Dark Distortions
Edited by Molly Feese and C.D. Allen
Scotopia Press (2008) $21.95

The editors of Dark Distortions set out to create a “new kind of anthology,’’ featuring a variety of dark fiction and poems in a variety of styles and length.

With 587 pages, this hefty volume will surely have something for everyone.

A couple of the novelettes stand out from the rest. Thin Walls by Trevor Price tells the tale of a simple neighborly dispute that turns into an obsession and awakens a buried memory for the wonderfully drawn protagonist.

In Ralph Robert Moore’s Red Boat, a man is rescued at sea by another vessel, with a very strange captain at the helm. Despite a longer-than-needed flashback that slows it down, the story works thanks to Moore’s vibrant captain.

Another winner is Erik Smetana’s Pick. You might want to take a muscle-relaxer before reading this one, because you’ll be cringing through most of it. But you won’t be able to stop reading.

Other standouts include The Woodshed, by A.J. Brown, a haunting and unflinching look at child abuse; The Noah Hypothesis by Ken Goldman, about a winery where every bottle has a story; The Fall of the Angel Nathalie by Jamie Brindle; Gigging the Rawbox by Lorne Dixon and Shade by Petra Miller.

As with most anthologies of this scope, there are hits and misses. A few stories could have been excised without hurting it and a few of the novelettes could have been strengthened with some trimming. But there are certainly enough hits here to recommend picking up this collection, including a few from writers who have graced this Web site with their fiction.

--Jeff Cercone