The Immeasurable Corpse of Nature

Slatsky (Alectryomancer and Other Weird Tales) delivers a fascinating but uneven collection of 15 strange and unnerving tales. Slatsky is at his best when capturing a sense of visceral terror, as in the chilling “Palladium at Night,” in which a man stumbles across an occult military experiment gone wrong, and the short play “From a People of Strange Language,” about a group of mediums learning to speak the language of the dead. The title story about a forensic anthropologist investigating a cult’s mass suicide satisfyingly plays with weird fiction tropes while painting vivid descriptions of carnage sure to rattle readers. Other tales are less successful: “SPARAGMOS,” which recalls a man’s decline into dementia, starts strong but fails to reach a satisfying conclusion, while “Devil Gonna Catch You in the Corners” hints at horror, but vague, befuddling descriptions of the threat will leave readers more confused than scared. Even in these less effective stories, Slatsky’s prowess at creating atmosphere is on display. Fans of weird fiction will be delighted by these odd, dark tales. (Jan.)