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Irregular Creatures
Contained within are nine stories featuring bizarre beasties, mythological mutants, and overall “irregular creatures” – including flying cats, mermaids, Bigfoot, giant chickens, and mystic hobo hermaphrodites.
Horror, fantasy, science-fiction and humor.
The collection features the following nine tales:
DOG-MAN AND CAT-BIRD (A FLYING CAT STORY)
Joe’s got job woes and family problems, and it’s made all the more complicated by a cat who dies on his porch one night – or, so Joe believes. The cat is not only dead, but it appears to be some kind of improbable mutant: a cat with wings. The cat initially complicates Joe’s life as he hides it from his family, but he soon learns that more may be at stake than he realized. Little does he know, a battle for good and evil, between Heaven and Hell, is about to be fought in his garage.
A RADIOACTIVE MONKEY
That bartender you really like, well, she just whipped up a potent cocktail called a “Radioactive Monkey.” Would you drink it? (Hint: you shouldn’t.) Jonny Stoops, however, decided to take the plunge. (Hint: it doesn't end well.)
PRODUCT PLACEMENT
Imagine one morning you wake up and you discover that the world is now home to products you don’t recognize but everyone else does. Flix candy bars? Jack Kenny whiskey? Burrito Hut? Donnie’s never heard of these brands, but those around him say such products are beloved and have been here for years. Donnie’s quest to discover the truth – and prove he’s not nuts – reveals a marketing and advertising scheme not of this dimension.
THIS GUY
"Every day, I catch him before he makes it to the China Skillet... I drag him into the alleyway, and I beat him with a tire iron. Sometimes, I stab him with a kitchen knife. I do this every day. I think it's starting to affect me." Every day is the same for the protagonist: get up, drive to work, and on the way there, beat some zombie to death. Next day? Zombie’s back. It would take a toll on one’s sanity, wouldn’t it?
MISTER MHU’S PUSSY SHOW
Nolan seeks untold pleasures, but never finds them: not until now, when he becomes swiftly obsessed with Tasanee, a Bangkok dancer at a hole-in-the-wall club. He is driven to pursue her at any cost, but what he finds at the end of his obsession is not pleasure, but pain.
LETHE AND MNEMOSYNE
Old age wreaks havoc on the body and mind, and in this flash fiction that has been never more apparent than when a senile old man’s children exhort him to remember the means by which he controlled the giant chicken wreaking havoc back home.
THE AUCTION
Benjamin’s father shows his son the secret behind his job: he is a buyer and seller of very forbidden things, magical things, objects of a fantastical purview. He takes his son to “The Auction,” a place where anything can be bought and sold: mythological creatures, insane machines, haunted and horrific artifacts. Benjamin is lead astray by a religious man with pious words but sinister intent. When Benjamin encounters a sickly mermaid on the auction block, can the boy step in and avert disaster?
BEWARE OF OWNER
A short story of how father teaches son: Dad teaches the boy that you don’t need to beware of a dog, but you damn well better beware of owner.
DO-OVERS AND TAKE-BACKS
Taye and Beau are two characters from two different worlds: the first a boy in the city projects, the second a rich man with a hollow life and an estranged family. But a bizarre figure steps in as catalyst – an inhuman “Rag-Man” appears and draws connections between the two characters that could not have existed before.
Horror, fantasy, science-fiction and humor.
The collection features the following nine tales:
DOG-MAN AND CAT-BIRD (A FLYING CAT STORY)
Joe’s got job woes and family problems, and it’s made all the more complicated by a cat who dies on his porch one night – or, so Joe believes. The cat is not only dead, but it appears to be some kind of improbable mutant: a cat with wings. The cat initially complicates Joe’s life as he hides it from his family, but he soon learns that more may be at stake than he realized. Little does he know, a battle for good and evil, between Heaven and Hell, is about to be fought in his garage.
A RADIOACTIVE MONKEY
That bartender you really like, well, she just whipped up a potent cocktail called a “Radioactive Monkey.” Would you drink it? (Hint: you shouldn’t.) Jonny Stoops, however, decided to take the plunge. (Hint: it doesn't end well.)
PRODUCT PLACEMENT
Imagine one morning you wake up and you discover that the world is now home to products you don’t recognize but everyone else does. Flix candy bars? Jack Kenny whiskey? Burrito Hut? Donnie’s never heard of these brands, but those around him say such products are beloved and have been here for years. Donnie’s quest to discover the truth – and prove he’s not nuts – reveals a marketing and advertising scheme not of this dimension.
