Hamster Dam

Taking place at the intersection of folie à deux and the Mandela effect, this uneven weird fiction meditation from Crisp (Graves) explores the collective unconscious and the dangers of unchecked obsession. It begins when psychiatric nurse Brian Warfield checks in on his friend and coworker Gary, who’s on leave from work after an incident following an inappropriate relationship with a patient. Brian finds Gary’s own mental health fraying as he attempts to find more information about a decades-old children’s show called Hamster Dam, which may exist only in Gary’s imagination. Brian has no memory of the show, but as he digs in, he discovers a series of impossibilities bleeding into the real world—with consequences that threaten Brian, Gary, and the entire human race. There are some truly gorgeous, evocative passages scattered throughout, but the narrative never really gets out of first gear. The bulk of the story is delivered through abbreviated recollections from Brian, whose distance from the plot detracts from the sense of urgency. Cosmic horror fans will love the ending, however, which is both terrifying and unexpected, even if it takes a little too long for all the pieces to come together. There’s enough working in this one’s favor to make it a worthwhile pick for weird fiction readers. (Nov.)