Have You Read This? Dismal Dreams by Red Lagoe

 

Short story collections can be like a buffet with each tasty story representing different flavors of an overall author’s work. Does the author write stories that are creepy or emotionally crushing? Do they generate fear or excitement? Do they flavor their tales with just a smidge of gore or do they like to drown their readers in it, pretty much the same way I drown my french fries in ketchup. If you haven’t noticed, I do like the analogy of short stories as entrées, but that analogy also may be reductive, ignoring the potential of quality among a large quantity of tales. Short stories, as a reminder, are not necessarily novels compacted but their own art form, a quick bite but still immensely satisfying. Such fine morsels of fiction are just waiting to be discovered in Red Lagoe’s story smorgasbord Dismal Dreams.

Fans of short fiction are sure to find ones that are true showcases of Lagoe's talent. For example, there’s “Creation of Man,” for those who like to see stories from a different and provocative point of view. Fans of ratcheting tension in their fiction will love “Never Have I Ever,” which explores an app that, once downloaded to a woman’s phone, forces her and her friends to confess their sins or face some painful consequences. Lagoe’s really disturbing stories, though, look at how love can go wrong and be twisted into obsession and even hatred. Such stories include “One Year Anniversary,” concerning a woman who goes for a very unique kind of revenge on an abusive spouse while “A Cold Day in Hell” recalls a very unique ghost story where the ghost may very well be the protagonist of the story. “The Terminator Line” is a revenge story that thoroughly surprised me, which is something that doesn’t often happen in a genre that many argue can rely too much on formula.

To conclude the food metaphor, Lagoe has served up some scrumptious stories that make me want to try some of her other creations, which include her other collection Lucid Screams. Dismal Dreams wasn’t completely full of fiction that wowed me, but I also know that, as of this review, Lagoe may be just beginning her writing journey as far as publications. I hope there are more novels and stories in her future because there are a few stories here that have definitely whetted my appetite.