A Graveside Gallery: Tales of Ghosts And Dark Matters by Eric j Guignard
I would like to thank the author for a copy of this collection in exchange for a fair and honest review
Publisher – Cemetery Dance
Published - Out Now
Price – £15.04 paperback £3.70 ebook
From hauntingsand oblivion to monsters, murder, and anthropomorphism, A Graveside Gallery: Tales of Ghosts and Dark Matters, by award-winning author Eric J. Guignard, explores the literary off and macabre that reside in the vast shadows of our existence.
A good short story collection – what am I looking for? When it comes to one author I like to see some range, stories that plat with format, voice and throw the odd curveball. Like a good music album, you get a sense for the author but also that they really enjoy doing something different every time. Pleased to report and perfect for the time of year that A Graveside Gallery – Tales of Ghosts and Dark Matters by Eric J Guignard is a great collection to pick up.
Among the tales I enjoyed were
Penny’s Diner – an evocative Dakota setting we watch a haunted man approach a diner and Guignard does an excellent job of wrongfooting us as we find this man has killed someone. Nothing though is quite what it appears and the way all the pieces slide into place with a haunting final scene really makes this a very strong opening tale.
If I Drive Before I Wake – A trip into the weirder side of horror as a man finally gets his dream a self-driving car. We feel the man’s joy of finally having freedom even on the commute but then rather than the traditional AI goes wrong this story takes a nightmarish tur as the car takes him on a very different trip to the one that he expected. Unsettling and heartbreaking.
Bummin’ To The Beat of The Road - This tale is an example of how Guignard uses voice as we have a very angry young man in the 1950s fascinated by the beat tales of Kerouac and Salinger finally leaves home but a single line hints our main character is dangerous. Interestingly though Guignard makes him get picked up by someone who also seems even more dangerous. Is this hallucination, demonic intervention or something else? The story keeps us guessing and that makes it more horrific as things very soon escalate bloodily.
The Telephone Game – A quick few pages but a woman being plagued by the voice of a dead woman itself turns into a even more ominous tale. Well worth catching for the last few lines.
Drink, Drink From the Fountain of Death – Another good use of voice and here a middle-aged middle-class businessman who just loves finding antiques is with his friend about to find the world is stranger than he thought. It’s a really good take on the idea of entering a small town and just when we think that we know the story we leave the town and then things get stranger. The feeling of people entering a trap is very strong and you can sense how our character has changed in the final few pages by this horrible experience showing him reality is now what we think it is.
Ritual Sacrifice To the Great God of Skates – Now this is a smart piece of writing. First off we meet the splendidly named Rita San Glory who only feels in her element at a roller rink. We watch the joy she feels of skating. A lovely powerful set of images of someone knowing their place in the world. Then we meet downtrodden Craig in a shopping mall where sorting through cardigans is the highlight of his day. How these two characters are crossing paths is unexpected but then Guignard goes quite cosmic and how all these elements come together is impressive.
The Noon Over Andersonville – Moving with formats we have a set of civil war diary entries by a man suffering a horrific prison. The story grounds the tale and then a new prisoner begins the supernatural side of the tale. Interestingly doesn’t quite land where I expected and has one of the most visceral surprises right at the very end.
A Stroke of Death – Another period tale tales to Paris where an artist has become a tool for one of the criminal underworld’s biggest bosses. A man who can in his painting kill people. Guignard makes us watch this man’s fall into crime, the path of death he is forced on and then the big question. How can he escape? Is that even possible? It has depth, character and such an interesting hook that the finale is both unexpected and uses all the story’s elements really well to fall into place. A highlight for me in the collection.
Ommetaphobia – is a quick nightmarish tale as a man who could not see suddenly gains sight. But everything has an eye on it from the floors to people’s clothes. What is going on? How is this going to end? Pretty nastily and delivers the finale scenes brutally well.
Perchance To Dream In Voices Of A Fiend: A Fanciful Epilogue To Frankenstein – Another highlight of the collection imagines a finale to Frankenstein where our sailor who discovered Victor in the book now finally meets The creature. What makes this stand out is we find that The Creature is himself haunted by the voices of those whose organs he is comprised of. In quick poems we find out who these people were and their reactions to what they have become. Finally, the story ends with a note of hope for the future. It really works and is a neat bookend to the story.
Carmine Lips And A Fade Into Oblivion - Another tale I really enjoyed follows two people in the fifties creeping into a deserted hotel. The language is stylish; these two characters have a delicious set of banter and yet we find they’re both very sad. Soon we find out why and the whole tale becomes very bittersweet and tragic as people find joy in life even as the inevitable arrives. A lovely piece of writing.
These are just a few of the many stories in the collection and for readers wanting to find many ways to unsettle them into the season of Halloween this is a very highly recommended option!
