BOOK REVIEW: VISIONS FROM THE VOID EDITED BY JONATHAN BUTCHER

27/6/2018

By Matt Brandenburg

BOOK REVIEW: VISIONS FROM THE VOID EDITED BY JONATHAN BUTCHER Picture

Visions From The Void carries within its pages 12 black and white art pieces, each one an abstract image hypnotizing you into seeing good and evil, a hidden piece of yourself, or a gateway to the void. The editor of this collection, Jonathan Butcher, took his father’s drawings, handed them to 12 authors and asked them to create haunting, unsettling, or bizarre stories. And the amazing thing is that the authors took these abstract pieces and molded wonderfully unique tales.

At the beginning of each story you’ll find the selected art piece, giving you a chance to take it in and maybe guess what the author saw. But, I’m pretty sure all of us will see something different. That is what’s so great about this collection, the ability to imagine what type of story the author is going to build around it. After you go through the roller coaster ride, an author’s afterword gives us a peek behind the curtain to find out what they saw and obsessed over. If Butcher wanted to, he could hand these pieces to 12 other authors and come up with a whole new collection.

I’m going to highlight a few of the stories I especially enjoyed. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy them all, because I devoured this book and loved every minute of it. I just want to give you a taste of what you might find within these pages.

Shut Up and Dance by Kayleigh Marie Edwards kicks off the collection. Two sisters are at a big outdoor concert, the older of the two not really enjoying it while the younger is having a grand ol’ time. When the older one hears music coming from the woods around the concert, she decides to investigate. Her sister follows her into the woods and the two find a large tent with a never-ending party. It’s really unnerving witnessing the people trying to have fun, afraid of what might happen if they stop. Edwards etches the pain on their every move, every face twitch, every frantic glance. She took the image in, found people trapped, gave them some devastating decisions to make, and set them to dance forever.

The art for Adam Millard story was a warped checkerboard, so he wrote Checkmate. It’s about a time travelling serial killer and the detective that’s hellbent on catching him. I love the mind games the killer plays while they sit at a chessboard in a park. We only get small bits of what the killer has done, but know it is truly horrendous. Millard takes us right up to the edge but never paints the full picture, leaving that for us to do. Then there is the ending, which is brilliant and totally unexpected. I loved it.

There are two music based stories in this collection, both very different, but interesting considering the artwork doesn’t have any musicnotes or instruments in them.
The first is Uncommon Time by John Mcney. It’s a bizarre story about a group of older women who used to be in a band. Only one of them has kept up being a musician and after years of being seperated she is finally calling them all for one last thing. When they get to her house they find that it is done up in stark black and white: the furniture, walls, floors, everything. At the center of the house is a black cube that has a special meaning regarding a missing member, plus there is a promise to live forever. As we roll to the ending, Mcney delivers a fun and creepy story, leaving you wondering who can you trust, and what does their band sound like?

The other musically focused story is The Jazziverse, written by the editor himself, Jonathan Butcher. Butcher weaves a magical story with some slight of hand, intertwining his life with fiction(I hope) to give us a story about a son and father that happens to create very similar black and white art pieces. However, the focus is not on the art but on jazz. The father loves it, describing how it is beautiful and experimental, almost making me want to listen to jazz. Butcher explores the idea that musicians can live forever through their music, how we can visit them anytime we want just by listening to their music. It’s a beautiful ode to music and fathers and sons. Oh, there happens to be Jazz demons in this too.

Finally, the story that is probably my favorite in the bunch, is Paula D. Ashe’s Exile in Extremis. There’s a creepy building, people pretending to be dead, a woman eating cat entrails, and is told through email and a chat client. I love the concept of viewing this through these programs, it creates a sense of immediacy, building a mystery that leaves you jumping to the next message hoping to discover what happens next. The story itself is about a journalist and his mystery source as they investigate missing girls. This leads to an exploration into a very creepy abandoned building. Ashe’s descriptions of the building are vivid and haunting. The pace of the story is perfect, leading you through their desperate discussion until you smack up against a shocking ending.

This is just a small look at what you’ll find here. I do believe there is something for everyone in here, no matter what your taste is. I found a real magic in this collection, enjoying the trip through the void created by these 12 pieces of art.