Talk us through it
In another example of Brimstone Press dishing out an early Christmas present an extra bonus chapter of Shards has been offered to a voracious reading public free of charge. The offer is good regardless if you have dialled into Shards or are looking at dipping your toes into the flash fiction of Shane Jiraiya Cummings for the first time. So yes there is such a thing as a free lunch, and considering it's at restaurant Cummings that's an all you can eat buffet of exquisite delicacies. What you get is an introduction from Shane, six stories, each under a 1,000 words long, story publication history, and some excerpts from published reviews of Shards. And to ensure you get the full "shards" experience the chapbook is chock full of illustrations by Artist Andrew J. McKiernan. Drop your linen and start your grinning, the fat guy in the red suit has delivered big time! Lets get jiggy with it.
Review"I like to think she welcomed the end of our relationship, especially the way her hand relaxed over mine a minute or two after I clamped the pillow onto her face." - Wrack Please note, particular if new to flash fiction, that under Australian guidelines to qualify as a flash fiction piece a story must be under a 1,000 words. Just in case you are wondering about the short, sharp, nature of things in the collection. Shards: Damned and Burning (Damned) kicks off with an introduction from Author Shane Jiraiya Cummings that explains how you come to be reading the chap book in the first place. With that under our belts and a knowledge of the common threads in Damned we are ready to get stuck into the actual stories. The first two pieces, Wrack and Virgin in the Mist, appeared in Shards and are reprinted in Damned as they pretty much present the personal hell of two entirely different people. A survivor from a plague confronts a post apocalyptic relationship with new insight and a new purpose. In the second story, and gosh this one has me constantly changing my mind about the underlying plot, our narrator finds out the hard way that miracles aren't always what they are cracked up to be. Cummings showing a sense of morbid humour there. If you have already had the pleasure of reading Shards then the opening salvo is like a home coming, if you haven't then the stories provide a good litmus test of the Author's power in the shortened writing form. An entirely new story Nuclear Summer shows off exactly what can be achieved in flash fiction. The prose is short, swift, and gets where it's going with a minimum of fuss. If you have ever wanted an example of how not to waste any words then right here, right now, you have the perfect opportunity to be enlightened. Author Cummings categorically states that even if there is a word limit story should dictate length and not the other way round in Nuclear Summer. The power of Shards, and the subsequent chap book, is in the Author's ability to hit the horror nail on the head without blackening any thumb nails. Our fourth story On the Nature of Evil was originally published in Project M Zine, and delivers one hell of a Irvin Levin, circa Rosemary's Baby, wink at the reader. I didn't see the ending of this one coming and had a wide grin as Cummings bush whacked me with a tongue in the cheek wallop. Stuff like this really shouldn't work, but somehow in the hands of decent writers you are left with a bemused smile wondering about how exactly they managed to pull the whole thing off. Shane Jiraiya Cummings not only manages to sell the concept to you, he has you on instalment plans with all the after sales optional extras added in. If On the Nature of Evil is Cummings at his cheeky best then the fifth story in the collection A Reason to Murder shows the Author can delve into the metaphysical side of horror without missing a step. Another concise, read "short piece", that gets where it's going without bloating things with unnecessary words or side tracking into pointless rambles though the land of padding. Closing out the chap book is the wonderfully perverse Infernal Gratitude, that is sure to delight even the most jaded horror reader. It's another original tale of the macabre that shows the Author's trademark ability to get to the center of the horror concept with a broad grin and a sly wink at the audience. What happens when a killer meets up with his victim, a suicide, in the bowels of hell? Besides one of the great puns in modern horror, look for it toward the end of the story, Cummings injects the chill factor venomously into the story. Another example of not needing gore in order to give the reader a few sleepless nights. Wonderfully the Author leaves it to the reader to fill in the blanks, to go forward with the story, and … well I might just finish the thought there as I have a pretty vivid imagination. Cummings is putting out fire with gasoline here. Accompanying each story, just like with Shards, are high quality illustrations by Andrew J.McKiernan. The artist somehow manages to condense a story into a single image, a motif of what the central premise is about. Outstanding and a welcome addition to an excellent publication. Overall in both prose and art Damned maintains the high standard set by Shards, and was an unexpected bonus for those of us who rocked out to the earlier release. Shane Jiraiya Cummings slices and dices the reader with sharp jabs from the depths of horror and asks "are we having fun yet?". Well hell yes Mr Cummings, and can I sharpen that knife for you in case you want another go round. Shards: Damned and Burning is available as a free download from Brimstone Press's site. Click Through and follow the Shards link to the pdf download. If you are new to flash fiction, Shane Jiraiya Cummings, or Brimstones ever growing publication list, then I urge you to go grab a copy of the chap book right now. Let's face it you don't have much to wager on the outcome here. If already aware of Shards then you have no doubt downloaded the chap book already.
ScaryMinds Rates this read as ... Personally I love me some flash fiction, especially if the Author's name ends in Cummings, but maybe
you require something meatier on the reading menu. Check out the chap book I can guarantee you will want more.
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