This book
review is provided as part of the Irredeemable
blog tour, however, the standards and scrutiny applied to this review are no
less than those given to any other work presented through the views of The Rage Circus Vs. The Soulless Void,
your blog for all things horror!
Short
stories can be tricky for any writer.
There is a fine art involved in providing enough detail and insight
about characters to allow the audience to engage in the story without adding
too much extra fat to what is supposed to be a short tale. Likewise, each story in an anthology of short
stories must be filled with the right amount of substance to make them
interesting while not going overboard with the details that an author is able
to allow themselves when writing a novel.
It is a matter of a delicate balance which must be achieved in order to
craft the perfect short story. In his
collection of short stories, Jason Sizemore has not only found that balance,
but proven his mastery of the horrific.
Irredeemable consists of eighteen short
stories. Eleven of these stories were
previously published in various magazines and collections and seven of which
were written as original works for this anthology. The earliest of these stories, Faithless, dates back to 2006 and the
most recent previously published work, Samuel,
was released in 2011. The topics could
not be more different from each other, some relying heavily on aspects of
science fiction and fantasy, while others paint pictures of modern day
life. However, each of these stories
have one vital thing in common, they will all linger in your mind and disturb
your thoughts long after you have turned the last page.
“Flowing like mists and shadows through the Appalachian Mountains come 18
tales from the mind of Jason Sizemore. Weaving together elements of southern
gothic, science fiction, fantasy, horror, the supernatural, and much more, this
diverse collection of short stories brings you an array of characters who must
face accountability, responsibility, and, more ominously, retribution.
Whether it is Jack Taylor readying for a macabre, terrifying night in The
Sleeping Quartet, the Wayne brothers and mischief gone badly awry in Pranks,
the title character in The Dead and Metty Crawford , or the church congregation
and their welcoming of a special visitor in Yellow Warblers, Irredeemable
introduces you to a range of ordinary people who come face to face with
extraordinary situations.
Whether the undead, aliens, ghosts, or killers of the yakuza, dangers of
all kinds lurk within the darkness for those who dare tread upon its ground.
Hop aboard and settle in, Irredeemable will take you on an unforgettable ride
along a dark speculative fiction road.”
As with any collection of stories, some
are going to leave a better impression on some readers than others. While there were a couple of the stories
where I found myself having to re-read sections in order to really understand
what was going on, those were in the minority for me. For the most part, I found myself not wanting
to put the book down until each story was done and even then was eager to pick
it back up as soon as possible. The
pacing on the stories was exceptional.
With only a couple of exceptions, I felt completely immersed into the
stories as I read and found myself rooting for someone or something.
You read that correctly. I said, I was rooting for someone or
something. The title of the book, Irredeemable, is an extremely fitting
one. Most of the characters are guilty
of transgressions going into the story.
Some are larger than others, but all are flawed in very real and human
ways. In the cases of some of the more
vile characters, you actually find yourself rooting for what they are up
against so that you can witness their just dues being served to them. While I would not say that all of the
characters truly are “irredeemable,” all seal their own fates in one way or
another. That may be Sizemore’s greatest
strength as a storyteller, in that he understands that sometimes it is okay for
us to want to witness the suffering of the main character, not because we are
sadomasochists, but because they simply deserve to suffer. For me, however, the greatest draw of
Sizemore’s work as a short story writer is his masterful grasp of not only what
to show us, but what to hold back.
If I were to name the greatest horror
writer to ever live, I would say it was H.P. Lovecraft. One of Lovecraft’s greatest strengths was
knowing when to reveal the gruesome detail and when to let our imagination fill
in the blanks and create the terrors that only we could envision. In doing so, he avoided the common pitfall of
the horror genre, what is presented is never as terrifying as what we can
imagine ourselves if led in the right direction with the right seeds planted
along the way. Why am I deviating from
my evaluation of Jason Sizemore’s work to talk about a long dead horror writer
you ask? The reason for this is the
Sizemore demonstrates that same talent as the great Lovecraft. His stories never fail to end on the right
note and at the right point in the tension.
He leads us down his dark and twisted path, planting the seeds of
disgust, despair, and deprivation along the way. Just when we reach the moment where we will
leave saying that it wasn’t as bad as we would have imagined it, Sizemore drops
the curtain and allows our own imaginations to fill in the gap. In this manner, much like in the work of
Lovecraft, Sizemore ensures that the story lingers with us long after we have
finished reading. He plants the seeds of
horror and we continue to water them.
So do Sizemore’s tales of horror rage
throughout the night or do they fall into the soulless void of unfulfilled
horror? Here, Ragers, is your Rage
Circus Breakdown.
Story Concept - 5/5
Story Execution - 5/5
Story Flow - 4/5
Character Development (give-a-damn
factor) – 4.5/5
Gripping visuals/details - 5/5
Entertainment Value/Story Engagement
- 5/5
Editing (including grammar and
spelling) - 5/5
Overall – 4.8/5 – While anthologies
are particularly hard to rate due to the sometimes vast variation in quality
between stories, Sizemore has provided us with eighteen tales of terror that do
not fail to make us squirm. Check it out
for yourself and see what seeds are planted and what terrors they can grow
into!
About the author: Jason Sizemore is a writer and editor who lives in Lexington, KY. He owns
Apex Publications, an SF, fantasy, and horror small press, and has twice been
nominated for the Hugo Award for his editing work on Apex Magazine. Stay
current with his latest news and ramblings via his Twitter feed handle
@apexjason. You can also follow Jason on
Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/jason.sizemore1.
You can
experience the lingering unease yourself by purchasing Irredeemable via:
Print Version - http://www.amazon.com/Irredeemable-Jason-Sizemore/dp/1937929590
If
you desire more of the Irredeemable blog
tour, check out the tour page at http://www.tomorrowcomesmedia.com/jason-sizemores-irredeemable-tour/
Please note that
the book/eBook being reviewed was provided for an honest review, and that no
compensation was provided.
