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A review by brennanlafaro
Season's Creepings: Tales of Holiday Horror by Ronald Kelly
5.0
Ronald Kelly does short fiction, and does it well. He also seems to be attempting to corner the market on holiday horror, first with Halloween Season, then dropping Season’s Creepings on us just a few months later. Clocking in at just over 100 pages makes this collection easily digestible and a fantastic candidate for perennial rereads.
I’m partial to the name of the main character in “Jingle Bones”, but it’s the supernaturally-aided revenge tale that drew me in and kept me turning pages. “The Skating Pond” fits a niche I really enjoy reading, where something terrible happens to the main character, and the reader is left to wonder how much is real, and how much is the imagination. Are we actually reading about a deluded villain?
“Depravity Road” is a fun (that doesn’t seem like the right word at all) bite-size tale that would have been more than at home in Kelly’s The Essential Sick Stuff. “Heirlooms” was a standout, presenting a unique idea of magic and revenge, and wrapping it all up in a satisfying package. “As For Me, My Little Brain” is definitely one of the creepiest of the bunch, a whole lot of uncertainty rolling around the parents in the tale.
Probably my favorite story in the bunch was “Beneath the Branches”. I’ll be diving into Kelly’s magnum opus, FEAR, in the next month, so I appreciated the opportunity to get an outsider’s glimpse at Fear County and see what might be in store for me. The creature in this creature feature is well-fleshed out, or at least scaled out, and will have me checking it twice next time I pick out a Christmas tree.
The stories range from creepy to psychological to funny to poignant, as showcased in “The Peddler’s Journey”. Kelly packs a lot into a small book, crafting a collection that is just downright enjoyable. The stories aren’t life-changing, but you’re going to have a good time.
I received a copy from the author for review consideration.
I’m partial to the name of the main character in “Jingle Bones”, but it’s the supernaturally-aided revenge tale that drew me in and kept me turning pages. “The Skating Pond” fits a niche I really enjoy reading, where something terrible happens to the main character, and the reader is left to wonder how much is real, and how much is the imagination. Are we actually reading about a deluded villain?
“Depravity Road” is a fun (that doesn’t seem like the right word at all) bite-size tale that would have been more than at home in Kelly’s The Essential Sick Stuff. “Heirlooms” was a standout, presenting a unique idea of magic and revenge, and wrapping it all up in a satisfying package. “As For Me, My Little Brain” is definitely one of the creepiest of the bunch, a whole lot of uncertainty rolling around the parents in the tale.
Probably my favorite story in the bunch was “Beneath the Branches”. I’ll be diving into Kelly’s magnum opus, FEAR, in the next month, so I appreciated the opportunity to get an outsider’s glimpse at Fear County and see what might be in store for me. The creature in this creature feature is well-fleshed out, or at least scaled out, and will have me checking it twice next time I pick out a Christmas tree.
The stories range from creepy to psychological to funny to poignant, as showcased in “The Peddler’s Journey”. Kelly packs a lot into a small book, crafting a collection that is just downright enjoyable. The stories aren’t life-changing, but you’re going to have a good time.
I received a copy from the author for review consideration.