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A review by audreyintheheadphones
Candle Cove and Other Stories by Kris Straub
2.0
This is more a collection of haunting images than actual stories. There are some great and disturbing images, most notably in "Curious Little Thing" and "The Hirsch Camera" but they're only images, without the lovely puff pastry wrapper of plot and characterization to make them full stories.
"Candle Cove" is a truly great story, as is "Springboy" (the latter is a five-star story and really upsetting), but they're the exception rather than the rule. Otherwise the stories are largely narrated by what feels like the same character in different situations but with no explanation.
Others, like "The Fulcrum", "Titanium Christ" and "The Springwood King" aren't really even vignettes, just... disturbing images with a weak attempt at context. I felt like I was missing some backstory about the town or about some unifying event before the book opens, and I kept looking for that context as I worked through the stories, but ultimately, I was left more puzzled than anything else.
I can definitely see the appeal of flashfic centered around haunting images, but on the whole, I needed much more.
"Candle Cove" is a truly great story, as is "Springboy" (the latter is a five-star story and really upsetting), but they're the exception rather than the rule. Otherwise the stories are largely narrated by what feels like the same character in different situations but with no explanation.
Others, like "The Fulcrum", "Titanium Christ" and "The Springwood King" aren't really even vignettes, just... disturbing images with a weak attempt at context. I felt like I was missing some backstory about the town or about some unifying event before the book opens, and I kept looking for that context as I worked through the stories, but ultimately, I was left more puzzled than anything else.
I can definitely see the appeal of flashfic centered around haunting images, but on the whole, I needed much more.