I was really excited for this collection of short stories. I had heard some people strongly recommend it... if you wanted something fitting for the autumnal season. Scary, but not nihilistically so.

So far... eh. The short stories aren't really good or bad. Certainly not scary. Many of them leave me wondering what they even have to do with October, let alone Autumn.

One "Next in Line" about a husband who successfully unnerves his wife to the point of her death is disturbing. But, it's hard to see how she could have been slowly unnerved to death. At least in the span of 4 days.

There are a few more left so maybe they perk up. We'll see.

Couple of good rebound stories....

First "The Jar". Bradbury tugs at a few different emotions - concern for the protagonist, pity for him, then shock at his actions.
The ending is revolting. But, it's not set in October nor Autumn.

But then... "The Lake". Not horror, but haunting. This story makes the whole book worth it. Even if all of the other stories are trash. "The Lake" is very evocative - bringing up so many feelings (but more than just feelings) of one's youth. And then, when you're still young, experiencing that first deep loss that can never be corrected (at least not on this side of life). That a young mind struggles so mightily with to make sense of.... but no sense can be had, you just have to live through it. And your life will forever be changed. Hot Dang! it's that good of a story.

“The Wonderful Death of Dudley Stone”… some great prose in this one.

A fan is hunting down his favorite writer who gave up the craft when he turned 30, to the disillusionment of his fans (and the wider world in general). So good of a writer that Faulkner and Steinbeck would have amounted to very little had Stone kept at it.

When this fan finds Stone he’s amazed by his vitality (he assumed he’d be a weathered old husk, tottering around trains stations). But he discovers that Stone (in the town he replanted himself in after forswearing writing) has been very successful. Old signs of him being voted alderman, sheriff, and then mayor.

When Stone storms into the scene in the flesh his fans describes it thusly:




Quite a few enjoyable stories in this book… though it started off slow to the point of boring with me.

But this one might be the most enjoyable.