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kyleg1007's review
3.0
Overall just some average short stories. None of them blew me away. Just solid stories all set in the same town.
pbanditp's review
3.0
CASCADE by Craig Davidson is a collection of seven stories based around his fictional town of Cataract City, a place similar to Niagara Falls.
These are stories that you will ponder over. Outcomes in suspension. Lives on the brink.
Some you will be compelled to tear through, wondering, needing to know what is going to happen. Others you will read because the writing style is so good that it doesn’t really matter what it’s about. The plot runs the gamut with stories about a mother struggling not to freeze to death, child protective services, love for an evil twin brother, to a guy with a manslaughter rap trying to play basketball.
The Ghost Lights was probably one of my favorite cold weather horror stories ever. It was gory, heartbreaking and bone chilling
These are stories that you will ponder over. Outcomes in suspension. Lives on the brink.
Some you will be compelled to tear through, wondering, needing to know what is going to happen. Others you will read because the writing style is so good that it doesn’t really matter what it’s about. The plot runs the gamut with stories about a mother struggling not to freeze to death, child protective services, love for an evil twin brother, to a guy with a manslaughter rap trying to play basketball.
The Ghost Lights was probably one of my favorite cold weather horror stories ever. It was gory, heartbreaking and bone chilling
huncamuncamouse's review
3.0
3.5 stars, but rounded up because there's a truly GREAT story in this collection.
I picked this up on a whim in the new fiction section at my library. The stories here are loosely connected by setting in Niagara Falls. These were all very thoughtfully constructed pieces--he's a technically talented writer, at his best when black humor comes through. My problem with a lot of short story collections in general, as much as I enjoy reading them, is that very few of the stories remain memorable months later. A lot of short stories are very . . . competent, technically good, interesting, peppered with snappy dialogue and interesting characters. Over-all, that's how I found the stories in this collection to be.
But "The Vanishing Twin," was something really special, the kind of story I'll be thinking about for a long time. There's an immediacy and fluidity of voice in this one that isn't as readily apparent in the other stories. It's a haunting story that could have easily veered into something over-the-top but doesn't. He toes the line masterfully. One of Davidson's strengths throughout the book is having the confidence to just leave some things unsaid, and that's showcased to great effect here.
I picked this up on a whim in the new fiction section at my library. The stories here are loosely connected by setting in Niagara Falls. These were all very thoughtfully constructed pieces--he's a technically talented writer, at his best when black humor comes through. My problem with a lot of short story collections in general, as much as I enjoy reading them, is that very few of the stories remain memorable months later. A lot of short stories are very . . . competent, technically good, interesting, peppered with snappy dialogue and interesting characters. Over-all, that's how I found the stories in this collection to be.
But "The Vanishing Twin," was something really special, the kind of story I'll be thinking about for a long time. There's an immediacy and fluidity of voice in this one that isn't as readily apparent in the other stories. It's a haunting story that could have easily veered into something over-the-top but doesn't. He toes the line masterfully. One of Davidson's strengths throughout the book is having the confidence to just leave some things unsaid, and that's showcased to great effect here.
lesbegays's review
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
4.5
This collection was a slow burn for me. I felt lukewarm on it for the first several stories, but as I kept reading it’s like it all came together. There’s a bit of a gothic quality to this collection, with the town almost as its own character whose darkness infects everyone else. The twisted family relationships and way the conditions of poverty and pollution affect everyone REALLY work for me. The Vanishing Twin and Firebug were probably my favorite stories.
motherhorror's review against another edition
5.0
Review originally published in the October/November 2020 issue of Rue Morgue
..
It’s been fifteen years since Craig Davidson blessed readers with his short story collection Rust and Bone, but who’s counting? The answer is Davidson’s fanbase. We’re counting.
We know that whatever stories Davidson decides to set in the fictional town of Cataract City (the nickname given to Niagra Falls, Ontario) is something special. It’s no surprise Cascade is garnering early buzz since the first collection went on to inspire a movie of the same title. The storyline combined two of the tales from the collection, the titular story Rust and Bone fused with Rocket Ride. The movie was nominated for a host of awards, including a SAG and a Golden Globe.
After finishing Cascade, I wondered which of the six stories would also get that silver screen treatment. They all possess that magical, cinematic quality; vivid word pictures coming to life in the reader’s mind so effortlessly given that Davidson’s command of words and descriptions are brilliantly lush and colorful.
But take caution. Davidson has never been known to be easy one’s emotions. In the acknowledgments, he remarks that these stories are
“...those of a husband and father with dreams and hopes and disillusionments and fears implicitly linked to this, my current stage of life.”
And they are. All six tales share the common bond of family relationships as well as an underlying tension or foreboding.
The intimate, instinctual moments after a car crash. The all-encompassing love and protection between fraternal twins. A pregnant social worker’s love for children not her own. A firefighter wrestling with a generational fascination with fire. All of these characters will capture your heart and cause you concern; their broken bits and pieces, their flaws will leave splinters in your soul. An arresting, memorable collection. Please may we not have to wait another fifteen years for more.
..
It’s been fifteen years since Craig Davidson blessed readers with his short story collection Rust and Bone, but who’s counting? The answer is Davidson’s fanbase. We’re counting.
We know that whatever stories Davidson decides to set in the fictional town of Cataract City (the nickname given to Niagra Falls, Ontario) is something special. It’s no surprise Cascade is garnering early buzz since the first collection went on to inspire a movie of the same title. The storyline combined two of the tales from the collection, the titular story Rust and Bone fused with Rocket Ride. The movie was nominated for a host of awards, including a SAG and a Golden Globe.
After finishing Cascade, I wondered which of the six stories would also get that silver screen treatment. They all possess that magical, cinematic quality; vivid word pictures coming to life in the reader’s mind so effortlessly given that Davidson’s command of words and descriptions are brilliantly lush and colorful.
But take caution. Davidson has never been known to be easy one’s emotions. In the acknowledgments, he remarks that these stories are
“...those of a husband and father with dreams and hopes and disillusionments and fears implicitly linked to this, my current stage of life.”
And they are. All six tales share the common bond of family relationships as well as an underlying tension or foreboding.
The intimate, instinctual moments after a car crash. The all-encompassing love and protection between fraternal twins. A pregnant social worker’s love for children not her own. A firefighter wrestling with a generational fascination with fire. All of these characters will capture your heart and cause you concern; their broken bits and pieces, their flaws will leave splinters in your soul. An arresting, memorable collection. Please may we not have to wait another fifteen years for more.
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