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Entropy in Bloom
For more than a decade, Jeremy Robert Johnson has been bubbling under the surface of both literary and genre fiction. His short stories present a brilliantly dark and audaciously weird realm where cosmic nightmares collide with all-too-human characters and apocalypses of all shapes and sizes loom ominously. In “Persistence Hunting,” a lonely distance runner is seduced into a brutal life of crime with an ever-narrowing path for escape. In “When Susurrus Stirs,” an unlucky pacifist must stop a horrifying parasite from turning his body into a sentient hive. Running through all of Johnson’s work is a hallucinatory vision and deeply-felt empathy, earning the author a reputation as one of today’s most daring and thrilling writers.
Featuring the best of his previously independently-published short fiction, as well as an exclusive, never-before-published novella “The Sleep of Judges”—where a father’s fight against the denizens of a drug den becomes a mind-bending suburban nightmare—Entropy in Bloom is a perfect compendium for avid fans and an ideal entry point for adventurous readers seeking the humor, heartbreak, and terror of JRJ’s strange new worlds.
Featuring the best of his previously independently-published short fiction, as well as an exclusive, never-before-published novella “The Sleep of Judges”—where a father’s fight against the denizens of a drug den becomes a mind-bending suburban nightmare—Entropy in Bloom is a perfect compendium for avid fans and an ideal entry point for adventurous readers seeking the humor, heartbreak, and terror of JRJ’s strange new worlds.
280 pages, Hardcover
First published April 18, 2017
188 people are currently reading
3505 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 163 reviews
June 2, 2017
A collection of short stories by Johnson, many of which were bizarre or, I don't want to say violent but, gritty maybe? I really enjoyed some of the stories but others were just okay. I didn't like the last one as much but I really like the first two and god I can't remember the names of any them because after reading them all I kind of just lost track because I was enjoying them. I do think that if drug abuse, mental illness, disability, death, gore, depictions of self harm, etc etc are hard for you to read you should avoid this one but I really really did enjoy it. I loved how so many stories blurred the line between reality and perception where the narrator may just be mentally ill. I especially liked the one . Really enjoyed all the stories more than I usually enjoy short stories. I would recommend it as long as you're not squeamish, I do understand that we all have our own things that are too uncomfortable and so if you don't like the word retard or aren't okay with sex or descriptions of violence of drug use it's all in there. I personally don't mind as long as it's not just there for shock value which I don't feel like was the reasoning behind putting a lot of it in there, it really added to the stories.
July 13, 2017
Chaos and entropy are two of my favorite words. In a world in which we try to keep ourselves carefully defined and ordered, random occurrences and a breakdown of systems equate to freedom of impulse. Is this a good thing? Probably not, but the release of pressure and defiance of natural laws provide a measure of primal satisfaction. The stories in this skillfully written collection confront us with situations that we would never expect to encounter. Body modification separates the physical form from the cogitation process. A sociopath in space observes the apocalypse and decides to put his own spin on things. A young man explores what he is made of with a scalpel and horse tranquilizers. A parasite invades a body that fully embraces change. A pool in the canopy of The Redwoods provides ecstatic happiness, but at what cost? A man designs a living suit to survive the end of the world. Straight-edge mentality and steroids beget harrowing violence. A brother succumbs to immolation to save his young sister. These stories are made of the difficult situations that catch us at our most human moments. Whether our choices are wise or primitive, there will inevitably be blood and tears shed. This collection put me though a gamut of emotions and high wire tension. Most highly recommended.
March 26, 2018
I'm sitting here staring at this empty review box, drinking my coffee, wondering how the hell I'm going to review this book without sounding like a ridiculous fangirl.
Okay. So. My girlfriend Emily had this book and I kept lusting after the cover every time she posted it on Instagram. One day, I get my mail and I had a package from Emily, it was this book.
I put the book on the top of my TBR cover and I swear, that blooming skull called to me at night while I read *other* books.
So finally, I couldn't resist it anymore and I figured I'd just read a few of the short stories and go back to my regularly scheduled stack of books.
After reading the first story, League of Zeroes I knew I wouldn't be able to stop until all the stories in this collection were read: It was so bizarre the way Johnson was writing startling things in this very normative way, where you are just accepting what's happening but at the same time completely horrified.
I explained to one friend that reading Jeremy Johnson's stories is like eating exotic food in a foreign land. Every dish is new and exciting. The flavor explosions in your mouth engage your whole body in the act of enjoyment--all of it strange, dangerous, horrifying, immersive, thought provoking and unpredictable.
After each story, I would turn to the Author's Notes in the back and read the short blurb Jeremy wrote about it. I've never been so captivated, I honestly didn't want the experience to end. Some of the stand out stories deserve mention. Of course the first one I already highlighted and it's the perfect way to hook a reader and make them want more.
Persistence Hunter, the second story, is a totally different narrative style and voice, I found it to be a magnetic, sexually charged, character study.
Dissociative Skills was unflinching and upsetting. Loved it.
Snowfall was beautiful; magical
My real time quote after reading a story called When Susurrus Stirs: "Holy. Shit. BARF! Hahah that was....EWWWWW. Loved it."
But then the story right after that made me cry.
At this point, I'm growing addicted to Johnson's style of gut-punchy prose that startles you out of your regular flow of reading. He'll just throw a line at you that slaps you in the face and you're like, "WHAT?!"
And then these crazy emotional trips you go on from one story to the next was so fun and entertaining, I feel like I'm ruined for reading a novel now.
Trigger Variation and A Flood of Harriers were the scariest stories
Saturn's Game, Swimming in the House of the Sea and States of Glass were the ones that invaded my thoughts the most, in fact, I couldn't fall asleep for awhile after States of Glass.
I've rambled on enough, but I think my main point here is that there is not one thing I didn't love about this collection. I highly recommend it. I'll be interviewing Jeremy Johnson for the blog soon and I hope you'll be joining us--I have lots of questions. BUY THIS BOOK! <---final words.
Okay. So. My girlfriend Emily had this book and I kept lusting after the cover every time she posted it on Instagram. One day, I get my mail and I had a package from Emily, it was this book.
I put the book on the top of my TBR cover and I swear, that blooming skull called to me at night while I read *other* books.
So finally, I couldn't resist it anymore and I figured I'd just read a few of the short stories and go back to my regularly scheduled stack of books.
After reading the first story, League of Zeroes I knew I wouldn't be able to stop until all the stories in this collection were read: It was so bizarre the way Johnson was writing startling things in this very normative way, where you are just accepting what's happening but at the same time completely horrified.
I explained to one friend that reading Jeremy Johnson's stories is like eating exotic food in a foreign land. Every dish is new and exciting. The flavor explosions in your mouth engage your whole body in the act of enjoyment--all of it strange, dangerous, horrifying, immersive, thought provoking and unpredictable.
After each story, I would turn to the Author's Notes in the back and read the short blurb Jeremy wrote about it. I've never been so captivated, I honestly didn't want the experience to end. Some of the stand out stories deserve mention. Of course the first one I already highlighted and it's the perfect way to hook a reader and make them want more.
