Big Dark Hole: Stories (2021)

http://speculiction.blogspot.com/2021/10/review-of-big-dark-hole-stories-by.html ( )

Overall this collection is solidly built, no prominently weak stories detracting from the others, neither any story eclipsing the others with its personality or imagination. Finishing it, my impression was the Weird worldview underlying all of them was stronger collectively than in any single work, and tracing the thread of Weird among the different stories was rewarding in a way no story was in itself.

Alongside that thread of Weird is a strong sense of place, the midwest United States in the late 20th Century, perhaps early 21st. These aren't separate aspects of the work, the Weird relies upon this strong sense of place, and I wonder how the stories come across to someone unfamiliar with this part of the U.S. It may work quite well, but no doubt it would work much differently than it does for me. Somehow I find that fitting.

Two further observations across stories.

Many stories are leavened with a dry humour, not something that undermines the Weird or (when horror is part of the story) deflects the emotion, rather a sardonic commentary ("Inn of the Dreaming Dog") that emphasizes the everyday people and circumstances in which the tales unfold, or a knowing poke at the ridiculous situations facing us ("The Winter Wraith", "Not Without Mercy", "Thanksgiving").

And, Ford often doesn't advertise this in the stories themselves, but the narrator in many tales is a fictional version of himself, as corroborated by reviewing his biography (teaching positions and schools, marital status, places of residence). This conceit emphasises the way the Weird and the mundane rub elbows throughout the various stories, adding a slight tension, as if something could erupt at any point, without warning -- perhaps on the page, perhaps instead at my own elbow, in my reading chair. ( )

A great collection from the somewhat eerie Jeffrey Ford. He is a master at telling a regular story that veers off into the unknown and sometimes rather uncomfortable, while using a voice that lures the reader into thinking everything is copacetic when it very much isn't. Always a surprising journey to read this author, and this collection is no exception. ( )

I loved this collection for its matter-of-fact storytelling style combined with fantastic events. Every story wraps its unexpected events inside a comfortable, lull-the-reader-to-feel-safe tone that makes the reveals more eerie and wonderfully unexpected when they come. I loved the first-person stories most for their narrative playfulness--the stories kept surprising me. ( )

I RECEIVED AN ARC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA LIBRARYTHING'S EARLY REVIEWERS. THANK YOU.

My Review: Dudebro Jeffrey Ford voice on full Technicolor display...if you've never read Ford's stories, you're either going to hate the hell out of that voice from giddy-up to whoa, in which case give the collection a miss; or you're going to see the voice as its own contiunuing character, the kind-of career-long Rod Serling of the author's imaginitive universe. I liked the voice from my first encounter and if you don't, bail instantly.

These aren't Horror Stories, they're atmospheric tales of strange and uncongruent realities that look a lot like consensus reality. As is the statutory requirement for story-collection reviews on my blog, I herewith employ the Bryce Method of giving a line or two and a rating to each of the fifteen included stories individually. ( )