Title: Scattered Little Pieces

Author: Wayne Fenlon

Release date: September 2, 2020

Ahhhh, drabbles. Hello, my old friend.

When I started writing, I was rejected time and time again. My first acceptance? You guessed it! A drabble to ‘100 Word Horrors Volume 3’ by Kevin Kennedy. I love the drabble form. 100 words to tell as much of a complete story as possible. I even released a collection of drabbles and poems myself.

As for the author? Well, a few years back Edward Lorn connected myself with Wayne Fenlon. I don’t recall why, most likely Wayne and I were giving E the gears on a Twitter post, but ever since we’ve connected Wayne has been a great supporter and very encouraging. When this was announced yesterday, I dove onto Amazon and read it last night.

What I Liked: For me, the beauty of a drabble is when the flash piece sticks the landing. Wayne does that time and time again in these quick stories. We get some fantastic philosophical pieces about parenthood and fatherhood, as well as some gore-filled splatter stories that will make you smile. Wayne tossed a wide net here for plot inspiration and seldom did this steer him wrong.

I’m not sure how Wayne decided on the ordering for the stories, but in a lot of them  you can see a writer becoming more and more confident with the words they’ve chosen and the way the story has been told.

With only 100 words at his disposal, I loved the tales that felt infused with enthusiasm, the ones that I could picture Wayne laughing out loud when he typed THE END after.

What I didn’t like: In a collection of stories this short and with this many drabbles, some are bound to miss the mark. The only thing I found that began to become a bit of a pattern was the use of ‘Later,’ in a number of drabbles. In some it almost became the same opt out as ‘and then they woke up and it was just a dream.’ Minor for sure, but something I noticed.

Why you should buy this: Wayne really did craft some truly bleak shorts here. I loved how dark he went in some places, but also how introspective others were. The poems were a nice touch and they had a musical quality to them. Wayne is a great supporter of Indie Horror and it was my pleasure to grab this and read it. I think this may surprise a lot of people with how well done these are, as Wayne seemingly dropped this as a surprise release.

If none of that has convinced you, then here’s one last pitch;

Haven’t you ever wondered about Andy from Toy Story? A very vague question for sure, but one that Wayne answers.

4/5

Title: Abyss

Author: Darren Gallagher

Release date: April 13, 2018

First off, right from square one, an apology to Darren. I connected with Darren a while ago over on Instagram and at one point had mentioned to him that I was about to start reading ‘Abyss’ and to watch for my review…

That was probably a year ago and I am truly sorry. Books stacked up, time sensitive reviews came through and bingo-bango-bongo (Vancouver Canuck fans in the early 2000’s would finish that off with ‘hey Roberto Luongo’ FYI!) it got pushed back.

But now we’re here and I’ve read it and here’s the review!

I’ve mentioned before that I’m running on fumes for collections and anthologies. I’ve read A LOT of both of these the last few years, but that won’t ever sway me from diving into one. I love having short fiction on the go, it makes for a great break up from the longer reads.

What I liked: ‘Abyss’ features 13 short stories of varying length that show off Gallagher’s easy-to-read writing. He has created some stellar stories in the collection and for people who love to read short fiction that covers a broad variety of darker narratives, this one has something for everyone.

Standouts for me were ‘The Man in the Mist’ which started off with a simple car ride, only for the main character to go completely bonkers. ‘The Other Fountain’ which was a really great folklore horror story, and ‘The Foyle,’ which was an amazing story of a father and son who go fishing, only to end up fighting to survive.

The highlight and absolute gem in the entire collection is the opener. ‘The Silence of Music’ was a stunning piece of Lovecraftian fiction without being overtly the same. If you recall Lovecraft’s story ‘The Music of Erich Zann,’ we are introduced to a young man who moves into an apartment complex. He hears strange music and is drawn to it.

Very similar plot to ‘The Silence of Music.’ In this story, Gallagher introduces us to a character who moves into a new place. Randomly, one night, they look out of their window and see a strange figure standing in the streetlight. From there, Darren really created a beauty of a story.

What I didn’t like: A few of the tales in this collection were a bit longer than I felt necessary, and with most collections, some I loved and some missed the mark. That happens in each collection.

Why you should buy this: As I’ve always said, I always hope that one new person will buy a book I’ve reviewed from a new-to-them author, and I think Darren Gallagher would be a great new author for people to discover. His writing is smooth and the stories are a ton of fun. The collection hums along and if you are a quick reader, you very well may be able to get through this in a single sitting.

4/5