Persistence Hunter, the second story, is a totally different narrative style and voice, I found it to be a magnetic, sexually charged, character study.
Dissociative Skills was unflinching and upsetting. Loved it.
Snowfall was beautiful; magical
My real time quote after reading a story called When Susurrus Stirs: "Holy. Shit. BARF! Hahah that was....EWWWWW. Loved it."
But then the story right after that made me cry.
At this point, I'm growing addicted to Johnson's style of gut-punchy prose that startles you out of your regular flow of reading. He'll just throw a line at you that slaps you in the face and you're like, "WHAT?!"
And then these crazy emotional trips you go on from one story to the next was so fun and entertaining, I feel like I'm ruined for reading a novel now.
Trigger Variation and A Flood of Harriers were the scariest stories
Saturn's Game, Swimming in the House of the Sea and States of Glass were the ones that invaded my thoughts the most, in fact, I couldn't fall asleep for awhile after States of Glass.
I've rambled on enough, but I think my main point here is that there is not one thing I didn't love about this collection. I highly recommend it. I'll be interviewing Jeremy Johnson for the blog soon and I hope you'll be joining us--I have lots of questions. BUY THIS BOOK! <---final words.
February 2, 2018
His carefully crafted suit had gone cannibalistic.
Weird books for jaded readers.
Huh...absolutely nailed it, Chris. Chris provides me with all the internet wandering I need, she's my GR dealer and I love her for it. Granted, I'm not a big internet wanderer. So, when she had a link to a bunch of recommendations for weird books for jaded readers I was like, "That's me."
Skullcrack City was the one I wanted, but when I got to my library website they only had one Jeremy Robert Johnson book available to lend, now. And I wanted it--NOW. Plus, the cover is so pretty and the title seductive that I couldn't resist. Couldn't. Inconceivable.
This is a collection of short stories that appeared in various places over the years and well, you know that when the introduction says this:
The kind of readers who are willing to stand on the side of the literary highway and thumb down whatever vehicle comes by, who are willing to take more chances than the average reader.
Every reader thinks that's them, 'I'm a rebel', so I wasn't totally drinking the Kool-Aid until I read the next line and I knew that this is where I wanted to be:
It'll be a wild ride, but after a little shaking you'll get to your destination, and be able to get out unharmed, mostly, and it'll still be you. Or at least someone who looks and acts like you.Well, someone who will be able to pass for you in most circumstances. Honestly, the real you probably won't even be missed.How right you are, Mr. Brian Evenson.
This is the sell. I don't want to go into too many details and spoil the fun of discovery and the delightful twists that just make you go O_O and then O_o
So the guiding themes of these stories are invasion, loss of control, and spectacle. Shuffled and dealt in bizarre ways that highlight the visceral. There's a definite sense of betrayal running through it and it is very male perspective focused. Frankly, there were a few that I read that really made me think there are a bunch of unresolved issues with women and I struggled with the rating. It wasn't misogyny, but frustration, resentment, and a rather depressing surrendered acceptance--beyond resignation.
Sometimes he felt as if he was training towards a gold medal in the Dumbfuck Olympics.
"League of Zeros" was one of my favorites. Take the concept of celebrity and go, go far. Beyond reality tv, YouTube, keep going--This is one place you end up. Freaky and the business of spectacle. The Oarsman, Cathedral Mother, Persistence Hunting, and Swimming in the House of the Sea, all right up there too. I loved the stretch in these stories. They're out there, but rather glittering in all their squalid splendor.
"How hard do I have to deny this entire day to make it disappear?"
April 1, 2018
I picked this one up because my friend Sadie said that I needed it, and when Sadie says I need something she's never wrong. Boy, was she right about this one.
This is a collection of stories that will seriously be burned into my brain forever. They are all so disturbing, so unflinching, and unique! I've never read anyone like Jeremy Robert Johnson, and I can't believe it took me this long to discover him. I owe Sadie a huge thank you and one hell of a favor.
These stories are all so different, but definitely maintain a voice that is distinctive to Johnson. The collection starts of with a bang and offers the reader a dystopian future where body modification is so popular and extreme that a man admires a woman in a coffee shop after she's had her lips removed. Yep, you read that correctly.
This collection starts of bananas and just keeps upping the grotesque eeriness. Dissociative Skills is a story that is seared into my brain forever now. There's body horror in this one that will make you sincerely queasy. Snowfall is such an eerie and melancholy story about a deaf boy who wakes up to a very different world than the one he fell asleep in. When Susurrus stirs is a story about a parasite that is so disturbing it will make you never want to leave your house again.
I think my favorite story in book is Swimming in the House of the Sea because the ending is so unexpected and shockingly sad. The entire time I was reading it I kept trying to figure out where Johnson was taking the story, and the end is like a punch in the gut. You don't see it coming, and it's so heartbreaking.
This is a fantastic collection, and one that I'm sad I didn't discover sooner! A big thank you to my friend Mother Horror for getting me to pick this one up already. It's a new favorite.
This is a collection of stories that will seriously be burned into my brain forever. They are all so disturbing, so unflinching, and unique! I've never read anyone like Jeremy Robert Johnson, and I can't believe it took me this long to discover him. I owe Sadie a huge thank you and one hell of a favor.
These stories are all so different, but definitely maintain a voice that is distinctive to Johnson. The collection starts of with a bang and offers the reader a dystopian future where body modification is so popular and extreme that a man admires a woman in a coffee shop after she's had her lips removed. Yep, you read that correctly.
This collection starts of bananas and just keeps upping the grotesque eeriness. Dissociative Skills is a story that is seared into my brain forever now. There's body horror in this one that will make you sincerely queasy. Snowfall is such an eerie and melancholy story about a deaf boy who wakes up to a very different world than the one he fell asleep in. When Susurrus stirs is a story about a parasite that is so disturbing it will make you never want to leave your house again.
I think my favorite story in book is Swimming in the House of the Sea because the ending is so unexpected and shockingly sad. The entire time I was reading it I kept trying to figure out where Johnson was taking the story, and the end is like a punch in the gut. You don't see it coming, and it's so heartbreaking.
This is a fantastic collection, and one that I'm sad I didn't discover sooner! A big thank you to my friend Mother Horror for getting me to pick this one up already. It's a new favorite.
February 18, 2017
This is the best book I've read so far in 2017. Truth is, Jeremy Robert Johnson's short stories are the finest I've stumbled upon since I had the privilege of discovering Cameron Pierce and Jordan Harper's work in 2015. A couple names came to mind while reading ENTROPY IN BLOOM: Harlan Ellison, Richard Matheson, Clive Barker, Dan Simmons, Johnson definitely belong to that group of enthralling storytellers.
Brian Evenson astutely points out in the foreword that anything goes in a Johnson story, but that he treats every premise with the utmost serious which is what makes his work so unique and vivid. Among my favorites were: Persistence Hunting, The Gravity of Benham Falls, When Sussurus Stirs, Luminary and a glorious new novella called The Sleep of Judges. I liked his novel SKULLCRACK CITY a couple years ago, but I LOVED this. Short form Jeremy Robert Johnson is another ball game. He truly mastered the form.