THIS GUY
"Every day, I catch him before he makes it to the China Skillet... I drag him into the alleyway, and I beat him with a tire iron. Sometimes, I stab him with a kitchen knife. I do this every day. I think it's starting to affect me." Every day is the same for the protagonist: get up, drive to work, and on the way there, beat some zombie to death. Next day? Zombie’s back. It would take a toll on one’s sanity, wouldn’t it?
MISTER MHU’S PUSSY SHOW
Nolan seeks untold pleasures, but never finds them: not until now, when he becomes swiftly obsessed with Tasanee, a Bangkok dancer at a hole-in-the-wall club. He is driven to pursue her at any cost, but what he finds at the end of his obsession is not pleasure, but pain.
LETHE AND MNEMOSYNE
Old age wreaks havoc on the body and mind, and in this flash fiction that has been never more apparent than when a senile old man’s children exhort him to remember the means by which he controlled the giant chicken wreaking havoc back home.
THE AUCTION
Benjamin’s father shows his son the secret behind his job: he is a buyer and seller of very forbidden things, magical things, objects of a fantastical purview. He takes his son to “The Auction,” a place where anything can be bought and sold: mythological creatures, insane machines, haunted and horrific artifacts. Benjamin is lead astray by a religious man with pious words but sinister intent. When Benjamin encounters a sickly mermaid on the auction block, can the boy step in and avert disaster?
BEWARE OF OWNER
A short story of how father teaches son: Dad teaches the boy that you don’t need to beware of a dog, but you damn well better beware of owner.
DO-OVERS AND TAKE-BACKS
Taye and Beau are two characters from two different worlds: the first a boy in the city projects, the second a rich man with a hollow life and an estranged family. But a bizarre figure steps in as catalyst – an inhuman “Rag-Man” appears and draws connections between the two characters that could not have existed before.
180 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 2009
31 people are currently reading
835 people want to read
About the author
Chuck Wendig
182 books7,254 followersChuck Wendig is a novelist, a screenwriter, and a freelance penmonkey.
He has contributed over two million words to the roleplaying game industry, and was the developer of the popular Hunter: The Vigil game line (White Wolf Game Studios / CCP).
He, along with writing partner Lance Weiler, is a fellow of the Sundance Film Festival Screenwriter's Lab (2010). Their short film, Pandemic, will show at the Sundance Film Festival 2011, and their feature film HiM is in development with producer Ted Hope.
Chuck's novel Double Dead will be out in November, 2011.
He's written too much. He should probably stop. Give him a wide berth, as he might be drunk and untrustworthy. He currently lives in the wilds of Pennsyltucky with a wonderful wife and two very stupid dogs. He is represented by Stacia Decker of the Donald Maass Literary Agency.
You can find him at his website, terribleminds.com.
He has contributed over two million words to the roleplaying game industry, and was the developer of the popular Hunter: The Vigil game line (White Wolf Game Studios / CCP).
He, along with writing partner Lance Weiler, is a fellow of the Sundance Film Festival Screenwriter's Lab (2010). Their short film, Pandemic, will show at the Sundance Film Festival 2011, and their feature film HiM is in development with producer Ted Hope.
Chuck's novel Double Dead will be out in November, 2011.
He's written too much. He should probably stop. Give him a wide berth, as he might be drunk and untrustworthy. He currently lives in the wilds of Pennsyltucky with a wonderful wife and two very stupid dogs. He is represented by Stacia Decker of the Donald Maass Literary Agency.
You can find him at his website, terribleminds.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews
May 22, 2016
This was indeed an odd little collection.
I will freely admit that I only bought it because of the cute winged cat on the cover. ;P
That cat, by the way, is the protagonist of the first and longest story. It was also my favourite. Closely followed by the one about the mermaid.
The author made it clear that he had a great sense of humour right at the start. Just look at the Acknowledgements if you don't believe me:
xD
Moreover, the author is also good at world-building which is probably why I loved the story about the auction/mermaid so much. But even the weird and not-so-good stories showed attention to detail and something that just made them vivid.
Unfortunately, not all the stories were as good as the two I mentioned and some topics were just old tropes written down anew (the writing style isn't bad, there was just not enough of the author himself in those stories to make them his own) so I cannot give this more than 3 stars. Nevertheless, I liked this little collection.
