The cover of The Burning Boy & Other Stories tells you everything you need to know. It’s spooky and intriguing. But even more, check out the posture of the book’s namesake. There is a casualness, normalcy, to the way the conflagration is strolling out of the darkened woods. That’s what I genuinely enjoy about this collection. The stories stroll out of Denver’s fertile imagination in the same way. As if everything is normal. Until it isn’t.
There is a casualness, normalcy, to the way the conflagration is strolling out of the darkened woods. That’s what I genuinely enjoy about this collection Jay Bechtol
There are 15 stories in the collection. Some are short, three or four pages, some longer, exceeding fifteen pages. Making it easy to dive into “just one more story.” Which, I will admit, happened to me. I planned to read this book in a series of bite sized chunks over a week. But, each night’s readings went on a little longer than I’d intended and I finished all of the stories by the third night.
My favorite is the title story. An accident on Guy Fawkes Day is the backdrop to a haunting tale full of relatable characters making bad decisions. Grenell’s storytelling making the character’s actions believable and cringe worthy at the same time. It leads to an ending that will have you looking out your window every night, wondering what might be coming for you.
Others that I found memorable are “Ichor,” a tale of government experiments and probably the least horror-ish of the stories here. Parallels to current issues facing the world give this story added oomph as distrust and misinformation are an underlying theme. “Black. One Sugar,” is about workplace stress and the escalating suspense that comes from pushing people farther than they are able to withstand.
It leads to an ending that will have you looking out your window every night, wondering what might be coming for you. Jay Bechtol
Another story that sees parallels to current workplace issues (at least here in the United States) as people examine their career choices. “In Comes The Tide,” starts with a bang and doesn’t let up. A surreal tale about death, the ocean, revenge and reincarnation. And cows coming home to roost. Who says horror can’t be amusing? Even in stories about abusive relationships. Images in this story will be seared in my brain for some time.
Certainly the above stories stuck with me more than others, that’s bound to happen in any collection. But ultimately, I found the majority of the stories creepy, engaging, and entertaining. If you like the short stories of Alan Baxter or Red Lagoe, I think you will find plenty in this collection to enjoy.
I write to escape the real world, to redefine strangeness, to value human strengths, and explore human weaknesses. I fancy myself a horror writer. But the truth is the stories I tell usually take on a life of their own. Readers have called them “Surreal,” “Sentimental,” “Creepy,” and “Full of honest characters.”
https://twitter.com/BechtolJay
Review provided by Horror Oasis