Brian Evenson astutely points out in the foreword that anything goes in a Johnson story, but that he treats every premise with the utmost serious which is what makes his work so unique and vivid. Among my favorites were: Persistence Hunting, The Gravity of Benham Falls, When Sussurus Stirs, Luminary and a glorious new novella called The Sleep of Judges. I liked his novel SKULLCRACK CITY a couple years ago, but I LOVED this. Short form Jeremy Robert Johnson is another ball game. He truly mastered the form.
December 29, 2019
This short story collection is just utter perfection! In fact, it’s so damn good that I think it might just be my favourite book I’ve read all year. And that’s saying something because I’ve read some pretty damn good books this year! But this one. This one is just BEYOND stunning. As soon as I read the first story I INSTANTLY knew that I was holding gold in my hands. With each story I kept saying to myself, “okay this one is my favourite because it just can’t get better than this!” But then it did keep getting better with each story and I can’t pick a favourite because they’re all bloody BRILLIANT. Seriously, if you read only one short story collection this year, let it be this one! And to think I originally only picked this up because I loved the cover, never in a million years did I think I would find such treasures between its pages!
September 18, 2022
So weird 😂😂 I LOVED IT
July 30, 2019
A major leap, but only for those just joining what's in progress, Jeremy Robert Johnson's Entropy in Bloom gives us — right down to the author's notes at the end — an update on the State of Things.
Somehow, it feels like it's here, now, this year, and one finds oneself looking back to the publications date — "What year did this come out? what season, even?" It's like a moment frozen in time, a monolith of exactly this size and height, a totem pole of 250-some pages. All the more remarkable and multifaceted for being compact.
As with In the River (released later), you'll feel like you're living in bones, again, and "yikes!" will happen as many times as could only differ with the reader and their level of surprise and expectation. This is well past mere-horror stories, here: what impresses on is how much Johnson knows, and how he can dispense it in always that enable us to follow him down these paths. Plus, it's like "yeah, I've been there too!"
Well worth reading.
Somehow, it feels like it's here, now, this year, and one finds oneself looking back to the publications date — "What year did this come out? what season, even?" It's like a moment frozen in time, a monolith of exactly this size and height, a totem pole of 250-some pages. All the more remarkable and multifaceted for being compact.
As with In the River (released later), you'll feel like you're living in bones, again, and "yikes!" will happen as many times as could only differ with the reader and their level of surprise and expectation. This is well past mere-horror stories, here: what impresses on is how much Johnson knows, and how he can dispense it in always that enable us to follow him down these paths. Plus, it's like "yeah, I've been there too!"
Well worth reading.
July 12, 2022
Wish I knew of this book sooner!
I enjoy a good short story. I love a book full of them! These stories will remain in my thoughts for quite some time to come. If you're looking for a disturbing story, this is your book. The stories are disturbing on so many different levels - gore, emotions, disbelief! And yet I could not set it down because a touch of empathy is thrown in. You want to see the characters come out on top. Now I'm off to read my next collection by Jeremy Robert Johnson. Oh, and I was thrilled to learn in the ending comments that some of the characters live on in other novels and novellas by this author. I have a wealth of great reading to look forward to!
I enjoy a good short story. I love a book full of them! These stories will remain in my thoughts for quite some time to come. If you're looking for a disturbing story, this is your book. The stories are disturbing on so many different levels - gore, emotions, disbelief! And yet I could not set it down because a touch of empathy is thrown in. You want to see the characters come out on top. Now I'm off to read my next collection by Jeremy Robert Johnson. Oh, and I was thrilled to learn in the ending comments that some of the characters live on in other novels and novellas by this author. I have a wealth of great reading to look forward to!
April 27, 2017
There is something for every horror fan here whether you enjoy dark satire, straight up gross out horror, or psychological terror. Beginning with The "League of Zeroes" which takes the art of body modification to blood curdling extremes and ending with the novella "The Sleep Of Judges" which was an unsettling tale of the aftermath of a burglary. In between is a wild ride of love, desperation and how to survive the end of the world just like the cockroaches will. This was my first time reading anything by Jeremy Robert Johnson, who in my humble opinion is a master story teller. This was an incredible collection of dark fiction/horror stories.
I received an advance copy for review
I received an advance copy for review
May 4, 2018
I can’t stop thinking about this collection, and actually had trouble falling asleep upon finishing. I kept asking myself “what the hell did I just read?” I read a lot of books and I don’t think I’ve ever read one as batshit crazy as this, and I say that with highest praise!
There is a generous dose of insanity running through here.
it’s Imagination running Wild with a chainsaw
The stories contained within-not a bad one in the bunch, run the gamut between Horrifying, laugh out loud funny, and heartbreaking, all blended into outlandish Twilight Zone scenarios. A complete mishmash of genres that succeeds on all levels! A new favorite author!
There is a generous dose of insanity running through here.
it’s Imagination running Wild with a chainsaw
The stories contained within-not a bad one in the bunch, run the gamut between Horrifying, laugh out loud funny, and heartbreaking, all blended into outlandish Twilight Zone scenarios. A complete mishmash of genres that succeeds on all levels! A new favorite author!
June 20, 2017
Loved it. Absolutely loved it. Full review to come, but in the meantime read this collection. Read it now.
June 28, 2020
Sometimes, the long novels are just too much for my busy, scattered mind and short stories are just the right thing to keep me reading when I should be focusing on other things :-D
Entropy in Bloom was a pure cover buy because.. just look at that, will you?! Skulls are cute with their eternal smiles. Anyway, I'm glad I bought it because it managed to creep me out just fine. The stories were fresh with unexpected endings. Sure, there were super awesome ones (I think "Snowfall" hit me the hardest) and a few weaker ones ("The Sleep of Judges" didn't work for me because it was the longest yet it didn't explain things in bigger detail so it kinda left me with more questions than dread) but overall the impression it left is good and I wouldn't be opposed to look out for other things by Johnson.
Entropy in Bloom was a pure cover buy because.. just look at that, will you?! Skulls are cute with their eternal smiles. Anyway, I'm glad I bought it because it managed to creep me out just fine. The stories were fresh with unexpected endings. Sure, there were super awesome ones (I think "Snowfall" hit me the hardest) and a few weaker ones ("The Sleep of Judges" didn't work for me because it was the longest yet it didn't explain things in bigger detail so it kinda left me with more questions than dread) but overall the impression it left is good and I wouldn't be opposed to look out for other things by Johnson.
July 9, 2020
Don't be mistaken by the bizarro tag: it is far more and wider than that.Because its versatility this deserves a wider audience.
A lot if readers call this a perfect collection, but I don't find it flawless. Still great enough for four stars!
A lot if readers call this a perfect collection, but I don't find it flawless. Still great enough for four stars!
