A review by 0hfortheloveofbooks
A Deep Horror That Was Very Nearly Awe by J.R. Hamantaschen
4.0
A Deep Horror That Was Very Nearly Awe. With a title like that (and that crazy cover art and those strange story titles) I was curious to see what it contained. I was worried it might be pretentious. Spoiler alert, it was not pretentious. It was pretty darn great! J. R. Hamantaschen captured a lot of emotions in these stories and he did that with a certain grace and subtlety I haven't seen very often. The stories were the right blend of quirky and funny, bloody and horrifying. Hamantaschen writes teens so we'll, I'd put his teens right up there with King's kids. He perfectly illustrates the teenage angst, the nervousness around a crush, the silly, I-know-everything mentality. But these immature emotions and thoughts are juxtaposed with a truly mature writing which ensures that they don't read like a YA story.
There were two stories that were much longer than the others and those felt a bit meandering at times. However, in both situations the set-up proved to be indispensable. It is more about the journey than the destination after all. However, none of Hamantaschen's destinations disappoint! In one story, he used the phrase "bait and switch" and that is exactly how I would describe these endings. This man can pull the rug out from under you so quickly, you hardly realize it's happening.
A perfect example of this, and my favorite story in the collection, is That's Just the Way Things Are These Days. I loved everything about this story. It was sweet and tender, awkward and funny, bloody and terrifying. I am drawn to stories that are in our world but just a little bit different, a little bit darker. It makes the thought of it coming to pass in our own world real and scary.
And don't forget to read those pages at the beginning that are usually given a cursory glance if not skipped over completely. The "In Praise Of…" pages and even the copyright pages hold some truly magnificent gems that really set the tone for the collection and make me want to hang out with J. R. Hamantaschen because he seems like a really cool guy!
There were two stories that were much longer than the others and those felt a bit meandering at times. However, in both situations the set-up proved to be indispensable. It is more about the journey than the destination after all. However, none of Hamantaschen's destinations disappoint! In one story, he used the phrase "bait and switch" and that is exactly how I would describe these endings. This man can pull the rug out from under you so quickly, you hardly realize it's happening.
A perfect example of this, and my favorite story in the collection, is That's Just the Way Things Are These Days. I loved everything about this story. It was sweet and tender, awkward and funny, bloody and terrifying. I am drawn to stories that are in our world but just a little bit different, a little bit darker. It makes the thought of it coming to pass in our own world real and scary.
And don't forget to read those pages at the beginning that are usually given a cursory glance if not skipped over completely. The "In Praise Of…" pages and even the copyright pages hold some truly magnificent gems that really set the tone for the collection and make me want to hang out with J. R. Hamantaschen because he seems like a really cool guy!