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A review by zraitor
The Isolation Anthology Volume 1 by John Shupeck
4.0
An interesting and varied collection of horror filled with the author's usual favorite themes: Religion, serial killers, and making the reader part of the "fun". Every story is dark and violent and he likes to remind us that we are choosing to read these things and thus that must be what we want. (I know I do!)
Like most short story collections, some stories didn't hit the mark in my opinion but that is just how it often goes in these things. Everything was well written with great character work, as usual. Worth reading overall.
One-sentence summary attempts and quick thoughts:
Isolated- A couple who rent a theatre to make a messed up and violent sex video find themselves under attack.
-This story sets it all up and is incredibly uncomfortable. Here we are introduced to the fact that the viewer (reader) is a part of this whole thing and we are being shown a bunch of disturbing videos (stories) because that is what we came to see.
Haunted- A fallen angel writes letters to both Heaven and Hell trying to manipulate one side or the other to take them back after a botched cult ritual happens in the graveyard it "haunts".
-While I am just not into the religious themes as much as the author this story was interesting and the gore was pretty top-notch.
Harkestown General- A man with a hospital fetish (You heard me!) who fakes various problems to get into them checks into the wrong one and finds his comeuppance.
-Great story that is just so weird. I certainly never considered that an obsession for someone to have...
The Normal Florals- A young man who is disgusted by his grandmother that suffers from Alzheimer's disease plays a trick on her with terrible results that lead to a family battle royale.
-Quite a ridiculous story that I suppose was funny from a dark humor sort of view but I wasn't that into it.
Tandem- A wife randomly tells her husband one day that she was once a cult member that was raped which led to the birth of two twins and one is currently in prison for murder.
-Okay, that was a hard one to do a one-sentence summary of. A lot is going on in this story with a lot of different character perspectives. I'm not normally a fan of evil satanic children stories but this one was really good. It ends abrupt and unfinished as it is the first part and will be finished in Volume 2 of this apparently.
A Matter of Perspective- A woman at the movies with her daughter bumps into a black man and then she goes off on a racial tirade which leads to quite an argument.
-I wasn't sure what to think about this one. Yes, racism sucks but the story was so-so and I didn't get the point I suppose. The character work was interesting enough.
Green- A scriptwriter has his big break and moves into a house with a horribly painted green wall that drives him to madness as he tries to paint over it.
-Great story. Another with a lot going on in it. Some very vivid imagery later on as he becomes crusted with flecks of paint after many failed attempts to paint over the wall. The character work is great and serves well to show his descent into madness.
A Conversation With Gaia- A man pumping gas suddenly falls through the ground and ends up talking to the personification of Mother Earth and she reveals to him many awful things and that she wants him as her lover.
-Another interesting story with awesome imagery as Gaia produces all kinds of nature displays to either mess with or impress the man. Wouldn't have expected this story from the author with all his usual religious interests but maybe that was the draw, I don't know.
Dialogue- The author writes himself into the story as a gas station employee who begins to lose his sanity with various versions of himself talking in his mind.
-Basically, a meta-story where the author hates on himself and turns it into a horror story that fits the theme of this collection. I hope he found some catharsis from this. As for the story itself while the constant going back and forth from different versions of Bobby was annoying it had a messed-up sort of charm to it.
Logan's Lesson- The aftermath of what happens in the first story, Isolation, which confirms what you probably already guessed was going on.
-Another one that was interesting but it is there mainly just to wrap the whole thing up and once again point out to us that we want this messed up stuff to happen and are responsible for its creation through that desire.
Which is fair enough in my case.
Like most short story collections, some stories didn't hit the mark in my opinion but that is just how it often goes in these things. Everything was well written with great character work, as usual. Worth reading overall.
One-sentence summary attempts and quick thoughts:
Isolated- A couple who rent a theatre to make a messed up and violent sex video find themselves under attack.
-This story sets it all up and is incredibly uncomfortable. Here we are introduced to the fact that the viewer (reader) is a part of this whole thing and we are being shown a bunch of disturbing videos (stories) because that is what we came to see.
Haunted- A fallen angel writes letters to both Heaven and Hell trying to manipulate one side or the other to take them back after a botched cult ritual happens in the graveyard it "haunts".
-While I am just not into the religious themes as much as the author this story was interesting and the gore was pretty top-notch.
Harkestown General- A man with a hospital fetish (You heard me!) who fakes various problems to get into them checks into the wrong one and finds his comeuppance.
-Great story that is just so weird. I certainly never considered that an obsession for someone to have...
The Normal Florals- A young man who is disgusted by his grandmother that suffers from Alzheimer's disease plays a trick on her with terrible results that lead to a family battle royale.
-Quite a ridiculous story that I suppose was funny from a dark humor sort of view but I wasn't that into it.
Tandem- A wife randomly tells her husband one day that she was once a cult member that was raped which led to the birth of two twins and one is currently in prison for murder.
-Okay, that was a hard one to do a one-sentence summary of. A lot is going on in this story with a lot of different character perspectives. I'm not normally a fan of evil satanic children stories but this one was really good. It ends abrupt and unfinished as it is the first part and will be finished in Volume 2 of this apparently.
A Matter of Perspective- A woman at the movies with her daughter bumps into a black man and then she goes off on a racial tirade which leads to quite an argument.
-I wasn't sure what to think about this one. Yes, racism sucks but the story was so-so and I didn't get the point I suppose. The character work was interesting enough.
Green- A scriptwriter has his big break and moves into a house with a horribly painted green wall that drives him to madness as he tries to paint over it.
-Great story. Another with a lot going on in it. Some very vivid imagery later on as he becomes crusted with flecks of paint after many failed attempts to paint over the wall. The character work is great and serves well to show his descent into madness.
A Conversation With Gaia- A man pumping gas suddenly falls through the ground and ends up talking to the personification of Mother Earth and she reveals to him many awful things and that she wants him as her lover.
-Another interesting story with awesome imagery as Gaia produces all kinds of nature displays to either mess with or impress the man. Wouldn't have expected this story from the author with all his usual religious interests but maybe that was the draw, I don't know.
Dialogue- The author writes himself into the story as a gas station employee who begins to lose his sanity with various versions of himself talking in his mind.
-Basically, a meta-story where the author hates on himself and turns it into a horror story that fits the theme of this collection. I hope he found some catharsis from this. As for the story itself while the constant going back and forth from different versions of Bobby was annoying it had a messed-up sort of charm to it.
Logan's Lesson- The aftermath of what happens in the first story, Isolation, which confirms what you probably already guessed was going on.
-Another one that was interesting but it is there mainly just to wrap the whole thing up and once again point out to us that we want this messed up stuff to happen and are responsible for its creation through that desire.
Which is fair enough in my case.