August 5, 2021
This is a well thought-out, well-written, an overall fantastic collection of short stories. I really had the feeling that Johnson writes genuinely, committedly and that spark jumps over to the reader. Although I can't say that I loved every story, I thought the first and last stories were exceptional in different ways and I had a couple of stories that seriously left an impression on me. I was surprised by how much this is indeed a dystopic work, and not as much written to bring the scares; from body-horrific dystopia where body modification escalates to inconceivable dimensions, over concepts of highly unsettling hiveminds, to the invasion of ruthless straight edges and other radical movements, to a guy building a suit made out of cockroaches for the nuclear apocalypse... There are also moving stories, like two brothers coming to terms with each other during a roadtrip, stories about consequences of domestic violence, about fear, about betrayal. In these quaint, deeply genuine 16 stories, Johnson presents everything that moves us, everything that is us - sometimes ridiculous, sometimes tragic and everything in between.
June 26, 2017
One of the best collections I’ve read, period. Johnson’s work is deep and dark and mines the nastiest, most vulnerable crevices of our psyches, but it’s also fizzing good fun. His prose is whip-smart and has a furious momentum, and his characters are any combination of fallible, sympathetic, batshit insane, and/or heartbreakingly, hilariously human.
Johnson’s work could be categorised as weird fiction or bizarro or horror, but why waste time trying to put him in a box? The scope and ambition of the guy’s work just doesn’t fit into any one set of parameters. The stories here range from bizarre pulp black comedies to bleak character studies, a single moment or scene captured in slow motion to a choreographed descent into madness and horror. On the strength of Entropy in Bloom, I’m dying to read every single piece of fiction Johnson has written, and then read it all again. I can’t recommend his work highly enough.
Johnson’s work could be categorised as weird fiction or bizarro or horror, but why waste time trying to put him in a box? The scope and ambition of the guy’s work just doesn’t fit into any one set of parameters. The stories here range from bizarre pulp black comedies to bleak character studies, a single moment or scene captured in slow motion to a choreographed descent into madness and horror. On the strength of Entropy in Bloom, I’m dying to read every single piece of fiction Johnson has written, and then read it all again. I can’t recommend his work highly enough.
September 10, 2017
These stories were so fun and creepy. If I used one word to describe this book, it would be "unsettling". I'm so glad the publisher sent me a copy of this, because I definitely want to read more of Jeremy Robert Johnson's books. Also, the cover is so pretty.
Some of the stories in Entropy in Bloom are amusing, and some are sad, but most are just bizarre. I loved it. I definitely recommend this if you want to read some weird horror stories. If you need some encouragement, here are some of the authors who have blurbs on this book: Chuck Palahniuk, Paul Tremblay, Jack Ketchum, and Nick Cutter.
Some of the stories in Entropy in Bloom are amusing, and some are sad, but most are just bizarre. I loved it. I definitely recommend this if you want to read some weird horror stories. If you need some encouragement, here are some of the authors who have blurbs on this book: Chuck Palahniuk, Paul Tremblay, Jack Ketchum, and Nick Cutter.
July 19, 2018
The range of themes and feelings Entropy in Bloom explores are vast, but there is something profoundly human at the core of each story. Whether it’s fear, love, or longing, what every character shares in common is a struggle against their innate nature. There is a force derived from this tension that draws the reader into the collection. Maybe it’s because Entropy in Bloom is a book about choices, about reactions and consequences, and the spectrum of human behavior that ultimately leads to chaos.
Read my full review at Clash
Read my full review at Clash
November 5, 2023
4.5
This was totally great. I sometimes struggle with short story collections, but this one had such an awesomely deranged variety. The weirdness scale blew my mind in some and others were deeply touching and relatable. Great stuff.
This was totally great. I sometimes struggle with short story collections, but this one had such an awesomely deranged variety. The weirdness scale blew my mind in some and others were deeply touching and relatable. Great stuff.
April 29, 2019
This book wasn’t written by Chuck Palaniuk, but it wants to be. Like “Haunted” or “Fight Club,” “Entropy In Bloom” is an edgy, edgy collection. These lite-horror short stories are each based on some concept intended to shock and/or titillate you the reader. Many of them are based on extreme versions of body modification. By my reckoning, these stories appeal to exactly the kind of person that loved the parts of old Ripley’s Believe It Or Not episodes where weirdos hung themselves by meat hooks while simultaneously getting married. Which is to say that this book has a tame kind of edge- visceral, sure, but also noncontroversial. Pointfully unpointed, nothing you couldn’t see on Spike TV. The closest it gets to anything polarizing is a scene where a Bush Jr. stand-in gets eaten alive by cockroaches. Even that’s barely political, and more “look how gross it is to be eaten by cockroaches.” (Eww?)
This kind of edgy but otherwise pointless writing brings detractors. Palaniuk has been repeatedly criticized for being nihilist in his writing. I think these criticisms are too generous. The point of “Haunted” (and, ultimately, of “Entropy In Bloom”) is not that nothing matters- it’s that being edgy is cooool. Being a rebel is admirable, totally separate from whatever you’re rebelling against. This is obviously wrong, but there is still value in intentionally edgy art, even when that edginess is the only point.
For one thing, “edgy” is over-used as a criticism for anything experimental. Here, the opposite of edgy is boring. Art in stasis is dead art. Were the Modernists edgy when they started writing in stream-of-consciousness? Or the Postmodernists with non-chronological stories? If you believe that art shouldn’t just copy previous art, experimental edginess requires no other deeper purpose to be valuable. Innovations can be their own justification.
“Edgy” also criticizes the dark humor of teenage boys, with the implication that these boys are not as hardcore as they pretend. In this sense, it seems like more of a judgment call against boys than anything in particular about their entertainment. Is there no value in “A People’s History of the United States,” just because some readers become weird tankie Stalin apologists? It’s healthy for young people (not just boys) to be involved in some kind of boundary-pushing too, either in their culture or in their political beliefs. Exposure to the kind of “edgy” entertainment that oh-so-wise adults disparage is perfectly fine, and probably unavoidable. Yes, there are things that I openly loved as a teenager that I’m embarrassed about now. No, I don't wish I'd never experienced them.
The problem with “Entropy In Bloom” is that it didn’t shock and/or titillate me the reader. As a book that wanted to be edgy, it was unsuccessful. The body horror scenes were unpleasant where they wanted to be offputting, boring where they wanted to be horrifying. Rather than 2edgy4me, but it got notedgyenough. For your next angry PTA board demanding a library book get pulled, look elsewhere. But you want something edgy but a little lighter on the shock and awe, this would be a great choice.
This kind of edgy but otherwise pointless writing brings detractors. Palaniuk has been repeatedly criticized for being nihilist in his writing. I think these criticisms are too generous. The point of “Haunted” (and, ultimately, of “Entropy In Bloom”) is not that nothing matters- it’s that being edgy is cooool. Being a rebel is admirable, totally separate from whatever you’re rebelling against. This is obviously wrong, but there is still value in intentionally edgy art, even when that edginess is the only point.
For one thing, “edgy” is over-used as a criticism for anything experimental. Here, the opposite of edgy is boring. Art in stasis is dead art. Were the Modernists edgy when they started writing in stream-of-consciousness? Or the Postmodernists with non-chronological stories? If you believe that art shouldn’t just copy previous art, experimental edginess requires no other deeper purpose to be valuable. Innovations can be their own justification.
