A kaleidoscope of swirling visions and beautiful story telling that will drag you into the dark empty abyss of the human soul where in lies everything and nothing. Forever, In Pieces will leave you feeling just that.
**18 Stories total; not all reviewed**
Prologue to a Phantasmagorical Tragedy: A very good story to open the collection with. Short and sweet.
The Waves From Afar: I loved the visuals in this story. A man struggles to understand a strange phenomenon plaguing everyone drawn to the vast ocean of swirling colors and undulating waves of hypnotic majesty. What this sea of alien colors is hiding or what reason it has for it’s grasp on all the people that die and then come to stand in it’s trance is unknown. All any of the survivors can do is watch as thousands of loved ones succomb to this fate and wait and hope for a real goodbye. There is a helplessness tone to this story and the Tide reminds me very much of the Black Plague’s reign of terror.
For The Unhaunted: Haunted houses are not normally sought after to start a family in. Disclosures are made by realtors as to if there was any awful traumas or deaths within the walls that are to hold happy memories of bouncing babies and celebrated holidays with growing families. But what if, the standard was reversed? What if the only thing that would make you feel whole and just like everybody else was to have a ghost that roamed your halls. Where glasses broke and things are knocked off counter tops by something unseen….but what if channeling a ghost to your home was harder than it appeared. What lengths would you go to obtain your own haunted house? I pictured this very short story played out like a Tim Burton animated short.
With A Ribbon On Top: One of my favorite short stories. We all have heard the song Santa Claus is Coming to Town. A rather eerie christmas jingle about the jolly old man watching your every mover and deciding if you were ultimately bad this year or if you were good. Never did it dawn on me to see the sinister side of this song and turn it into something dark and punishable. The Crimson Intruder comes at night to every home, doling out rewards and punishments as he sees fits. This was exceptionally written.
Brief Repose Moments Before a Gruesome and Certain Death: Perfect title. Perfect.
The Binary Must Prevail: A Brief History: What would you do if your chair suddenly become a sentient being? Complete with full thoughts, feelings, and emotions? Whatever you would do, the author of this story I believe paints exactly what the human race would do. The lines become blurred in whether or not an inanimate object has any rights and or independence from it’s owner. However, just as we humans are known , if a sentient being (no matter the form it takes on) wants equal rights, it will banned together with like minded beings and obtain what they want at all costs.
May Old Acquaintance Be Forgot: It’s ten minutes till midnight. Ten minutes till the ball drops and new beginnings bring in the new year. Ten minutes until something terrible will happen. Dan is the only one who knows what will happen to the human race once the ball drops and the clock strikes midnight and it gives twisted meaning to “new beginnings.” A disturbing modern day Noah’s Ark tale.
Birthday: This reminded me of a an old black and white Hitchcock or Twilight Zone episode. Dark and disturbing with fast pace confusion that in turn makes you panic right along side the characters.
Critical Theory: Sad little short story.
Four Is Enough and Take All Your Troubles were really disturbing to me. In Four Enough amputation is a way of making money and the
uses for the parts is interesting but the lengths that some people go to for the money they need is uncomfortable to say the least. Take All Your Troubles starts off so beautifully positive and nice and wonderful and then just ends with a literal depressing and upsetting explosion of sorrow.
Bolt: My question as to what would people who don’t really have real world skills do in a zombie apocalypse is now answered! Take Derrick aka Bolt for instance. An athlete and passionate baseball player and lover of the league. So when riots break out suggesting a zombie like outbreak, Derrick the Bolt must learn to survive.
Lessons: If you like the the concept of Dexter and his father’s relationship, this is a nice little gem.
Forever, In Pieces: Beautiful story. Start to finish. This is a much longer story than the others and we are taken back to February 14, 1986. Valentines Day. The day that changes Ben’s life. Forever is more than just a secret admirer and the gifts Ben receives from Forevever every Valentine’s Day for the next 22 years is morbidly beautiful and disturbing. I really liked this tale and once again the style of which the author writes is absolutely wonderful.
Rub-a-Dub-Dub:
Three men in a tub. And who do you think they were?
The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker were all cast out to sea.
In a tub, they floated on and on regailing
with tales of how they came to be.
The butcher with the cleaver, just wanted his revenge.
When all the bishops seized his daughter to collect the stolen knives,
the butcher vowed to all aloud that he would take their lives.
He managed to kill and slash and dice,
a few but not all and this did not suffice.
So off he was sent out to the great thing in the sea
to join the demise of not two but of three.
The baker does not want revenge nor does he leave things be,
for the baker you see is the bringer of relief and deems himself worthy.
To ease the pain of fellow patrons who’ve fallen under the reign of Thalak
Once freshly baked, he posions the bread and his reasons are symbolic.
So off he was sent out to the great thing in the sea
to join the demise of not two but of three.
The Candlestick maker with his shadows and mystery,
his hiding something much more sinister than either two’s history.
He speaks of the Void and the promise of exploring ‘Why’?
but the answer to the offer is, “I would rather die.”
So with the power of the Void within him,
the candlestick maker continues with his task out to sea,
to join the demise of not two but of one, for that’s the way it had to be.
**Many apologies for the terrible attempt at reviewing that story via nursery rhyme!!**
This book was a great psychological collection of horror stories. Very dark tone to all the stories accompanied by even darker amazing illustrations by Luke Spooner of Carrion House. Amazing artwork and amazing stories. I highly recommend picking up an actual copy of this book. A PDF and kindle just wont do it justice. This is a book for the shelf. It went right next to my Poppy Z. Brite books.
Meet the Author: Kurt Fawver
For more on Kurt, you can visit his website:
AND to purchase this awesome book:
Meet the Illustrater: Luke Spooner of Carrion House (Bio taken from carrionhouse.com)
Luke Spooner a.k.a. ‘Carrion House’ currently lives and works in the South of England. Having recently graduated from the University of Portsmouth with a first class degree he is now a full time illustrator for just about any project that peaks his interest. Despite regular forays into children’s books and fairy tales his true love lies in anything macabre, melancholy or dark in nature and essence. He believes that the job of putting someone else’s words into a visual form, to accompany and support their text, is a massive responsibility as well as being something he truly treasures
https://www.carrionhouse.com/index.htm (photo via carrionhouse.com)