I will freely admit that I only bought it because of the cute winged cat on the cover. ;P
That cat, by the way, is the protagonist of the first and longest story. It was also my favourite. Closely followed by the one about the mermaid.
The author made it clear that he had a great sense of humour right at the start. Just look at the Acknowledgements if you don't believe me:
xD
Moreover, the author is also good at world-building which is probably why I loved the story about the auction/mermaid so much. But even the weird and not-so-good stories showed attention to detail and something that just made them vivid.
Unfortunately, not all the stories were as good as the two I mentioned and some topics were just old tropes written down anew (the writing style isn't bad, there was just not enough of the author himself in those stories to make them his own) so I cannot give this more than 3 stars. Nevertheless, I liked this little collection.
December 17, 2023
A curious collection of short fantastical stories. Ranging from flying cats, vaginas that do more than bite and all the way to a groundhog day-esque tale.
For me this was a hit and miss collection, thus my three-star rating.
Wendig's writing was top-notch throughout.
Well worth a read regardless of my rating.
For me this was a hit and miss collection, thus my three-star rating.
Wendig's writing was top-notch throughout.
Well worth a read regardless of my rating.
August 19, 2025
I am a huge fan of Chuck Wendig. I’ve read and reviewed a number of his novels this year with more to come (do check out those reviews).
This is a collection of short stories from Chuck and was a quick read for me. He never fails to surprise me with where his imagination goes. This was no exception. He is very good at taking you places you’d not expect.
The opening story sounds like it could be utterly ridiculous but in fact developed into a tale of terror but also of good vs evil which is a theme that often underlines Chuck’s work but not in a cheesy “superhero” way.
I don’t want to give too much away but imagine if you found a stray cat. Looks like a normal cat but then you find out it’s far from normal. The front cover will help you picture that. Then you find out it’s been sent your way for a very specific purpose. Chuck took this purpose sent cat and whisked me away into a world I’d not expect. It gets dark and I was up for it!
All the stories are great. I can’t really put this one into a specific genre. It’s not horror per se like other books of his I’ve read but it’s not light and fluffy either. Definitely dark themes for sure. Imaginative, at times bizarre and I think they’d appeal to a broad range of readers. The blurb actually gives you a good run-down of what to expect. They are very diverse. Just really fun and intriguing stuff!
Some stories are very short and others more lengthy. I genuinely liked them all but the first story of Bat-Cat was my favourite. I whizzed through this book in one sitting.
The stories are easy reading and entertaining. Sometimes I read a short story collection if my attention span is lacking and I’d just finished his very long book The Wanderers and went to buy the sequel immediately on Amazon when I spotted this too.
I really enjoyed this selection of shorts - the only reason it’s not 5 stars is all his novels I’ve read to date have knocked my socks off with a huge wow factor and this was excellent but not quite the same. So I’m giving it 4.5. I definitely recommend this!
Thanks so much for taking a little time to read my review. Your likes and comments mean a lot to me. 😻 Feel free to add me as a friend or follow me for more book reviews.
If you are an Author or Publisher and you’d like me to consider reading and reviewing your book(s) please just message me.
This is a collection of short stories from Chuck and was a quick read for me. He never fails to surprise me with where his imagination goes. This was no exception. He is very good at taking you places you’d not expect.
The opening story sounds like it could be utterly ridiculous but in fact developed into a tale of terror but also of good vs evil which is a theme that often underlines Chuck’s work but not in a cheesy “superhero” way.
I don’t want to give too much away but imagine if you found a stray cat. Looks like a normal cat but then you find out it’s far from normal. The front cover will help you picture that. Then you find out it’s been sent your way for a very specific purpose. Chuck took this purpose sent cat and whisked me away into a world I’d not expect. It gets dark and I was up for it!
All the stories are great. I can’t really put this one into a specific genre. It’s not horror per se like other books of his I’ve read but it’s not light and fluffy either. Definitely dark themes for sure. Imaginative, at times bizarre and I think they’d appeal to a broad range of readers. The blurb actually gives you a good run-down of what to expect. They are very diverse. Just really fun and intriguing stuff!
Some stories are very short and others more lengthy. I genuinely liked them all but the first story of Bat-Cat was my favourite. I whizzed through this book in one sitting.
The stories are easy reading and entertaining. Sometimes I read a short story collection if my attention span is lacking and I’d just finished his very long book The Wanderers and went to buy the sequel immediately on Amazon when I spotted this too.
