Orlion reviewed Greener Pastures by Michael Wehunt
Review of 'Greener Pastures' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
In fiction, there's a technique called magic realism. It seeks to reflect the world we live in, but with the addition of the fantastic into this reflection. The result fascinates me, since the fantastic have to serve the real, make it more authentic. If it does not, if the focus becomes the fantastic, we end up with a fantasy. The other fate destined for this type of fiction if it loses its balance is that the reader is left wondering why that fantastic element is present in the story.
I would say a good portion of Greener Pastures is horror realism. There is some mere horror and one mere fiction story in this collection. However, there are some stories which are about mundane conflicts where some horrific entity happens to wander through on his journey from the abysses of hell to the void of the stars.
This combination of story …
In fiction, there's a technique called magic realism. It seeks to reflect the world we live in, but with the addition of the fantastic into this reflection. The result fascinates me, since the fantastic have to serve the real, make it more authentic. If it does not, if the focus becomes the fantastic, we end up with a fantasy. The other fate destined for this type of fiction if it loses its balance is that the reader is left wondering why that fantastic element is present in the story.
I would say a good portion of Greener Pastures is horror realism. There is some mere horror and one mere fiction story in this collection. However, there are some stories which are about mundane conflicts where some horrific entity happens to wander through on his journey from the abysses of hell to the void of the stars.
This combination of story types and conceit make for an enjoyable collection. The variety and relative shortness help avoid the tedium that lingers in other collections.
One last note: Mr Wehunt's horror is of the "incomprehensible threat of an unseen world that coexists with our own" kind. As a result, though the stories themselves have resolutions, there is plenty of unsolved mysteries left behind. That's how I prefer my horror, and I believe it is shines best in the short story format.
