Title: Vaudeville and Other Nightmares

Author: Greg Chapman

Release date: March 10, 2019

Big thanks to Greg for sending this my way. Truth be told – the title novella in this collection, ‘Vaudeville,’ is getting a stand alone release shortly. So after chatting with Greg, this was a two-birds-one-stone review set up!

As you probably already know, I’m a massive fan of Greg’s work and ‘Vaudeville and Other Nightmares’ is another prime example of why you should be reading both is short and long fiction.

I’ll have a more in-depth review of the title story once Greg shares the cover for it, but for now I’ll focus my review on the collection as a whole.

What I liked: The collection opens up with the stunning novella ‘Vaudeville.’ As I indicated, I won’t say much about it here, other than it was a fantastic piece of dark fiction and reminded me of a lot of the dark fantasy stories/cartoons I used to watch growing up. Very similar feel to those.

Of the stories within, the other two that really stood out and were my favorites were ‘Deluge’ and ‘The Only Son.’

‘Deluge’ starts with this line; When the sky turned red, the people of Fairhaven ran screaming into the streets. Hooked. The story goes places you can kind of expect with that opening line, but with Greg’s deftly controlling the narrative expect darkness and brutality. My minor gripe with this one was I wished it had been novella length as there were a number of places that could’ve been expanded or increased that would’ve really been great to see.

‘The Only Son’ is a story that’ll stay with me for a long, long time. This would make for such an outstanding one-man play and has some of the most haunting imagery that I’ve ever read. This is a bread and butter Chapman storytelling and worth the admission price alone. I can’t say too much about the story as I don’t want to spoil it, but just expect a heartbreaking introspective piece that is purposefully vague.

Throughout, Chapman delivers some eerie and frightening pieces, which shows his scope of conjuring emotional responses to stories you didn’t expect to hit you in those ways.

What I didn’t like: Honestly, I’m so burned out on anthologies and collections that if I wasn’t reading this one to specifically review the main novella, I would’ve passed. Collections can be draining as not all stories will click. In this one, I only had one story I wasn’t overly a fan of, but as with all experiences, that one story may well be your favorite.

Why you should buy this: ‘Vaudeville and Other Nightmares’ is a fantastic collection and comes with some amazing illustrations, which always shows how talented Greg is. If you’re looking to experience his writing over a number of ideas, this collection is a great place to start. I’ve loved everything Greg has released that I’ve read. Look for my in-depth look at the ‘Vaudeville’ novella soon, but until then, definitely give Chapman’s work a go!

5/5