Sad news: AFTERSHOCK & OTHERS: 19 ODDITIES marks the third and final collection of short stories from F. Paul Wilson, who’s no longer attracted to the format, despite being a master of it. Good news: The book is, of course, great.
Its 20 tales are arranged chronologically, starting with 1990′s “Dreams” from THE ULTIMATE FRANKENSTEIN and concluding with 2005′s “Interlude at Duane’s” from THRILLER. Just having them collected in one spot is a gift in and of itself, but AFTERSHOCK also works as a quasi-biography of Wilson’s life at the time, as he summarizes his professional ups and downs of each year, from developing interactive games than went nowhere to movie deals that followed suit.
“The November Game” is a direct sequel to Ray Bradbury’s “The October Game,” and it’s a delightful creep-out in which the guy who passed around body parts of his daughter as a Halloween party game is now in prison. Starving himself to get thin, he’s hatching a plan to get out.
A first cousin to “Pelts” — one of Wilson’s most well-known stories, not in this edition — is “Foet,” in which the latest fashion rage is a purse made from the skin of aborted fetuses. Equally uncomfortable yet absolutely readable is “Please Don’t Hurt Me,” a dialogue-only exchange between a guy and the girl he picked up at a bar for casual sex. As the loving progresses, so do the disturbing secrets she spills.
As someone who’s at once fascinated with and repulsed by spiders, I wonder why arachnids aren’t used more often in horror stories. “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” co-written by Wilson’s daughter Meggan, fills that void, with a post-giant-spider-invasion setting. While it was written for young adults, it sent more than a shiver down my 37-year-old spine.
Another great piece is one written for an anthology of magic stories “presented” by David Copperfield. I can’t replicate its title here — you’ll see why if you check out the printed page — but it concerns a man who accidentally comes into possession of an audio tape that reveals a secret word of gibberish. When uttered, the person you tell it to doesn’t hear the word, but rather the most correct answer to whatever question they’ve posed. The man quickly figures out how to use that to his financial advantage, even if doing so will be the death of him.
The title story, “Aftershock,” is about an emergency room doctor who aids a young female patient who’s been struck by lightning … on purpose. It’s her eighth time, in fact, and she reveals the reason for her unusual hobby: Because when she’s struck, she comes into contact with her dead son.
“Lying Toward Bethlehem” is the only one I didn’t like, being more of an experimental piece told from the POV of a virus. It’s nice to see Wilson play around with the idea — including in the way the type is set — but it didn’t go anywhere for me. On the other end of the spectrum is “Sex Slaves of the Dragon Tong,” his Yellow Peril pastiche from RETRO PULP TALES. I named it the year’s best short story of 2003; reading it all over again, I stand by that decision.
Which is why Wilson’s afterword admission that he’s “pretty much done with short fiction” is a bitter pill to swallow. I mean, he’s terrific at writing novels, too, but he’s one of the those few whose name almost always guarantees a tense, splendidly written short story. If he’s calling the medium quits, at least he’s going out on top. —Rod Lott
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• ALL THE RAGE by F. Paul Wilson
• BLOODLINE by F. Paul Wilson
• F. PAUL WILSON’S THE KEEP by F. Paul Wilson and Matthew Smith
• HOSTS by F. Paul Wilson
• LEGACIES by F. Paul Wilson
Related posts:
- Retro Pulp Tales
- Different Kinds of Dead and Other Tales
- Bloodline
- NEWSGASM >> 7.3.06
- Tor reopens Wilson’s TOMB
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
This sounds like a great short story book. I’ve never heard of this author until now! Thanks for the review. I’ll be back to check out this blog more often!
I am sad to learn from you that Wilson is leaving the short form, as it seems to be the one place he was allowed to be experimental. As much as I love Repairman Jack, he is capable of so much more, and his short work shows it the best.
Soft and Others was my first Wilson book and instantly made me a fan, and The Barrens and Others was another terrific collection. I’m really looking forward (especially after reading this review) to adding Aftershocks and Others to my collection (I, too, loved “Sex Slaves of the Dragon Tong“).