This is a book of what can only be termed Short Fiction. Stories range from several pages down to, in one case, a single sentence. Thematically, they extend a fair stretch from the perfectly realistic into the realm of the surreal. But there is always enough reality present to keep you believing that maybe, if […]
“Path of Most Resistance” by Yoav Ilan
A standard device in surrealistic writing is to start out with a completely normal situation, which rolls along merrily until the readers are starting to think, “Okay, so what?” And then we begin to realize that the situation is not normal. In fact, hidden behind the daily façade is something horribly abnormal. And this leads […]
“Grey Skies” by William Becker
I have nothing against surrealism. A surrealist work is like a puzzle that presents us with tantalizing hints of meaning, toys with our perception of it, dangling full understanding out of reach, and then leaves us with powerful images that keep reappearing in our minds, forcing us to reconsider what we have read. It makes […]
“Irresistible” by Kresten Forsman
I don’t usually review short stories, but this is a nice little piece of surrealism written in a completely realistic style, and I think readers might enjoy it. The premise of the plot is what would happen if those self-help YouTube videos actually worked. What if it was really possible for a person to change […]
“Purgatorium” by J. H. Carnathan
According to the information we are given in the blurb, the main character in this book is in a coma, and in eight hours (or maybe days; time is flexible) the doctors are going to pull the plug. This information is in the book somewhere, but everything else is up for grabs. As this unnamed […]