Love and Fiction – A Book Blog

I want to talk for a moment about the Supernatural Romance genre. Most people, when you say pair the words “supernatural” and “romance” think of girls/guys falling in love with vampires/werewolves such as in the Anita Blake or Twilight series of books. While I am definitely not a fan of that type of mushy story, I would describe the genre in its more traditional sense – as an attempt at ‘humanizing’ the ‘other’ by examining their society and the goals of the individuals it comprises. Which brings me to my next book…

To Charles Fort with Love (2005), by Caitlin R. Kiernan, is the first of three books from Subterranean Press which I intend to review. I picked this trio up from the library (along with half a dozen others) a while ago, and it was a happy coincidence that they were all published by the same outfit. There are 13 short stories in this tome, and here is what I thought of them…

Valentia – A paleontologist visits the site of an ancient fossil bed that was recently vandalized, prompting strange visions of an alien world. This story has a very strong Lovecraftian set-up, but the ending is too predictable.

Spindleshanks – A séance in New Orleans goes awry.

So Runs the World Away – Dead Girl, a member of a ghoul clan in Providence, Rhode Island, schemes to leave the group with the help of her young sidekick.

Standing Water – A mysterious puddle behind a bookstore forms in the middle of a heatwave. I liked this story a lot. The introduction of the mysterious into the mundane is very well done.

La Mer Des Reves, or “The Sea of Dreams” – I’m not even really sure what this one was about. There’s some people in a boat in the middle of a stormy sea, a queen of the underworld, and some strange visions of a hospital. Altogether, a very unsatisfying story not even worth the effort of reading.

The Road of Pins – The dark paintings of Albert Perrault (think fairytales with big bad wolves) stir up feelings of dread in a reclusive writer. Then, she becomes haunted by a strange film about a marauding werewolf in the French countryside. Again, the set-up is interesting, but the plot doesn’t go anywhere.

Onion – A couple, Frank and Willa, both experienced strange visions of another world during their childhoods, and now help each other cope with a shifting reality. Since this story the 2001 International Horror Guild Award for Best Short Fiction, I expected it to be very good. I was sorely disappointed.

Apokatastasis – is a genuinely creepy story about a ghostly dog that haunts a hallway, a picture which subtly changes, and growing dark splotch on the wall. This was one of the better stories in this collection, in that it sincerely creeped me out.

La Peau Verte, or “Green Skin” – an artist/model serves as the guest of honor at a very strange costume ball.

The Dead and the Moonstruck – this is yet another story about the life of the ghouls in Providence, Rhode Island. A Cuckoo (a human child stolen by ghouls) named Starling Jane must pass a final initiation in order to join the group. While I don’t necessarily like the characters, at least something happens in this story, so it’s one of my top recommendations so far.

The next three short stories are tied together by a common location, and Kiernan refers to them as her Dandridge Cycle. Let’s see how they hold up…

A Redress for Andromeda – A woman is invited to a party at the old house by the sea to perform a strange ritual to keep a portal to the other side from opening up.

Nor the Demons Down Under the Sea – Two women visit the old house by the sea and encounter something strange along the way.

Andromeda Among the Stones – And finally, we get the complete story of the old house by the sea. Apparently, old man Dandridge built it on top of a portal to the other side, but must sacrifice his family in order to prevent the end of the world. This story is a bit choppy (it skips around in time a lot) but I did like it.

The problem with most of these stories is that nothing happens in them. There’s a lot of good buildup and creepy happenings, but then… poof! It just ends and I’m left confused on what exactly happened. Another bad habit (though much less aggravating) the author has is of combining words likethis that just interrupts the flow of the text for me.

One of the saving graces of the book, however, was the amount of extra material that Subterranean Press provided. You get an introductory essay from the author, plus notes on each story afterwords. This helps the reader get a sense what the author is trying to do, and where she got the ideas for the stories.

Unfortunately, I didn’t care for this collection very much. I like my stories to come together at the end and I like my monsters scary, not angsty. If you’re a fan of Supernatural Romance you should give it a try, otherwise you should find something with a little more meat to it.