Love & Other Dead Things is Astrid Addams’s debut short story collection, and these stories are exceptionally dark. In a good way. These stories range from darkly entertaining to deeply disturbing, and some also have an underlying social statement. All of them are good, but my favorite is the first one.
“Jimmy’s Fucked Up” grabbed me from the start. It is one of those stories that starts out with a bang and keeps getting darker as it goes. It’s incredible. And the ending was not at all what I expected, but it was well done. I don’t know that finding it humorous was appropriate, but …
Speaking of dark, “He’s Behind You” is disturbingly dark on every level. Every level. By contrast, “Dead Men at Dead Man’s Cliff” is a deep and evocative story about horrors people inflict on each other. And “The Rubies” is a complex bizzarro tale about social indoctrination (creepy because it’s well-done). And there are many others.
This is a diverse collection that showcases Astrid Addams’s impressive range of storytelling as well as he talent as an author. Highly recommended reading for all horror fans.