“Edgy” also criticizes the dark humor of teenage boys, with the implication that these boys are not as hardcore as they pretend. In this sense, it seems like more of a judgment call against boys than anything in particular about their entertainment. Is there no value in “A People’s History of the United States,” just because some readers become weird tankie Stalin apologists? It’s healthy for young people (not just boys) to be involved in some kind of boundary-pushing too, either in their culture or in their political beliefs. Exposure to the kind of “edgy” entertainment that oh-so-wise adults disparage is perfectly fine, and probably unavoidable. Yes, there are things that I openly loved as a teenager that I’m embarrassed about now. No, I don't wish I'd never experienced them.
The problem with “Entropy In Bloom” is that it didn’t shock and/or titillate me the reader. As a book that wanted to be edgy, it was unsuccessful. The body horror scenes were unpleasant where they wanted to be offputting, boring where they wanted to be horrifying. Rather than 2edgy4me, but it got notedgyenough. For your next angry PTA board demanding a library book get pulled, look elsewhere. But you want something edgy but a little lighter on the shock and awe, this would be a great choice.
December 12, 2020
An ok collection of horror/fantasy/bizarro fiction short stories. A good way to pass some time.
April 17, 2017
As an established fan, I was super excited to read JRJ's new book and was equally as excited to hear his work was being rereleased by a larger publisher leading to consumption by the greater public. JRJ is one of those dudes that paid his dues underground and has earned any success he attains today. I was originally drawn to Johnson's work when it was released through the indie publisher Swallowdown Press, who used some of the tightest artwork on books I have ever seen. So after the artwork of a dope artist like Alex Pardee got my attention, I was just over the moon when the literature coming from Swallowdown matched the originality and horror that the cover art implied. The work or Jeremy Robert Johnson (also Cody Goodfellow and J David Osborne) opened my mind to a whole new world of genre-bending sci-fi horror that is still hard to match to this day. When I read fiction in my twenties it was Murakami, Vonnegut, PKD and others that blended the absurdity of humanity with surrealism but JRJ and Goodfellow changed the game for me.
I knew this release was going to be a reintroduction of Johnson's short work, and though it had been a few years since I had read his short stories, I decided to go into Entropy without referencing back to what I had previously read by Johnson. Immediately I was hit with the nostalgia of times when I read We Live Inside You and Angel Dust Apocalypse including the music, geopolitical turmoil, and straight up mind fuckery. The bulk of the stories from Entropy are from the two books I mentioned previously and I understand why Night Shade chose the ones they did for this edition. They went for the versatility angle showing off the wide range of skill Johnson has at writing many different styles. As mentioned in the introduction by the great Brian Evenson "Johnson can shift gears and genres between and within stories, keeping you always a little off balance, going from dark to comic, from Twilight-Zone horror to contemporary noir to something almost Lovecraftian and back again", what more can you say?
Being as I was rereading most of these stories, I took my time trying to notice the nuance in style and pick up on themes etc... One thing I noticed reading is that as much as things change they always stay the same. Even though they weren't written that long ago, stories like The Sharp Dressed Man at the End of the World and A Flood of Harriers both have a lot to say about society and are as relevant today as they were when they were written, and I imagine will remain relevant. I also think there is something to be said about the fragility of the male ego threaded through many of the stories in this collection not to mention a steady dose of paranoia.
The coolest thing about a JRJ story is you truly have no way of knowing what is going to happen and which bizarre or violent turn the tale may take. I would be lying if I didn't feel a tad bit envious of those experiencing these stories for the first time. With that being said, The Sleep Of Judges is an exclusive piece to this release and it is noteworthy in itself. It starts off a crime/noir story about the burglary of a young family's home and devolves into a weird fiction story of paranoia and extra-dimensional evil. It is a great ending to this arrangement of stories. If you are not like me and have never read JRJ's work before then don't take my word for it just look at the insane blurbage on this book: Stephen Graham Jones, Laird Barron, Nick Cutter, John Skipp, Paul Tremblay, Chuck Palanuik and the intro by Evenson? I mean holy christ, I would've picked it up on that alone. There is a reason why so may titans of horror lit are co-signing this collection. I think that is because as JRJ's catalog expands and we see more and more of what he can do, he will fall into the categories of great writers like Tom Piccirrilli and Joe Lansdale that can stretch across literary genres yet still remain distinctly themselves. If you're a fan of horror or weird literature then go ahead and pick up Entropy In Bloom then when you can think clearly again go get his novel Skullcrack City.
I knew this release was going to be a reintroduction of Johnson's short work, and though it had been a few years since I had read his short stories, I decided to go into Entropy without referencing back to what I had previously read by Johnson. Immediately I was hit with the nostalgia of times when I read We Live Inside You and Angel Dust Apocalypse including the music, geopolitical turmoil, and straight up mind fuckery. The bulk of the stories from Entropy are from the two books I mentioned previously and I understand why Night Shade chose the ones they did for this edition. They went for the versatility angle showing off the wide range of skill Johnson has at writing many different styles. As mentioned in the introduction by the great Brian Evenson "Johnson can shift gears and genres between and within stories, keeping you always a little off balance, going from dark to comic, from Twilight-Zone horror to contemporary noir to something almost Lovecraftian and back again", what more can you say?
Being as I was rereading most of these stories, I took my time trying to notice the nuance in style and pick up on themes etc... One thing I noticed reading is that as much as things change they always stay the same. Even though they weren't written that long ago, stories like The Sharp Dressed Man at the End of the World and A Flood of Harriers both have a lot to say about society and are as relevant today as they were when they were written, and I imagine will remain relevant. I also think there is something to be said about the fragility of the male ego threaded through many of the stories in this collection not to mention a steady dose of paranoia.
The coolest thing about a JRJ story is you truly have no way of knowing what is going to happen and which bizarre or violent turn the tale may take. I would be lying if I didn't feel a tad bit envious of those experiencing these stories for the first time. With that being said, The Sleep Of Judges is an exclusive piece to this release and it is noteworthy in itself. It starts off a crime/noir story about the burglary of a young family's home and devolves into a weird fiction story of paranoia and extra-dimensional evil. It is a great ending to this arrangement of stories. If you are not like me and have never read JRJ's work before then don't take my word for it just look at the insane blurbage on this book: Stephen Graham Jones, Laird Barron, Nick Cutter, John Skipp, Paul Tremblay, Chuck Palanuik and the intro by Evenson? I mean holy christ, I would've picked it up on that alone. There is a reason why so may titans of horror lit are co-signing this collection. I think that is because as JRJ's catalog expands and we see more and more of what he can do, he will fall into the categories of great writers like Tom Piccirrilli and Joe Lansdale that can stretch across literary genres yet still remain distinctly themselves. If you're a fan of horror or weird literature then go ahead and pick up Entropy In Bloom then when you can think clearly again go get his novel Skullcrack City.
June 29, 2018
Looking at all these glowing reviews for Entropy in Bloom I feel like I was missing out on something during my reading experience. I’ve been wanting to read something by Johnson since hearing about his anthology We Live Inside You back in ‘11. I don’t have much experience with bizarro fiction but I’ve always liked body horror films and I’ve been looking to introduce more of that in my reading. From the descriptions Johnson’s work seemed to fit the bill nicely so I was pretty excited when I found one of his works at my library.
