Image by Roman Grac from Pixabay Plot: The narrator used to love the rain, but then the boy attacked, beat, and robbed her in the rain. Ten years later, she’s at a bus stop, watching bus after bus pass by. She doesn’t want to risk getting caught in the rain, even for a little while.Continue reading “Review of “This is How the Rain Falls” by M.K. Hutchins”
Tag Archives: review
Review of “The Deadly Mantis” (1957)
Image from IMDB Saturday pizza and bad movie night with a Svengoolie rerun we’d never seen Plot: Somewhere in the South Seas, a volcano erupts. Nothing happens in isolation, of course. As they told us in junior high science class, lo, many years ago, “for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” So,Continue reading “Review of “The Deadly Mantis” (1957)”
Review of “Hero” by Harris Coverley
Image by Dimitris Vetsikas from Pixabay Plot: Everyone appears to be dead and unburied except for the narrator, who, it becomes clear, did not kill anyone. He (?) finds ways to fill the time. He drains a stagnant lake (“they’re all stagnant anyway,” he tells the reader) just to see what’s on the bottom. HeContinue reading “Review of “Hero” by Harris Coverley”
Review of “Mad Science” by Jo Mularczyk
Plot: Julia finds herself standing in the church she knew in childhood, the successful result of the working of her newly-developed displacement nodule. The device allows a person to be transported anywhere instantaneously. It’s small enough to fit into Julia’s hand and responds to voice commands. Julia is not sure why she’s in the church,Continue reading “Review of “Mad Science” by Jo Mularczyk”
Review of “A Plague of Santas” by Emily Dorffer
This is not really a story, as there is no plot. It is a portrait, a satire of the frenzy surrounding Christmas time. And it is cute. “It starts innocently enough in November,” the reader is told. “A shortage of cookies and milk at the grocery store, a faint jingling at night, the lingering scentContinue reading “Review of “A Plague of Santas” by Emily Dorffer”
Review of “The Last Rider of the Apocalypse” by Floris M. Kleijne
Plot: The Four Horsemen of lore—Pestilence, Famine, War, and Death, have destroyed humanity in an Apocalypse, leaving only Porcaleo alive. Porcaleo pursues them with vengeance across the vast expanse of space through Andromeda and the Horsehead Nebula. With the final quarry, a problem arises: how does one kill Death? Thoughts: This was a fun littleContinue reading “Review of “The Last Rider of the Apocalypse” by Floris M. Kleijne”
Review of “The Raleigh Temple of Artemis” by Caroline Diorio
Plot: The reader is told that the Temple of Artemis closes at midnight, and it’s now 11:52. The narrator apologizes to the snake-headed girl in the UNC Chapel Hill sweatshirt who’s cleaning the statue of Artemis. She’s waiting for someone. Not that she has an appointment. She tells the reader she just knows the otherContinue reading “Review of “The Raleigh Temple of Artemis” by Caroline Diorio”
Review of “The Colossus Stops” by Dafydd McKimm
The Colossus that has circled the waters outside the island three times a day as long as anyone can remember has stopped. From birth, the people know the sound of its great gears, forever turning, as it protected the island from pirate ships. On the day before yesterday, the Colossus slowed, making only two rounds.Continue reading “Review of “The Colossus Stops” by Dafydd McKimm”
Review of “Dial M for Martians” by Tina Connolly
The little green man approaches Spacetrader Dan with the promise of more cocktails and a business proposition. Dan’s only on his second. Once they’re inside his unmarked ship, the little green man promises Dan it will be the perfect crime. He wants to be rid of his third horizontal living companion. Dan needs a millionContinue reading “Review of “Dial M for Martians” by Tina Connolly”
Review of “CARE” by Eric S. Fomley
Balana sits on the couch in her sweatpants eating chocolate. She watches the same Dr. Who episode she watched the night before. Observing her behavior, her CARE unit determines she is sad. When it asks what is wrong, Balana tells it, “Nothing.” But her voice quivers. The CARE unit has been programmed to take careContinue reading “Review of “CARE” by Eric S. Fomley”
Reviews of Old and New Stories. Mostly Old 