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Dead Letters
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March 2024 monthly read: Dead Letters by Jacob Mohr (ed.)
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The ending of "The Parthas UFO Incident" was good, but I think a lot of the details felt too familiar. My grandparents watch a lot of those real-life spooky story television shows, and I think I recognized some of the cooler details.I thought the next two stories were pretty good, but I don't have much to say about them.
Gemma Files' story was what I would have expected her to submit to this collection, but I really like Gemma Files, so that's okay. Her story was one of the ones that I was looking forward to most. The ending was maybe a little underwhelming.
I loved this anthology! Got an arc copy from Mohr and wrote a review in Jan for it. I gave it five stars and really enjoyed the entire book. Some of the stories are going to seem familiar or even recognizable from popular culture media but written in epistolary form make the narratives creepy and almost like they are told by authoritative and credible sources.
The first two stories are a bit too cartoon-y for my mood at the moment. I also agree with Vanessa that the details are familiar.I did enjoy Sandra Henriques' "Next of Kin". The frame can probably be tighter, but I found it genuinely creepy. The ending is nice too.
I liked "Family Dirt." The co-parenting app was an interesting alternative to just text messages. There was an editing mistake that broke the immersion that I wasn't very happy about.I read "Dear Kelli" by reading the strikeouts, then the plain text, and then reading the whole thing through. I think it makes the most sense that way. This was another author that had me interested in the collection, but I don't think this is one of the stand-outs.
"No Blood, No Bones" was really good. I like the unique setting and monster.
I also liked "PFC Nathaniel Hart Has Died." I thought it fit a lot of plot into a short story, especially one told in this format.
Vanessa wrote: "Gemma Files' story was what I would have expected her to submit to this collection... The ending was maybe a little underwhelming."I'm actually not a fan, but I love these lost media quest narratives and did enjoy most of "Echo Chamber". Except for the long song at the end; what was the point of almost 4 pages of that? In the middle, she quotes a number of lines from Thomas Nashe's poem, the source for "Brightness Falls from the Air": https://poets.org/poem/litany-time-pl...
Was there an attribution? I don't remember one.
Gregg Stewart's "The Night Nurses of Verdun" is an entertaining old-fashioned (view spoiler) tale. Nicely done, and with a little twist at the end. I also enjoyed the divorced parent drama of "Family Dirt". I can't think of anything connected with the dirt motif; what is going there? Not that it's important, I tend to prefer things being left unexplained. Vanessa, what's the editing mistake?
Vavita and Abagail, where are you at? What do you think so far?
Vanessa wrote: "I liked "Family Dirt." The co-parenting app was an interesting alternative to just text messages. There was an editing mistake that broke the immersion that I wasn't very happy about.I read "Dear..."
Thomas Nashe was not credited. I’m not exactly surprised. Crystal Lake Publishing is pretty sloppy.
This isn’t actually a spoiler, but I wasn’t sure that everyone would want to see what the editing mistake was in “Family Dirt.” (view spoiler)
According to my search history, I liked something that Gordon B. White wrote, but I don't remember what. I thought he did a good job of achieving a Pratchett-y tone with this.
I don’t celebrate Rosh Hashanah, but that doesn’t diminish my love of festive horror. "Tashlich" isn’t really a stand-out, but it’s solid.
"The Behavioral Patterns of the Displaced Siberian Siren" was fine. I’m not really a fan of creature stories.
The use of a video game guide in "Something Cool Behind the Waterfall" was interesting. I’m a big fan of hidden creepy stuff in video games, so this was right up my alley. (view spoiler)
Vanessa wrote: "Thomas Nashe was not credited. I’m not exactly surprised. Crystal Lake Publishing is pretty sloppy."I'd say it was Gemma Files' responsibility to cite the source, since so many lines were lifted verbatim. I suppose it's possible that she did, and Crystal Lake removed it (seems unlikely).
I'm not a fan of Ai Jiang's novel, or her story here.
Zachary Rosenberg's "No Blood No Bones" is a pretty old-fashioned monster tale; the epistolary form hardly comes into play. But it was fun, and I appreciated the details of the Sheydim (or Shedim, according to some online sources) not being spelled out. And also (view spoiler) at the end.
"PFC Nathaniel Hart" was also fun but relatively lightweight, like most of the stories so far.