I really enjoyed this selection of shorts - the only reason it’s not 5 stars is all his novels I’ve read to date have knocked my socks off with a huge wow factor and this was excellent but not quite the same. So I’m giving it 4.5. I definitely recommend this!
Thanks so much for taking a little time to read my review. Your likes and comments mean a lot to me. 😻 Feel free to add me as a friend or follow me for more book reviews.
If you are an Author or Publisher and you’d like me to consider reading and reviewing your book(s) please just message me.
December 19, 2013
Irregular Creatures is a collection of Chuck Wendig's short stories. Someone recently compared his work to Stephen King's, and I can see where they're coming from: there's something robustly readable about all of it, and the fantasy/horror aspects are all handled in a matter of fact sort of way. I can't remember how King handles narrators, at this point, but I wouldn't be surprised to find similarities there.
I think someone also mentioned a sort of cheerful vulgarity, and there's that, too. Sometimes I find that uncomfortable, e.g. in 'Mister Mhu's Pussy Show'; it's really not my kind of thing.
Mostly, the stories are fun, very readable, sometimes completely fascinating in their bizarreness. Chuck Wendig is an author I follow because I know he writes solidly and prolifically, and always has ideas I want to see played out.
Must get round to reading more of his Miriam Black books...
I think someone also mentioned a sort of cheerful vulgarity, and there's that, too. Sometimes I find that uncomfortable, e.g. in 'Mister Mhu's Pussy Show'; it's really not my kind of thing.
Mostly, the stories are fun, very readable, sometimes completely fascinating in their bizarreness. Chuck Wendig is an author I follow because I know he writes solidly and prolifically, and always has ideas I want to see played out.
Must get round to reading more of his Miriam Black books...
February 21, 2015
This was my first Chuck Wendig book. If I'm thinking of the right author, all I knew about him before going into this is that he apparently likes to use a lot of profanity in his books. This one had more than most, but not an obscene amount.
If I had to describe this book in just one sentence it'd be: Irregular Creatures is like a bunch of Twilight Zone episodes if Twilight Zone was rated R. That said, most of the stories were probably closer to PG-13. I'd watch a one-season HBO TV adaptation of this book.
The opening story, and the source of the cover image, Dog Man and Cat Bird, was my favorite one. I really enjoyed everything about the way the story was crafted and the way the main characters were...well...characterized.
Radioactive Monkey was creepy. I liked how short it was.
Product Placement was probably my third favorite. It's the first one that had a really strong feeling of being a lost Twilight Zone episode. I have no idea if things would fall apart in a longer story, but the universe in which it takes place is pretty neat.
This Guy had promise, but the ending made no sense to me.
Mr Mhu's - As I was reading it, I was expecting things to go wrong - something like from Dusk Til Dawn. Things DID go wrong, but not quite in the way I was expecting. Good job, Wendig!
Lethe - I really liked that it was very short. Just enough to leave the brain thinking.
The Auction House was my second favorite. I loved pretty much everything about it. Again, probably couldn't be a longer story, but I would love to see more in that world.
Beware Owner - Oh man! The twist at the end - I almost dropped my book and just yelled out, "NO WAY"
The last story was very interesting - the way it went back and forth was awesome. I don't know how much sense it makes the more I try and think about it. But I did like the almost evil genie aspect of it.
Took me about a couple hours of reading time - well worth it.
If I had to describe this book in just one sentence it'd be: Irregular Creatures is like a bunch of Twilight Zone episodes if Twilight Zone was rated R. That said, most of the stories were probably closer to PG-13. I'd watch a one-season HBO TV adaptation of this book.
The opening story, and the source of the cover image, Dog Man and Cat Bird, was my favorite one. I really enjoyed everything about the way the story was crafted and the way the main characters were...well...characterized.
Radioactive Monkey was creepy. I liked how short it was.
Product Placement was probably my third favorite. It's the first one that had a really strong feeling of being a lost Twilight Zone episode. I have no idea if things would fall apart in a longer story, but the universe in which it takes place is pretty neat.
This Guy had promise, but the ending made no sense to me.
Mr Mhu's - As I was reading it, I was expecting things to go wrong - something like from Dusk Til Dawn. Things DID go wrong, but not quite in the way I was expecting. Good job, Wendig!
Lethe - I really liked that it was very short. Just enough to leave the brain thinking.
The Auction House was my second favorite. I loved pretty much everything about it. Again, probably couldn't be a longer story, but I would love to see more in that world.
