebecca Emanuelsen     5/10
Hitomi and her mother are headed to see family when the little girl sees a whale in the sky. This subtle, well written story deals with the loss of a parent during the recent devastating tsunami in Japan. A nice fragment of a story, where the whales, obviously seen in Hitomi's imagination as a coping method for the loss of her father. The story, technically, is not a fantasy, since the whales aren't really there.


Tasting of the Sea by A. C. Wise     4/10
A clockmaker builds hearts for sorrowful orphans. Nice prose, much of the time, but the abstract quality and lack of characterization makes for unremarkable reading.


Lighting of the Candles by Laura Hinkle     3/10
A sketch of a succubus named Unicorn who picks men up at bars. You might think she is a vampire, but the "you dream of me" nonsense alludes more to succubi. The myriad candles of the title seem to represent her numerous victims. Unfortunately the sketch is quite bland.


Gemini in the House of Mars by Nicole M. Taylor     5/10
A tale of twins, both seemingly evil, and the question of whether twin Lora was indeed killed by a cuckolded husband. Flows nicely but story-wise not too interesting. Taylor's Shimmer 15 entry, "The Undertaker's Son," is a superior story.


The Haunted Jalopy Races by M. Bennardo     6/10
Another story that borrows from recognizable fare to deliver something a little different. Two feuding ghosts of feuding boys who were killed during a race in their souped-up jalopies meet on the anniversary of their death to continue their rivalry, as witnessed by the gal they both had the hots for. A little predictable but some nice sentence shaping helps to elevate the story.


In Light of Recent Events I Have Reconsidered the Wisdom of Your Space Elevator by Helena Bell     7/10
An enjoyable ambiguous tale of apocalypse (?), innocence and imaginative story-telling, along with a dash of childhood cruelty and a great title. I also very much enjoyed author Bell's author profile.