I've been wanting to comment for a long time but, I've had so much work that I really took every single second I had for reading.THE NIGHT NURSES OF VERDUN – (view spoiler)I loved this one! 5 stars
TASHLICH – This was a good story. It reminded me of something I read in my childhood. When I was 8 years old, I read a short story in a magazine. I think it got second place in a writing contest. (view spoiler)
NEXT OF KIN / FAMILY DIRT / NO BLOOD, NO BONES / PFC NATHANIEL HART HAS DIED / IN THE EVENT / THE BEHAVIORAL PATTERNS OF THE DISPLACED SIBERIAN SIREN / SOMETHING COOL BEHIND THE WATERFALL / RE: THE HAND (OF GOD) / BERKEY FAMILY VACATION 1988 – These were a lot of fun. 4 stars
THE PARTHAS UFO INCIDENT – I liked it. I am far away from all topics related to area 51 and therefore I didn’t find it repetitive. I only know it from U.S. movies and series. 3 stars
ECHO CHAMBER / BURY MY BONES IN THE BASTARD THAT KILLED ME – I found these extremely boring. 1 star
I still have 5 stories to read. I hope I can manage during the weekend.
J.A.W. McCarthy's story was another one that I was looking forward to, and it didn't disappoint. It was very pleasantly weird. I like that she used the form to tell a very unrealistic story and that she continued the theme of Katie’s job being unfulfilling throughout the whole story.I wasn’t that into Berkley Family Vacation 1988.” Part of it is probably because I am very into broadcast hijacking, so I was disappointed when there wasn’t more about that.
I am also very into the setting of "A Testament of Wanderers.” I don’t run into a lot of fiction set then, so I really liked that. I think the two journals aspect was introduced in an awkward way, but I did like getting the perspective of an outsider and someone inside the group. (view spoiler)
“The Samhain Tapes” was very creepy. The simplicity is a good contrast to the other stories in the collection. It’s probably my favorite.
The epistolary form really helped “Drawn Home.” This isn’t a story that would normally appeal to me, but the diaries made it more interesting. (view spoiler)
“Queen of the Carnival Creation” didn’t really work for me. I liked individual components of it, but I think it jumped around too much for me to really get invested in it.
Vavita wrote: "I've been wanting to comment for a long time but, I've had so much work that I really took every single second I had for reading."Sorry to hear that. Isn't it annoying that work has to get in the way of the important things in life?
Tashlich is probably my favorite so far. The voice is nicely done, I'm getting used to the charming patter, then suddenly we get (view spoiler), whoa. And it's over in a couple more pages. Nice.
"In the Event" was also fun, with the sly twist at the end. "Bury My Bones..." had a predictable arc, and IMO the idea overstayed its welcome.
I've been finding most of the contributions here to be entertaining, but hardly memorable (or overly annoying). And many of them play fast and loose with that "epistolary" theme. For instance, Nat Reiher's "Something Cool Behind the Waterfall" is cute, capturing nicely the obsessive videogamer vibe.Then we get J.A.W. McCarthy's "Re: The Hand of God", whoa. I loved her collection Sometimes We're Cruel and Other Stories, and this doesn't disappoint. The whole absurd situation, locked in a corporate building with a hand, then the dissolution of the protagonist's outside world, and finally the "reality" of her situation? Her voice is skillfully done, the whole thing is disturbing and hilarious. We never really get the full picture (what's the deal with the boyfriend???)
Now I'm itching to revisit some of the stories in her collection. And I see she has a new short novel Sleep Alone! I will jump on that ASAP. I'd been distracted by other things and haven't set up the April monthly read poll. Anyone interested in Sleep Alone as a buddy read?
I already have a copy of Sleep Alone, so I'd be in. J.A.W. McCarthy was the main reason I wanted to read this.
Vanessa wrote: "I already have a copy of Sleep Alone, so I'd be in. J.A.W. McCarthy was the main reason I wanted to read this."Awesome! Yeah I jumped at McCarthy's name in this too.
Vanessa wrote: "“Queen of the Carnival Creation” didn’t really work for me. I liked individual components of it, but I think it jumped around too much for me to really get invested in it."I didn't think the multiple POVs added much to the narrative. That fake lost T.S. Eliot verse also really annoyed me. Shouldn't all creative writing instructors make it clear not to attempt a similar stunt? Couldn't it have been some fictional "little known poet"?
Ok Vanessa, when would you like to start Sleep Alone? I'm ready whenever.
Sorry, my goodreads notifications failed me. What about this weekend?
Vanessa wrote: "Sorry, my goodreads notifications failed me. What about this weekend?"No problem. I've noticed some missed notifications recently as well. This weekend is great. Here's a thread:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Please join us for this buddy read of J.A.W. McCarthy's recent short novel, everyone!
Literary Horror
Books mentioned in this topic
Sometimes We're Cruel and Other Stories (other topics)Sleep Alone (other topics)
Dead Letters: Episodes of Epistolary Horror (other topics)
A review:
https://horrortree.com/epeolatry-book...
An interview with the editor:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=votIQ...
Dead Letters is available on paper and as an e-book. Let's start around the weekend.