After finding the first two stories disappointing I probably should have walked away but regularly reading anthologies I’m use to finding a mixed bag so I pushed on, telling myself I was bound to find at least a few stories worth my time. That however only proved to be the case with one story. While Snowfall wasn’t for everyone it was the only one to really work for me and I held out hope of finding more like it in the collection. A few more did show some promise like The Oarsmen, The Gravity of Benham Falls, When Susurrus Stirs, and The Sleep Judges but none of them lived up to my expectations.
I normally don’t like to write off an author after one book but something tells me I won’t be checking out any more by Johnson. I can’t say he’s bad, he’s just not to my taste.
After finding the first two stories disappointing I probably should have walked away but regularly reading anthologies I’m use to finding a mixed bag so I pushed on, telling myself I was bound to find at least a few stories worth my time. That however only proved to be the case with one story. While Snowfall wasn’t for everyone it was the only one to really work for me and I held out hope of finding more like it in the collection. A few more did show some promise like The Oarsmen, The Gravity of Benham Falls, When Susurrus Stirs, and The Sleep Judges but none of them lived up to my expectations.
I normally don’t like to write off an author after one book but something tells me I won’t be checking out any more by Johnson. I can’t say he’s bad, he’s just not to my taste.
December 19, 2017
I'm so??? Why did I take so long to finish this, all I had left was Sleep of Judges and it was definitely one of my favorites in the collection. Dog man, oh my dog man, you keep on chasing that wolf.
Also, can I just say that Cathedral Mother basically made me never want to drink water ever again? A sad plight for a human liquid sack.
The only reason I gave this 4/5 stars was for two stories that made me kinda like huh, what? The scalping story had me like that sure was a thing that I read. And the story about the brother with the learning disability in the hotel just made me cry. :(
This isn't a review as much as a collection of thoughts, but I super love this writer and would recommend him to anyone who isn't squeamish. When the subject matter isn't making me severely uncomfortable the quirky writing style just makes me feel so happy inside.
Also, can I just say that Cathedral Mother basically made me never want to drink water ever again? A sad plight for a human liquid sack.
The only reason I gave this 4/5 stars was for two stories that made me kinda like huh, what? The scalping story had me like that sure was a thing that I read. And the story about the brother with the learning disability in the hotel just made me cry. :(
This isn't a review as much as a collection of thoughts, but I super love this writer and would recommend him to anyone who isn't squeamish. When the subject matter isn't making me severely uncomfortable the quirky writing style just makes me feel so happy inside.
May 24, 2019
Entropy in Bloom is an excellent primer to Jeremy Robert Johnson’s work. The stories are short enough that an uncertain reader can immediately determine if it’s the right thing for them or not (like hot sauce!). One taste and you can know – if self-eviscerating junkie teenagers, lip-removing body modification, and male members splitting into petals of flesh aren’t your thing, you can just stop reading. But for the readers who can’t look away, who only become more intrigued, a veritable carnival of horrors awaits you. But don’t fool yourself into thinking that Johnson’s work is all splatter and no substance. There are plenty of tales that play on the terror of the mind as well. Sexual frustration turns a teenager to crime in “Persistence Hunting”, a sonic virus from the song of monks annihilates humanity in “The Oarsman”, and “Swimming in the House of the Sea” explores the complicated relationship of two brothers with a seedy motel backdrop. As varied as his stories might be, what’s captivating about them is Johnson’s ability to immediately establish us in their own little universe without gobs of exposition. We only need a few hints and we can smell the rust of it, feel the rough oxidation between our fingers. This is something that takes a deft touch and can be found in the greats of short-story writers – Ray Bradbury comes to mind. But unlike that particular kind of measured countenance, Johnson has a tendency to split away from the pack and imbue stories with “dirty electricity” (one of the maddening descriptors found in the book) which I think is the most apt way of describing their energy.
You can read Matt's full review at Horror DNA by clicking here.
You can read Matt's full review at Horror DNA by clicking here.
October 14, 2022
Some really great short stories in this collection. Highly recommend it.
The League of Zeroes 5/5
Persistence Hunting 4/5
The Oarsman 4/5
The Gravity of Benham Falls 5/5
Dissociative Skills 4/5
Snowfall 5/5
When Susurrus Stirs 5/5
Luminary 4/5
Trigger Variation 5/5
Cathedral Mother 5/5
Swimming in the House of the Sea 4/5
Saturn’s Game 5/5
The Sharp-Dressed Man at the End of the Line 6/5 (!!) <- An absolute favorite
A Flood of Harriers 2/5
States of Glass 4/5
The Sleep of Judges 4/5
The League of Zeroes 5/5
Persistence Hunting 4/5
The Oarsman 4/5
The Gravity of Benham Falls 5/5
Dissociative Skills 4/5
Snowfall 5/5
When Susurrus Stirs 5/5
Luminary 4/5
Trigger Variation 5/5
Cathedral Mother 5/5
Swimming in the House of the Sea 4/5
Saturn’s Game 5/5
The Sharp-Dressed Man at the End of the Line 6/5 (!!) <- An absolute favorite
A Flood of Harriers 2/5
States of Glass 4/5
The Sleep of Judges 4/5
August 5, 2017
I did a audio interview on my blog with JRJ about this book... it is on youtube, soundcloud but can be found at my blog... with the review:
http://davidagranoff.blogspot.com/201...
We have had a few authors in the horror genre really make huge strides in the last year. Some notables include the massive success of Paul Tremblay's Head full of Ghosts and Sarah Pinborough's Behind her Eyes. It is true That Jeremy Robert Johnson could be considered a part of a new wave of horror field to mainstream publishing success, but he is also the first to come out of the Bizarro scene with a major hardcover release. Stephen Graham Jones, Laura Lee Bahr and Brian Evenson are authors who I think walk this line that some times touches Horror, Bizarro and fine Literature all in the same stories. But Jeremy was a flag holder for the movement in the early days so this feels different.
Sometimes when a writer takes the next step in there career it is important to look back and see where they came from. Entropy in Bloom is that book, it features some of the best short stories from Jeremy Robert Johnson's two previous independently released collections both reviewed on this blog. Angeldust Apocalypse and We Live Inside You.
In that sense I have read all of these stories except the new novella Sleep of judges before. I read The Oarsmen and Flood of Harriers when they were first published in Dark discoveries and Cemetery Dance as well as well as when they were collected. I have to say both those stories worked the third time. The Oarsmen still continues to be a favorite of mine, the sci-fi setting is really subtle and I admit I would love to see JRJ explore space a bit more, but of course that is not the point of the story. The story is a tone piece that gives a otherworldly feeling the emotions of monks after the apocalypse.
Flood of Harriers has been frustrating to read all three times. The two stories that hit me harder than before were the ghost story "the Gravity of Benham Falls," and Snowfall. I mean I have read them before but this time it come off as really effective. It is funny if you listen to the audio interview I thought Snowfall was about something totally different from JRJ's intention.
