Blog tour: Elemental Forces edited by Mark Morris

This post is part of a blog tour organised by Random Things Blog Tours. I received a free copy of the book in return for an honest review.

‘Elemental Forces is the fifth volume in the non-themed horror series of original stories, showcasing the very best short fiction that the genre has to offer, and edited by Mark Morris.

‘This new anthology contains 20 original horror stories, 16 of which have been commissioned from some of the top names in horror, and four selected from the hundreds of stories sent to Flame Tree during a short open submissions window.

‘A delicious feast of the familiar and the new, the established and the emerging.’

Flame Tree Press’ annual collection of new horror short stories, edited by Mark Morris, has become a highlight of my autumn in recent years. Like its four predecessors, Elemental Forces left an impression on me and expanded my wishlist/TBR. Also as in previous years, inevitably not every story was “my thing”, but I could nevertheless always appreciate the quality of the writing.

This year, the stories that particularly stood out to me can be grouped (with some overlap) into three themes: emotionally moving stories; stories involving mothers; and stories that are especially humorous and creative.

Without giving too much away, the first story in the book, The Peeler by Poppy Z. Brite, really set me up for a couple of these standout themes. A serviceman, Barton, takes a couple of days’ leave in an insalubrious port town, where he heads to a mysterious facility where you can trade memories for cash – the more precious the memories, the larger the payment. The ones Barton chooses to sacrifice are high-value and, as it turns out, load-bearing, making this story not only scary, but also very emotionally impactful and poignant.

Another story that pulled hard on my heartstrings was The Only Face You Ever Knew by Gwendolyn Kiste. Main character Catherine turns around in the supermarket to find her fiancée, Veronica, has vanished seemingly into thin air. Heartbroken, Catherine manages to track Veronica down, but she’s much-altered and has no memories of Catherine or their life together. The scary part is how Veronica’s “reset” came to be and how much it diminished her, while Catherine’s refusal to let go really moved me.

Along with Kiste, Sarah Langan is an author I hadn’t come across before, but whose back catalogue I’m now going to have to start exploring ASAP! In her contribution, I Miss You Too Much, middle-aged Stella discovers that the clinginess of her mother, and creepiness of the home she fled at 18, have a supernatural element. Unfortunately, she’s already back in their grip by the time this becomes apparent.

A couple of other stories I found particularly emotionally stirring were Unmarked, by Tim Lebbon, and Mister Reaper, by Annie Knox. The former includes elements of mystery and race-against-time, as a ghost tries to find their remains and communicate their location to the only person who can see them, a friendly centenarian.

The latter, meanwhile, additionally falls into my ‘humorous and creative’ category. Thoroughly fed-up retail temp Stephanie wakes up on the brink of death, having attempted suicide in the toilets at work. So follows an entertaining exchange in an empty shopping centre with a straight-talking, yet surprisingly sympathetic reaper who’s running ahead of schedule, and his more goal-oriented colleague, as Stephanie decides whether she wants to live or die.

Two other stories that made me laugh were No One Wants To Work Here Anymore, by Christina Henry, and A Review of Slime Tutorial: The Musical, by P. C. Verrone. While dissimilar in subject matter and format, much of the humour in both comes from jaded characters.

In Henry’s contribution, a demon terrorises a fast food joint, getting into the heads of the already stressed-out employees before moving on to the customers. This is all very inconvenient for wannabe manager Brian, as the other workers on shift desert their posts, leaving him holding the fort.

Verrone’s story takes the form of a review of an innovative new musical theatre production – think Edward Scissorhands, but with a friendly (and very much real) slime winning over an intolerant suburb. However, the slime turns out to be more than just a triple threat performer, and the show descends into real-life horror for cast and audience alike. Even so, the tough critic retains their cynical, detached lens right up to the page before last.

Before I close this review, something that did bother me in a couple of places in this collection (not in the stories mentioned above) was the idea that over-population is particularly to blame for wrecking the planet.

While many of us can – and ought to – do our bit to be more green, there’s a huge imbalance. A tiny number of very rich people are causing by far the most environmental (and social) damage, directly and indirectly. At the other end of the scale, there are indigenous groups with strong traditions of with respect for nature.

You also have to be so careful when talking about “over-population” as it can so easily tip over into eugenics, with questions about precisely who should be prevented from having children and how, and exactly which people should be kept alive or left to die.

Elemental Forces features the wide range of themes and high-quality, memorable stories I’ve come to anticipate every year.