 Similarly the problems the character has with self-image in ‘The Wishing Sisters’, an all-too familiar concern of so many young people, lead to her making some poor choices. These are not the easiest subjects to write about, but in Cooper’s hands they are written about with sensitivity. All That’s Fair is a collection by S.H. Cooper which promises “twenty-two short horror stories themed around women who are made up of anything but sugar, spice, and everything nice.” With its stories that play on the best ideas of urban legends and folklore, it more than delivers. The choice to tell each of the stories in first person help to establish a personal tone and make the strange experiences of the protagonists seem all the more genuine. The stories are also all very similar in length, approximately ten pages each, but in that relatively short span they deliver compelling narratives and well-formed characters. There’s plenty of meat on the bones of each story, but not an ounce of fat: there are no unnecessary characters or distracting side-plots. Cooper knows also when to ramp up the tension and when to place a twist or a reveal to make these stories really effective. Each of the stories features a familiar scenario or type of character which allows the reader to immediately engage with them. In Cruel Inheritance, for instance, Betsy Jo Keene is recognisably as the kind of neighbour you’re on nodding terms with who looks like she’s had a difficult life. The story kicks to life when she knocks on the door of the protagonist and asks to borrow her car, immediately grabbing the reader. Many of the other stories use a similar known situation – an elderly person put into a home suffering from dementia, friends growing apart in their teenage years, unrequited love. Into these situations, the horror, or a strangeness which leads to the horror, is introduced, and it’s a very effective method of storytelling. It means little time is spent on unnecessary exposition. The stories start as close to the action as possible, keeping the pace quick, and the stories engaging. Another way in which these stories seem fresh is that where there is something monstrous, it is rarely as it first appears, and where characters do experience something horrific, there is often a good reason for this. Sometimes they lead to a discovery – truth is very important in these stories, and sometimes it comes as a warning – be careful what you wish for is a moral of a number of these tales. A couple of stories are guilty of over-explaining a touch at the ends, but this is a very small criticism. There’s a good variety in the stories. A couple of them touch on issues of mental health, and these are very well handled. The experiences and feelings of worthlessness of the protagonist in ‘So Much Filler’ are particularly harrowing, and they feel authentic. Similarly the problems the character has with self-image in ‘The Wishing Sisters’, an all-too familiar concern of so many young people, lead to her making some poor choices. These are not the easiest subjects to write about, but in Cooper’s hands they are written about with sensitivity. A few of the stories contain subtle humour, which is more than welcome. Others have almost comical aspects, ‘The Shy Lady’, for an example, tells of a ghost that can only be seen when the person can’t see properly. She visits the short-sighted when they remove their glasses. Stories like this fit in well even among some of the more horrific tales. The description throughout the stories is excellent, whether that be in terms of vividly creating the setting, or in describing some of the horrors contained in the story. Sometimes this is simply through a sound, as in the first story, or in a smell, and it all contributes to bringing these stories to life. Among the twenty-two stories a number stood out as being truly exceptional. The story of ‘Auntie Bells’ reveals the secret the bells worn by a local woman known to all, but seemingly friends to none. ‘She Wasn't Like the Other Mothers’ starts with the line "every night for a week, I woke to a gunshot." From there is only gets better. It contains a repeated line, the significance of which becomes more apparent as the story reaches its conclusion. The story that closes the book, ‘The Hardest Lesson’ tells of an urban legend of truck stops. It contains one of the collection’s main messages. Sometimes what seems to be monstrous is actually saving us from the true monsters. All in all, it’s a very successful collection of short stories. I had a few late nights with the book, as I always wanted to read just one more. They’re lean, and they’re mean, and I’d recommend All That’s Fair to anyone. Review by Ben Langley  A maiden looking for love in all the wrong places. A mother in an endless search for missing children. A crone whose passing is marked by the tinkling of tiny bells. All That’s Fair is a collection of twenty-two short horror stories themed around women who are made up of anything but sugar, spice, and everything nice. Be they human, ghost, or something else entirely, one thing holds true for all: These are not the girls you’ll find (or want) next door.   THE HEART AND SOUL OF HORROR FICTION REVIEWSComments are closed.
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