The story Trigger Variation was one I commissioned for an anthology I co-edited called the Vault of Punk Horror. I have a really strange relationship with this story. It is a long story, but JRJ was writing this piece about a fictional faction of straight edge that was a photo negative of the movement I spent the 90's in. In many senses I had a very hard time with this story, but if you want to hear more about that...listen to the audio interview. That part of the discussion is more interesting if you have a back ground in punk or hardcore music.
A writer this talented is rare and it is incredibly exciting as a long time reader of his work and friend to see this happen. I mean he deserves it for many reasons. But I wonder sometimes how or why it happens to a certain artist? Certainly Jeremy himself would agree Cody Goodfellow and Laura Lee Bahr are equally deserving of this kind of attention and notice. Without his talent it would not be possible but often it is timing and luck...I couldn't be happier the stars aligned for him.
I don't want to take away from what JRJ has accomplished. It is exciting and important that these works reach a wider audience. The level of drug laced paranoia that drips off the pages is one thing but when you match it with fine tuned prose, intelligent with and skillful mechanics of suspense you quickly figure why Johnson is so readable.
http://davidagranoff.blogspot.com/201...
We have had a few authors in the horror genre really make huge strides in the last year. Some notables include the massive success of Paul Tremblay's Head full of Ghosts and Sarah Pinborough's Behind her Eyes. It is true That Jeremy Robert Johnson could be considered a part of a new wave of horror field to mainstream publishing success, but he is also the first to come out of the Bizarro scene with a major hardcover release. Stephen Graham Jones, Laura Lee Bahr and Brian Evenson are authors who I think walk this line that some times touches Horror, Bizarro and fine Literature all in the same stories. But Jeremy was a flag holder for the movement in the early days so this feels different.
Sometimes when a writer takes the next step in there career it is important to look back and see where they came from. Entropy in Bloom is that book, it features some of the best short stories from Jeremy Robert Johnson's two previous independently released collections both reviewed on this blog. Angeldust Apocalypse and We Live Inside You.
In that sense I have read all of these stories except the new novella Sleep of judges before. I read The Oarsmen and Flood of Harriers when they were first published in Dark discoveries and Cemetery Dance as well as well as when they were collected. I have to say both those stories worked the third time. The Oarsmen still continues to be a favorite of mine, the sci-fi setting is really subtle and I admit I would love to see JRJ explore space a bit more, but of course that is not the point of the story. The story is a tone piece that gives a otherworldly feeling the emotions of monks after the apocalypse.
Flood of Harriers has been frustrating to read all three times. The two stories that hit me harder than before were the ghost story "the Gravity of Benham Falls," and Snowfall. I mean I have read them before but this time it come off as really effective. It is funny if you listen to the audio interview I thought Snowfall was about something totally different from JRJ's intention.
The story Trigger Variation was one I commissioned for an anthology I co-edited called the Vault of Punk Horror. I have a really strange relationship with this story. It is a long story, but JRJ was writing this piece about a fictional faction of straight edge that was a photo negative of the movement I spent the 90's in. In many senses I had a very hard time with this story, but if you want to hear more about that...listen to the audio interview. That part of the discussion is more interesting if you have a back ground in punk or hardcore music.
A writer this talented is rare and it is incredibly exciting as a long time reader of his work and friend to see this happen. I mean he deserves it for many reasons. But I wonder sometimes how or why it happens to a certain artist? Certainly Jeremy himself would agree Cody Goodfellow and Laura Lee Bahr are equally deserving of this kind of attention and notice. Without his talent it would not be possible but often it is timing and luck...I couldn't be happier the stars aligned for him.
I don't want to take away from what JRJ has accomplished. It is exciting and important that these works reach a wider audience. The level of drug laced paranoia that drips off the pages is one thing but when you match it with fine tuned prose, intelligent with and skillful mechanics of suspense you quickly figure why Johnson is so readable.
January 13, 2024
this was clearly written by a man
September 8, 2025
After really enjoying his techno-body horror novel THE LOOP, I wanted to get a little more of Jeremy Robert Johnson's vibe, so I looked for more of his work. Wildly, my local library only has TWO of his books: THE LOOP, and this collection of short stories. Upon picking it up, I quickly realized that this guy writes GREAT short fiction. They are stories that can convey a lot with very little, and take their concepts as far as they can without turning into long-winded novellas. Some are really emotional and raw, while others would fit in at a campfire ghost story session. Some are just plain fucked up, but in like a fun way! I liked this collection a LOT! Here's a rundown of the stories featured here:
THE LEAGUE OF ZEROES: In a future where extreme body modification is the latest fashion trend, one man gets an idea that will earn him incredible fame and adoration, despite the massive risks involved, not to mention how painful it will be. Goes hand in hand with something like Cronenberg's CRIMES OF THE FUTURE, short and sweet. Makes you a little queasy, even.
PERSISTENCE HUNTING: A semi-hardboiled tale of an orphaned young man who takes up running to take his mind off his lost family, which then develops into habitual home invasions and burglaries. Things go south fast. Really well written, feels modern yet clearly paying homage to older crime stories as well.
THE OARSMAN: An astronaut watches in horror as a group of Tibetan monks chant some sort of "death song" from their throats, amplified by an ecoterrorist's technology, on a global broadcast. Extremely short and a touch confusing, but the imagery is powerful, and the internal logic is sound. I'd read a longer work with this premise, to be honest!
THE GRAVITY OF BENHAM FALLS: A desperate woman attempts to seduce and rob a drug dealer in order to pay for her dying father's medical care, but soon discovers that he isn't taking her into the woods for sex; he's got his own agenda. Little does he know that she has been in these woods before, and she has an ally in the trees, watching and waiting. I'm probably overselling it a bit with that description, but trust me, it goes in a very unexpected direction. Strong "Creepshow" vibes.
DISSOCIATIVE SKILLS: A high school burnout with an obsession with pain attempts to surgically remove his own intestine with only a scalpel and a fuckton of ketamine. Absolutely disgusting to read, but also very sad! I felt both repulsed and depressed by the ending; what a combo, honestly!
SNOWFALL: A child awakens in the middle of the night to find his family missing, the air hot and heavy, and somehow it's snowing outside in the middle of winter. HOT snow, even. You can immediately tell where this one is going but that doesn't make it any less upsetting.
WHEN SUSURRUS STIRS: A man accidentally acquires what appears to be a tapeworm, only it influences him to NOT get it removed and to begin eating. A lot. This story is one of the ooziest, goriest, most revolting stories I've ever read. When you get to the part about the "meat-sprout," you're about ready to barf, but it only gets wilder from there. Apparently this got adapted into a short??? Easily the scariest AND grossest story in here; it's great stuff!
LUMINARY: A man recalls his genius older brother doing some sort of science experiment that ends up saving their sister's life. It unfortunately kills the genius in the process, but whatever he did with all the fireflies he had caught clearly worked. More an oddity than a horror story, but a fun read all the same.
TRIGGER VARIATION: A bodybuilder gets heavily involved with a cultish "straight edge" group that essentially transforms into Operation Mayhem from Fight Club. It's actually a really insightful look at how certain groups are able to recruit from aimless, lonely men and make them devoted followers of pretty much anything. Very sad ending!