Beware Owner - Oh man! The twist at the end - I almost dropped my book and just yelled out, "NO WAY"
The last story was very interesting - the way it went back and forth was awesome. I don't know how much sense it makes the more I try and think about it. But I did like the almost evil genie aspect of it.
Took me about a couple hours of reading time - well worth it.
July 30, 2014
What can I say - I'm now an offical fangurl of Chuck Wendig's writing. Well, except some of his 'let's think about important writerly things' blog stuff which, when I try to read it, feels like salt flung at my flabby, slug brain. What I like is his twisted imagination, the way he punches you with his writing and dares you to flinch when he's drawing back for seconds (and thirds and fourths), and his every(wo)man characters.
As I've said a milliondybillion times before, I'm usually not a fan of the short story, but these were all just fine and dandy by me. Here's what I learned from Irregular Creatures:
I want a flying cat.
I want to visit The Auction (I hear they have flying cats for sale there).
You know how when you're eating something really good you start counting how many are left and mourning the end before it's upon you? That's how this e-book was. I kept glancing down at the bottom right side of my Kindle at the 'percentage done' alert and thinking, "That's probably, what? - only two or three stories left. Oh no. Slow down." But I didn't. I kept gulping these short stories like a woman dying of thirst in the dessert. Good stuff. Good, dirty, bloody, foul, fetid, disturbing stuff.
As I've said a milliondybillion times before, I'm usually not a fan of the short story, but these were all just fine and dandy by me. Here's what I learned from Irregular Creatures:
I want a flying cat.
I want to visit The Auction (I hear they have flying cats for sale there).
You know how when you're eating something really good you start counting how many are left and mourning the end before it's upon you? That's how this e-book was. I kept glancing down at the bottom right side of my Kindle at the 'percentage done' alert and thinking, "That's probably, what? - only two or three stories left. Oh no. Slow down." But I didn't. I kept gulping these short stories like a woman dying of thirst in the dessert. Good stuff. Good, dirty, bloody, foul, fetid, disturbing stuff.
January 12, 2011
Warped. Fun. Twisted. Chuck Wendig is a wordsmith general (probably an 8 on the Gaiman Scale), and he presents nine stories of the weird and (sometimes) the macabre. At $2.99, it's pretty spectacular, and it's worth it just for the story Dog-Man and Cat-Bird. Not all the stories work as well, but that story is one of my favorites ever.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
December 22, 2018
I couldn't resist reading a book with a winged cat on the cover, and I'm usually a fan of Chuck's work so I gave this book a try. The format of the book was refreshing after reading a few lengthier novels, but this book almost feels like he released his writing journal. A lot of these read as ideas of a story rather than a fleshed out concept. Regardless I do not regret picking up this book.
The first story was really great and I loved it... the rest seemed like he threw them together so he could find an excuse to publish the winged cat story. I love Wendig but this just wasn't a gold star for me.
I appreciated the other worldly charm.
The first story was really great and I loved it... the rest seemed like he threw them together so he could find an excuse to publish the winged cat story. I love Wendig but this just wasn't a gold star for me.
I appreciated the other worldly charm.
February 6, 2025
I spent $0.99 on this and it was $0.98 too much
May 8, 2024
I dont really like short stories but for some reason i found this book in my unread library. It was ok but nothing great. The stories I liked the best were Dog Man and Cat Bird, Product Placement and Do Overs and Take Backs. ( I had written reviews for all the stories but they didnt save so I am going to write a brief description of The Auction and Take Back and Do Overs here. The Auction is about a boy saving a mermaid from an ungodly priest. Take Backs is about a magical homeless person who switches two people lives. The boy Taye gets switched into Tommy a rich white Kid and the guy Beau gets switched into a drug addict who gets murdered by dealers. I wish my other review was saved cause this was my favorite story in the whole book.
