Book Review: Fragile Anthology edited by Michael Allen Rose

 

 Fragile Anthology edited by Michael Allen Rose

 296 pages, Paperback
Published October, 2024 by Roshambo Publishing

Editor Michael Allen Rose is an artist I have also meant to get into, and I had a great time hanging out with him and watching him do his thing at 2024 Bizarro Con. So I was stoked when he handed me this anthology, and that was long before I knew the concept. Just tons of names of bizarro and horror writers I love already.  There are several authors in this collection I just don’t read enough.  Laura Lee Bahr, Mykle Hansen, and Emma Johnson come to mind right away.

I was also excited to see stories from Garrett Cook and Brian Keene who I have read plenty of times.  As always with an anthology I looked forward to discovering new authors Like John Baltisberger or finally reading something by Briget D Brave who has been on my radar for some time. Other names I super respect like Cynthia Pelayo and Eric Hendrickson, short of listing them all, everyone is doing fun stuff.

Michael Allen Rose clearly had a fun concept, but what is cool is how hard he is working to boost up all the authors involved.  Starting from the same jumping point Fragile is a very interesting showcase for these authors and highlights how each author wields their talent like a sword fighter. The concept is the same, but the execution and style are weird and create a Rainbow of 20 styles and different colors.  “I had an idea for a short story about a guy working as an independent mover, carrying boxes into a client's home, alone at the end of the day, and one of the boxes moves. He struggles with the ethical implications of opening it up, since that's against the movers code, but his curiosity gets the best of him and he finally decides to open it, and things go haywire from there.”

The writing prompt…A mover sees a box shaking. This whole anthology is about what the fuck is in the box?  So it is a fun experiment to see more than twenty takes. They were all great, Chris Meekings, Cynthia Pelayo, Bridget D. Brave, and Mykle Hansen had some stand-out great stories but the three caused me to dog-ear pages and come back later.

Here's looking at you by Garrett Cook. “Is it excitement, validation, triumph? Maybe this is how it was supposed to be, even with the bizarre ghost eyes floating on my wall, opening clothing shifting back and forth, some slightly looking away, some hungry, predatory, and envious. Yeah envious they want this. They want to be me right now. I want to be me right now. FUCK.”

This part expresses a feeling you get watching Cook read these days. His readings are sorta like audiobooks where someone is turning up the volume, but the knob is also turning up tension. I am not sure this would work the same way that did for me. I enjoyed this one.

 Brian Keene’s Head shows his horror chops. He is a Grandmaster of the genre and not for no reason. “We entered the master bedroom and I was surprised to see the box was now some 5 or 6 feet from where I'd left it. As we watched, whatever was inside slammed against the cardboard, moving its prison another inch across the carpet.”

Keene makes the reader want to open the box and feel nervous about it at the same time. A simple but powerful take on the subject.

My absolute favorite comes from the author of Haunt, the best novel of all the Wonderland award winners and that is saying something. Laura Lee Bahr is quietly underrated even most of us in bizarro circles think she is great, she is that good and probably better.  This next passage in the moment this book most got in my soul.

“Human cruelty has its own calculus, but I always sucked at higher math. I don't understand it

No air holes. I mentioned that about the box, right?

And who knows how long the poor thing was in there. Luckily, it's still alive. Whatever it is. Shining gold eyes stare up at me, as it tries to make itself small in the corner of the box.”

Fragile is full of cool moments. Maichel Allen Rose put together a neat little book ripe with experimental storytelling, dark vibes, and moments that made me laugh. Very entertaining indeed.