CATHEDRAL MOTHER: A single mom and ecoterrorist is determined to do whatever it takes to save the redwoods near her house. Things unravel from there. Extremely well written; you get a real sense of vicious misanthropy from the narrator.
SWIMMING IN THE HOUSE OF THE SEA: A young man drives his mentally disabled brother between his divorced parents' houses and hates every second of it. Though not a horror story, this is probably the best one in the book. Sharp, nasty, and insightful, it gives a detailed glimpse into the mind of a random asshole having a bad day. Very sincere.
SATURN'S GAME: A man with a history of mental illness gets an intrusive thought about biting off a man's nose. He can't get it out of his head at all. Guess what happens next! Short but powerful; it manages to take a wild concept and turn it into an exercise in empathy and shared trauma. I liked this one a lot.
THE SHARP DRESSED MAN AT THE END OF THE LINE: A man becomes convinced that the world is going to end in nuclear fire, so he begins building a suit of armor made of the only thing that can outlast a radioactive holocaust: cockroaches. Another gross story executed perfectly, and with humor too!
A FLOOD OF HARRIERS: A punk and his girlfriend are on their way to Burning Man and stop at a rest stop on a Native American reservation. After a scary encounter with a group of locals, Burning Man doesn't quite go as planned, then neither does anything else. A great story from an unreliable narrator, trippy and druggy. Probably the hardest to follow of the stories, but still well done.
STATES OF GLASS: A woman becomes a widow after her husband dies in a horrific motorcycle accident, and she reacts to it in the strangest of ways. Weird, and even a little upsetting, but in the end it's a surprisingly deep exploration of grief.
THE SLEEP OF JUDGES: After a childrens' birthday party, a family of three comes home to find their home burglarized. The husband sends his wife and young daughter to stay with his in-laws, while he stays home to try and sort out the mess. As it turns out, there's more than a home invasion going on here. This story is deeply unsettling, and honestly scared me more than any other part of this collection. It's a suburban nightmare where nowhere feels safe, and the way it turns near the end actually has the same vibe as the recent horror flick WEAPONS. A great novella; I'd love to read more from this concept.
This was an amazing collection! Johnson's got tremendous skill in his short fiction, and if I can track down any more of his books, I will absolutely be reading more!
THE LEAGUE OF ZEROES: In a future where extreme body modification is the latest fashion trend, one man gets an idea that will earn him incredible fame and adoration, despite the massive risks involved, not to mention how painful it will be. Goes hand in hand with something like Cronenberg's CRIMES OF THE FUTURE, short and sweet. Makes you a little queasy, even.
PERSISTENCE HUNTING: A semi-hardboiled tale of an orphaned young man who takes up running to take his mind off his lost family, which then develops into habitual home invasions and burglaries. Things go south fast. Really well written, feels modern yet clearly paying homage to older crime stories as well.
THE OARSMAN: An astronaut watches in horror as a group of Tibetan monks chant some sort of "death song" from their throats, amplified by an ecoterrorist's technology, on a global broadcast. Extremely short and a touch confusing, but the imagery is powerful, and the internal logic is sound. I'd read a longer work with this premise, to be honest!
THE GRAVITY OF BENHAM FALLS: A desperate woman attempts to seduce and rob a drug dealer in order to pay for her dying father's medical care, but soon discovers that he isn't taking her into the woods for sex; he's got his own agenda. Little does he know that she has been in these woods before, and she has an ally in the trees, watching and waiting. I'm probably overselling it a bit with that description, but trust me, it goes in a very unexpected direction. Strong "Creepshow" vibes.
DISSOCIATIVE SKILLS: A high school burnout with an obsession with pain attempts to surgically remove his own intestine with only a scalpel and a fuckton of ketamine. Absolutely disgusting to read, but also very sad! I felt both repulsed and depressed by the ending; what a combo, honestly!
SNOWFALL: A child awakens in the middle of the night to find his family missing, the air hot and heavy, and somehow it's snowing outside in the middle of winter. HOT snow, even. You can immediately tell where this one is going but that doesn't make it any less upsetting.
WHEN SUSURRUS STIRS: A man accidentally acquires what appears to be a tapeworm, only it influences him to NOT get it removed and to begin eating. A lot. This story is one of the ooziest, goriest, most revolting stories I've ever read. When you get to the part about the "meat-sprout," you're about ready to barf, but it only gets wilder from there. Apparently this got adapted into a short??? Easily the scariest AND grossest story in here; it's great stuff!
LUMINARY: A man recalls his genius older brother doing some sort of science experiment that ends up saving their sister's life. It unfortunately kills the genius in the process, but whatever he did with all the fireflies he had caught clearly worked. More an oddity than a horror story, but a fun read all the same.
TRIGGER VARIATION: A bodybuilder gets heavily involved with a cultish "straight edge" group that essentially transforms into Operation Mayhem from Fight Club. It's actually a really insightful look at how certain groups are able to recruit from aimless, lonely men and make them devoted followers of pretty much anything. Very sad ending!
CATHEDRAL MOTHER: A single mom and ecoterrorist is determined to do whatever it takes to save the redwoods near her house. Things unravel from there. Extremely well written; you get a real sense of vicious misanthropy from the narrator.
SWIMMING IN THE HOUSE OF THE SEA: A young man drives his mentally disabled brother between his divorced parents' houses and hates every second of it. Though not a horror story, this is probably the best one in the book. Sharp, nasty, and insightful, it gives a detailed glimpse into the mind of a random asshole having a bad day. Very sincere.
SATURN'S GAME: A man with a history of mental illness gets an intrusive thought about biting off a man's nose. He can't get it out of his head at all. Guess what happens next! Short but powerful; it manages to take a wild concept and turn it into an exercise in empathy and shared trauma. I liked this one a lot.
THE SHARP DRESSED MAN AT THE END OF THE LINE: A man becomes convinced that the world is going to end in nuclear fire, so he begins building a suit of armor made of the only thing that can outlast a radioactive holocaust: cockroaches. Another gross story executed perfectly, and with humor too!
A FLOOD OF HARRIERS: A punk and his girlfriend are on their way to Burning Man and stop at a rest stop on a Native American reservation. After a scary encounter with a group of locals, Burning Man doesn't quite go as planned, then neither does anything else. A great story from an unreliable narrator, trippy and druggy. Probably the hardest to follow of the stories, but still well done.
STATES OF GLASS: A woman becomes a widow after her husband dies in a horrific motorcycle accident, and she reacts to it in the strangest of ways. Weird, and even a little upsetting, but in the end it's a surprisingly deep exploration of grief.
THE SLEEP OF JUDGES: After a childrens' birthday party, a family of three comes home to find their home burglarized. The husband sends his wife and young daughter to stay with his in-laws, while he stays home to try and sort out the mess. As it turns out, there's more than a home invasion going on here. This story is deeply unsettling, and honestly scared me more than any other part of this collection. It's a suburban nightmare where nowhere feels safe, and the way it turns near the end actually has the same vibe as the recent horror flick WEAPONS. A great novella; I'd love to read more from this concept.
This was an amazing collection! Johnson's got tremendous skill in his short fiction, and if I can track down any more of his books, I will absolutely be reading more!
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