Voices in the Darkness

Wilson (A Midnight Dreary) brings together six strong speculative shorts that impress with imaginative concepts and powerful writing, but don’t achieve thematic cohesion, as the surreal and the real uncomfortably bump against each other. Nadia Bulkin’s “Vide Cor Meum (See My Heart),” which describes the murder of a farm family through the perspectives of various neighboring townsfolk, is an intelligent examination of the ethics of true crime accounts. Kathe Koja positions the reader as someone trying to ascertain the existence of an unreal island in her lush, fable-like “Pursuivant Island.” A man is sucked into a cult by a false messiah in 19th-century New York City in Elizabeth Massie’s timely and transportive “Baggie.” Cassandra Khaw uses the decadent fantasy piece “I’d Rather Wear Black” to explore abusive relationship dynamics, and the depth and complexity of the result demands to be savored. Nick Mamatas draws inspiration from “Mack the Knife” in “Ba boo Dop doo Dop boo ree,” about a man named MacHeath who’s employed to kill the queen. Brian A. Hopkins’s novella “La Belle Époque,” an expansive tale about a murdered girl who is resurrected by historical alchemist Nicolas Flamel, is atmospheric and bold, though it would have been better served as a stand-alone with more room to breathe. The whole is not as strong as its component parts. [em](Apr.) [/em]