Voice of the Stranger

Schaller (Meet Me in the Middle of the Air) pokes at the twinned fascination and fear associated with the Other in this lyrical collection of 14 speculative shorts that draw on folk and fairy tales and turn on encounters with persons unknown. He keeps mostly in the uncanny valley of creatures that are human, or nearly so: a murdered woman with aquatic features in the delightful, Holmesian adventure “A Study in Abnormal Physiology”; a barely-there, sour-smelling roommate in “Hell and a Day”; and humanoid automata in both “The Watchmaker” and “Monkey Shines.” Both “Automata” and the Arabian Nights–inspired “The Five Cigars of Abu Ali” delve into the act of storytelling itself, while “Wildflowers” takes a turn into unusually biologically specific body horror. Schaller’s writing is simultaneously visceral and dreamlike and will leave readers occasionally unclear on what exactly has happened but never confused about what he has made them feel. Substantial endnotes give insight into each piece’s inspiration and influences and heighten the sense of their connection to a grander storytelling tradition. These unsettling fairy tales will linger in readers’ minds. (Mar.)