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Book Review: Aberrations of Reality by Aaron J. French


Aberrations of Reality by Aaron J. French
Crowded Quarantine Publications, 201
ISBN-13: 978-0992883850
Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition

 

I love a good novel as much as anyone, but there is no greater way to get to know a writer than to read a collection of short fiction. A good short story collection will have stories that vary in length, tone and style, and can inform a reader about a writer’s potential range more than a single novel. Having read it, I can say that this is a well-written collection of razor sharp horror fiction.

 

French has a strong sense of what makes the weird tale work. His stories, while clearly influenced by early weird tale writers like Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, and Lovecraft, mine that vibe, while still feeling modern. There is subtle humor at times, and some stories take  on a nearly mystical feeling.  My three favorites in the collection were “Graffiti Ghosts,”, the creepy tale “When Clown Face Speaks,” and the thoughtful “The Four Transitions of the Soul Upon Death by David P. Reichmann,” but every story was excellent. Reality is always in question during this collection, but the quality never is. Every library serious about intelligent high brow horror must get this book. Highly recommended for adult readers of horror fiction and weird tales.
 
 

Reviewed by David Agranoff
 

Posted on January 14, 2016 by , Reply

Check Out These Kindle Deals!

 

Two great anthologies are on sale right now for $1.99 over at Amazon.com:

 
 

Lovecraft’s Monsters edited by Ellen Datlow, with stories by Neil Gaiman, Joe R. Lansdale, Caitlin Kiernan, and more

and

 

The End of the World: Stories of the Apocalypse collects classic stories of the apocalypse from as far back as the 1940s, and includes stories from Lester del Rey, Arthur C. Clarke, Orson Scott Card, George R.R. Martin, Norman Spinrad, Nancy Kress, and others. Also, it contains one of my favorite short stories by Neil Gaiman, “We Can Get Them For You Wholesale”.

 

I don’t think you can go wrong with either of these.

 
 

If you want a trio of story collections about the end of everything, you might also check out the recently released Expiration Date, edited by Nancy Kilpatrick. Enjoy your apocalypse!

Posted on June 10, 2015 by , Reply

Music Review: Dreams in the Witch House: A Lovecraftian Rock Opera

  Dreams in the Witch House:  A Lovecraftian Rock Opera

Presented by The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society, executive producer Mike Dalager

Platinum West, 2013

Available: Pre-order (MP3 and audio CD)

Running Time: 65 minutes.

 

Adapting H.P. Lovecraft into other media has not always been the easiest thing for writers, directors, and producers. It is one of the many reasons Guillermo Del Toro’s forthcoming $150 million epic take on At The Mountains of Madness has generated so much interest and dread among lovers of the author’s work. He just doesn’t translate well to other media. Films like The Thing or Alien, though not created from Lovecraft works, are often considered more stylistically Lovecraftian than the films actually adapted from his stories. However, I have now discovered a very faithful adaptation of Dreams of the Witch House, and quite an unusual one: a rock opera. It’s the most interesting tribute since the silent film Call of Cthulu.

The audacity of executive producer Mike Dalager’s project is my favorite thing about it. Writing a rock opera based on a beloved story is challenge enough; try doing it with over a dozen voice actors, a six member rock band that lives in various countries, organizing recording in LA, Sweden, and Denmark, and then paying for it all without a record label backing you financially. It is quite a feat.

The opera tells the story of Miskatonic University mathematics student Walter Gilman, who is having nightmares while staying in Arkham’s infamous Witch House.  Brown Jenkin (Chris Laney) is a hybrid humanoid rat-like creature who torments the sleeping math genius as he unlocks the secrets of universe and opens up travel to other planes of reality. The songs range from operatic metal to straight rock, some with a 90s feel.

To say I am impressed by this project is an understatement. I think every Lovecraft collector or library should have this in their collection cross-referenced to his books. Highly recommended, with a big thumbs up for horror fans, and anyone who collects rock and metal music. Appropriate for ages 12-up

 

Reviewed by David Agranoff

Posted on September 30, 2014 by , Reply
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