There’s a top review of Salt Publishing’s Best British Short Stories 2012 over on the tip top Thresholds. For those not familiar with the site, Thresholds is the International Short Story Forum. It features interviews, podcasts and essays covering the world of short fiction, as well as reviews of collections and anthologies. It should come as no surprise that it is required reading for anyone with an interest in the form.
Reviewer Lela Tredwell picks up on the dark side of the collection mentioned in previous reviews,
‘I’d recommend The Best British Short Stories 2012 to all existers, for those who recognise the dark – the darkness at the centre of the world, the small, dark thing.’
mentions a few of the stories that show that darkness,
‘The stories dare and delight to go there, to embrace the small dark thing. In ‘The Dark Space in the House’ and ‘Those Who Remember’, we find phantoms making casseroles and offering drugs rehabilitation. While in ‘Aperitifs with Mr Hemingway’ and ‘The Half Mown Lawn’ we are the ones who are haunted, as the stories’ voices linger long after their last words have been read.’
and, brilliantly, the collection even inspired her to have a crack own tale of ‘the small dark thing,’
‘Inspired by some of the most haunting stories in the collection I attempted a little ‘revisiting’ story of my own. Being a person who envisages afterlife more black and nothingness-ee than translucent and woooo-ee, I’d not before tried to write ghosts. But nonetheless, I like to be brave and The Best British Short Stories 2012 spirited me into seeing the possibilities for hauntings more of this world than the next.’
If you fancy grabbing a copy of The Best British Short Stories 2012 you can buy it direct from Salt Publishing via the clicky image in the sidebar of this blog or, if that’s too far to go, by clicking here. It’s also available from Amazon and all good bricks and mortar bookshops.
Dan Powell 