FICTION REVIEW: LOOMING LOW: VOLUME I

By John Boden 

Being a big fan of the output of Dim Shores, I was quite ecstatic when I heard the call that they were assembling an anthology. I was then even more so excited when I received a review copy of said anthology.  I want to also make note that the cover artwork by Yves Tourigny is fantastic. With that said, here we go:

The proceedings kick off with "The Convexity Of Our Youth" by Kurt Fawver, Wherein  the slyly satirical menace rolls into unsuspecting towns, quite literally and changes their futures via changing the children. "In Canada" by Michael Wehunt is a bittersweet tale of a strange young man in an apartment building and the unique relationship he builds with a new tenant. Betty Rocksteady delivers "Dusk Urchin," A story of a woman ravaged by tragedy and loss who finds herself not nearly as alone as she thought. "Heirloom" by Brook Warra is a fantastic piece about twins and the less said the better--This one is my favorite of the volume.

"The Small Deaths Of Skin And Plastic" is a surreal nightmare of birth and rage, while "Mirror Bias" by Craig Laurance Gidney is oh so much more than a haunted mirror story.  "When The Sky Breaks" shows Scott Nicolay spelling out a wonderfully weird invasion of sorts. Anya Martin's "Boisea Trivittata" is a creepy story that scuttles in the dark while Christopher Slatsky's "Spargmos" is a delirious dark meditation on dementia or is it? "The Sound of Black Dissects the Sun" is a dirge of a story about a man who receives a mysterious piece of music in the mail.  
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I only called upon a half dozen or so of the stories in this book, that's not at all because I didn't like them all I did. These were the ones I found myself dwelling on or replaying in my mind. There is an unplanned theme at work in many of these stories, a melancholy sadness that creeps and crawls in the shadows cast. A sense of loss that is palpable and human to be felt in nearly all of them.  It's truly a wonderful gathering of the freshest voices in weird fiction. It's would make an amazing starter kit for those looking to dip their toes in the pool of this type of story. But dip quick, there are things in these waters that bite.
 
Looming Low Volume I is available from Dim Shores 

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