Rise Reviews

They Had Goat Heads is a collection of “bizarro” fiction by D. Harlan Wilson. The thirty-nine stories are very short; one of the stories consists of just six words.

Because the stories are “bizarro” fiction, they are all very weird and a lot of time have no plot or make no sense. This is the second collection of “bizarro” fiction I’ve read, and I’ve realized it’s not my favorite genre. However, although not my cup of tea, They Had Goat Heads had some great stories; a couple of them made me laugh out loud.

Unpleasant Tales is a fantastic collection of short stories by Brendan Connell. While each of the twenty-two stories is different in subject matter, a feeling of surreality permeates throughout. The first story, “The Maker of Fine Instruments” is a creepy yet beautifully-written tale of Willi, who seeks help from a reclusive luthier after his beloved cello breaks. Charles Martens is a brilliant musician and teacher, but is also extremely eccentric. Willi goes to Charles to get his cello fixed and ends up taking music lessons from Charles. The instruments he gets to play are nothing he’s ever seen before. “The Maker of Fine Instruments” weaves a feeling of dread throughout and ends with a horrifying visual that will haunt one’s dreams long after the story is over.

“A Dish of Spouse” follows a woman who prepares a feast for her friends with her husband as the main dish. Every moment of the butchering and preparation for cooking is written in loving and grotesque detail. The guests are perfectly aware of the main course and look forward to it. “A Dish of Spouse” is a blackly humorous story that I enjoyed very much.

I was very excited to get a chance to review this anthology. It is the first in a series of anthologies about Bad Ass Faeries, and who doesn’t love a book about Faeries who kick some ass? There is so much room for creativity in writing about faeries, and most of it should be about [...]

The Bride Stripped Bare is a collection of 23 stories by Rachel Kendall. These are stories of birth, death, redemption; all beautifully written. Kendall’s prose flows seamlessly through each story, painting pictures that are sometimes raw and brutal. You can’t look away.

I didn’t like every story; however, even the stories I didn’t care for were very well-written. I really enjoyed the story “51 Weeks”, which is about an empty man who joins a sadistic club in order to try to feel something, anything. He puts himself through hell, but the outcome isn’t what he expected.