Modern Gothic Short Stories by Christine Verdu
Genre: Short Stories, Tragic Drama
Published: April 15 2022
Modern Gothic Short Stories: A reflection on the human condition by
Christine Verdu is an interesting collection of mostly unrelated tales that
target the darker side of life.
Like all collections of short stories this is a mixture of the great, the good
and the occasional one that misses its mark. This is to be expected when you
gather together a collection of yarns utilising various situations and styles.
So, what is the best way to review a collection like this? Do you assess it based on its star performers, a solid average of the entire set, or give it a low score because a couple of entries leave you cold?
This has examples of all of the above and everyone who reads this book will have a different opinion on which ones hit the spot and which fail to deliver.
For what it’s worth, my favourites are:
The Retiree – A hitman leaves the business but will he have time to enjoy it? 5
Stars
People Watching – A man who enjoys earwigging on passers-by. 4 Stars
Not Guilty – One very unlucky soul. 5 Stars
The Exhibit – A possible future perhaps? 4 Stars
The Number – The phone never rings (One for Roald Dahl fans) 5 Stars
The Talisman – A spiritual and slightly supernatural tale of love. 4 Stars
Middle of the road (in my opinion):
The Stranger & The Painting form an interesting double act and together elevate each other above the individual stories. 4 Stars
The Wish – Nice callback in an otherwise average ‘Twilight Zone Style’
tale. 3 Stars
The Loner – Selfish man gets what’s coming. 3 Stars
Unfaithful – A nice bit of background for ‘The Wish’. 3 Stars
The ones that didn’t deliver:
Jealousy – Domestic abuse with a predictable outcome. 2 Stars
Butterflies – Poetic, but not my style. 1 Star
With half of the stories making it into my favourites list then I’d have to give this collection a higher than average rating. I’ve yet to find a short story book where everything finds its mark. Even the best short story writers throw out a dud every now and then.
It’s interesting to note that whilst writing this review I’ve actually changed my view on some of the pieces in the book, mostly for the better because whilst I didn’t ‘get’ all of the stories I can appreciate that they are mostly well crafted and some will score a hit with a reader who has personal experience with something that I have not.
In summary, this is a nice collection of modern gothic tales that the
majority of readers will find something they can relate to among the dozen or
so to choose from.
"To consider yourself a true lover of the Gothic art in any form, you must find beauty in sorrow and tragedy with a bittersweet perspective. Gothic is not necessarily horror, but the grief of humanity and consequences thereof."
In her first book, she has put a contemporary spin on the traditional elements of Gothic literature, writing of believable characters who have succumbed to the pitfalls that plague us today.
Christine teaches literature and has degrees from Fontbonne University, University Missouri of Saint Louis and advanced coursework from Pennsylvania State University in children's literature.
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