A review by jdhacker
A Deep Horror That Was Very Nearly Awe by J.R. Hamantaschen
5.0
To say J.R.'s third collection does not disappoint would be an understatement. Both the individual stories and the overall collection are longer than previous publications, as the author has stated he is moving towards longer form work. Someday they may even approach the length of his trademark story and collection titles!
What really stands out here is the interweaving of the horror of the everyday and 'mundane' with the supernatural horror and violence one might be expecting from the genre. Whether is the helplessness felt when facing a boss that has it out for you, the bleakness of facing a life alone with no fault or explanation for mistakes made, or the terror of facing day in and out abuse at the hands of childhood bullies, J.R. grounds his stories by connecting these easily identified with experiences of fear and powerlessness with the macabre, surreal, and transcendent.
There is something for every type of horror fan here, and really demonstrates J.R.'s range. 'No One Cares, But I Try' gives a taste of science fiction-horror, perhaps in the vein of Scanners. 'Upon a Path Suddenly Irradiated at Some Halfway Point by Daybeams as Rich as Hers' is probably my favourite, and I feel is the most personal horror, with the elements of genre being an impetus for action, but ultimately having little impact on the characters themselves or the outcome. 'Bleecker and Bleaker: or Gay, for Muesli' (besides having a clever play on words in the title) comes in a close second for me, and though significantly more playful in tone, is similar in that the elements of horror play a minor note in the story. 'Story Title Revealed About Halfway Through...' presents some straight up slasher/sociopath gore. '7099 Brecksville Road, Independence, Ohio' and 'A Gob of Minty Spit in the Sink' give the reader a more tongue-in-cheek approach to horror, and I think readers who may have been exposed to J.R. through stories like the one in 16-bit Terror will really appreciate these.
J.R.'s endings are always particularly strong, and though I would not characterize them as 'twist' endings, I would say they pack a particularly strong emotional punch. In this shorter form work, they sometimes almost seem to lack a denouement at all, but that doesn't detract from their impact. It does help firmly place much of this work in the realm of 'weird fiction', where the reader is frequently left without not only explanation or reason for the events we have just witnessed, but even sometimes left without a true understanding of the outcome.
This, and J.R.'s other work, belong in the library of any fan of modern horror, the 'new weird', and so-called 'bizarro' fiction, though his genre and content spanning work here seems to more closely reseemble Matheson's range.
What really stands out here is the interweaving of the horror of the everyday and 'mundane' with the supernatural horror and violence one might be expecting from the genre. Whether is the helplessness felt when facing a boss that has it out for you, the bleakness of facing a life alone with no fault or explanation for mistakes made, or the terror of facing day in and out abuse at the hands of childhood bullies, J.R. grounds his stories by connecting these easily identified with experiences of fear and powerlessness with the macabre, surreal, and transcendent.
There is something for every type of horror fan here, and really demonstrates J.R.'s range. 'No One Cares, But I Try' gives a taste of science fiction-horror, perhaps in the vein of Scanners. 'Upon a Path Suddenly Irradiated at Some Halfway Point by Daybeams as Rich as Hers' is probably my favourite, and I feel is the most personal horror, with the elements of genre being an impetus for action, but ultimately having little impact on the characters themselves or the outcome. 'Bleecker and Bleaker: or Gay, for Muesli' (besides having a clever play on words in the title) comes in a close second for me, and though significantly more playful in tone, is similar in that the elements of horror play a minor note in the story. 'Story Title Revealed About Halfway Through...' presents some straight up slasher/sociopath gore. '7099 Brecksville Road, Independence, Ohio' and 'A Gob of Minty Spit in the Sink' give the reader a more tongue-in-cheek approach to horror, and I think readers who may have been exposed to J.R. through stories like the one in 16-bit Terror will really appreciate these.
J.R.'s endings are always particularly strong, and though I would not characterize them as 'twist' endings, I would say they pack a particularly strong emotional punch. In this shorter form work, they sometimes almost seem to lack a denouement at all, but that doesn't detract from their impact. It does help firmly place much of this work in the realm of 'weird fiction', where the reader is frequently left without not only explanation or reason for the events we have just witnessed, but even sometimes left without a true understanding of the outcome.
This, and J.R.'s other work, belong in the library of any fan of modern horror, the 'new weird', and so-called 'bizarro' fiction, though his genre and content spanning work here seems to more closely reseemble Matheson's range.