Elizabeth Massie

I flew through this collection in a couple of days, but I didn't really love it. It was more like eating a bag of chips.

Massie is capable of writing disturbing, powerful and moving stories, but many of these felt low-brow and comic-bookish. Here are some of the standouts:

"Stephen": A social worker forges a relationship with one of the more unusual patients in a youth rehabilitation center.

"In the Cow Pasture": Two sisters and a friend decide to dig a hole through to hell in their backyard.

"Brazo de Dios": A missionary finds her faith tested when she is abducted by a group of militants in South America.

"Products of the Past": New kids on the block learn that certain houses are best avoided.

"The Fear Report": A college student uses an unwitting and superstitious family as the subject of her study.

"Hot Orgy of the Caged Virgins": A tale of sexual experimentation among a group of backwoods teens.

"Fixtures of Matchstick Men and Joo:" At the height of the Vietnam War, a man and a teenaged girl gradually discover the sinister truth about the commune at which they've sought refuge.

The other stories run from "okay" to...not so okay, but the good thing is that they are all quick reads. This volume contains about twice as many stories as Massie's earlier collection, [b:Shadow Dreams|685592|Shadow Dreams|Elizabeth Massie|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1177180879s/685592.jpg|671965], but it isn't nearly as strong overall. I suggest seeking that one out first.

On a side note, this edition (like many small press books) is absolutely littered with typographical and formatting errors. Line breaks and punctuation occur (or don't occur) randomly, a character's name changes in the middle of a story and then back again, "Blessed Sleep" is mistitled "Blessed Sheep" and there are even a couple editor's notations left in the text. I don't understand why I can buy a cheap mass-market paperback that is flawless and pay $40 for a collector's edition that has a nice signature page but looks like it was typeset by a drunken monkey on drugs.… (meer)

I can't vouch for E. Massie's skill with Southern Gothic Horror... the repetitive themes may well be part and parcel, and therefore not the handicap they hint at in this collection. Child sexual abuse, self mutilation, poverty, neglect, loss of potential, auto accidents, corrupt Christianity, mental and physical disability, torture, abuse of power, and turkey factories are the building blocks of each of these stories.

The language is middle school level, but this seems in keeping with the genre. At first it was a turn off - but the consistency hints more at intention than capability. The font size on my paperback copy was larger than I've ever seen in a book not printed for people with vision impairment - which makes "page turner" into a funny little given... but even that was endearing. Endearing in that way that cheesy predictable horror movies can really hit the spot sometimes, especially when the dialog and story logic are sparse (something you can pretty easily suspend disbelief over when the stories are so bite-sized).

Think Twilight Zone produced almost strictly for an audience in a home for survivors of abuse. It's bound to make you feel like a great parent, and make your problems at work or with your spouse seem like very small potatoes - which strikes me as the probable beauty and draw of the style. Also some demon exorcising. If you don't catch yourself consciously wondering "Why am I reading this?" a few times (during the myriad children in snuff porn plots, for instance) you should probably speak to a professional.

There are little glowing morality bits (see Twilight Zone reference) which elevate it above grotesque for grotesque's sake - but not by enough to keep me from looking forward to the book ending, or to have me wanting to jump into more Elizabeth Massie anytime real soon. This isn't meant as an insult to the author - it seems like a natural extension of the work, something that may indicate it's success. I grew a bit, determined to see my greys more clearly, and to have my "don't judge, you don't know what they are going through at home" moral judgement sharpened.

My next crack at Southern Gothic will likely be Flannery O'Conner.… (meer)