The first story is titled Dog Man and Cat Bird- It is about this man child named Joe, his wife Missy and his son Brian. One day Joe finds a cat on his porch during a storm. He brings the cat inside the house and the cat dies, except it doesnt, it comes back to life. Joe tends to the kitty and keeps him in the garage. He notices that the Cat has wings. The cat likes Joe. Joe's wife Missy has been asking him to clean out the garage and get a job. Joe pretends to be cleaning out the garage but really he is chilling with CatBird and sculpting a cat with wings out of metal. He manages to keep his wife out of the garage but his son Brian comes in and see the cat, the cat loves Brian and they develop a strong bond. One day Missy goes into the garage, sees the cat and demands Joe gets rid of it. They family fights over this and in the middle of the night Brian wakes up Joe telling him there are monsters outside his window. Joe goes outside and sees that the monsters are a ton of black flying cats with red eye. They descend on Joe and Brian runs out to help save him. The black cats start to attach Brian and CatBird saves the day by fighting the bad cats and opening his mouth and pointing a ray of light out of her mouth at them. They fly away into the night. Joe thinks they are there to fight CatBird so he brings her to the animal shelter. Why he goes on a job interview he hears the employees talking about the scratches all over him that he received in the battle with the black flying cats. He hears them talk about two children that were found dead covered in scratches but with no other cause of death. He realizes the black cats were there for his son and not CatBird and goes back to the animal shelter to get her. She was taken to another shelter so he goes to get her and calls his wife to go home. She tells him that Brian is already home cause he had a half day. Joe speeds home and finds Brian trapped in the garage and surrounded by the black cats. He lets CatBird loose and she fights the Black Cats to the death to safe Joe and Brian. She passes away and they bury her in the back yard. Joe and family get a dog and a cat.
The Second Story is called Radioactive Monkey. It is about this guy named Johnny who goes to the bar every night to see the bartender Miranda. He doesnt really drink and he just sits there and either talks to her or stares at her. One night she gives him a nasty shot called radioactive monkey, it takes like crap mixed with blood and bananas. The next thing Johnny remembers is waking up naked in a bed with Miranda in the corner stroking her belly telling him that his seed took. He tells her he doesnt want to be a father and she says this child doesnt need you. She then eerily says but my other children do. A bunch of monkey children jump on Johnny and tear him apart and eat him. He dies.
Story Three is called Product Placement. It is about a man named Donny who just broke up with his girlfriend Tracey because she got pregnant and he wanted her to get an abortion. He is living in a motel and drinking to much. One day he goes to the vending machine and sees a Flix Bar. A candy bar that has a smiling alien with jazz hands on the package. Donny gets the candy bar and loves it. He gets drunk and goes to bed. The next day he gets two Flix bars and heads off to work hungover. His best friend Tabor takes one of the candy bars and goes on and on about how much he loves them. Donny tells Tabor he has never heard of them and Tabor laughs him off. Through out the week Donny goes to work, goes home and gets drunk and goes back to work hungover. One night Tracy calls him crying telling him she had an abortion and tells him its over. The next day he goes to work topless, in sweat pants and a bathrobe. Tabor takes him to lunch and Donny suggests Burger King but Tabor has never heard of it. Donny freaks out and runs out of the car and keeps running until he gets back to the motel room. He sees a commercial on TV celebrating the 50th Flix Bar anniversary and notices he is drinking Jack Kenny Whiskey which does not exists. He freaks out again and runs back to Burrito Hut which is where he thought BK was located. He is disheveled and ranting about Flix Bars, BK and Jack Kenny Whiskey, he sees the Alien from the Flix Bar wrapper at the back of the Burrio Hut and loses his mind even more. He doesnt notice the cop in line and gets arrested for public drunkenness. While in the jail cell he gets abducted by the Flix Aliens and a battery with googly eyes. He learns that he is part of the 1% of the population that actually notices interdimensional changes and that he must be destroyed. He begs the aliens to spare his life by offering to owe them a favor. The aliens accept the deal and Donny is allowed to live. At the end of the book Tracey is in labor and give birth to a baby boy named Flixy. We learn that Donny proposed that they reverse the abortion and give him a baby so he would be forced to keep his mouth closed about the interdimensional product placements. The problem with the deal is that in this current dimension. Tracey already had the abortion. The aliens have to find the closest thing to Tracey from this dimension and switch her with another Tracey from a different dimension. The aliens assure Donny that the Traceys will not know the difference and both will be happy. Donny is basking in the joys of fatherhood and as he looks over at the baby and his wife in the hospital room he sees a faint greenish hue over both of them and a glimpse of purple teeth and reptilians eyes. Donny ignores it and they return to their human form.
The fourth story in the book is called This Guy. It is told from the first person perspective and i do not know the narrators name. It is about this guy who on his way to work every day goes into an alley and beats the same man to death everyday. His partner Mary starts to notice something is wrong with the narrator and asks why his pants are always dirty and why he is not eating his lunch. He tells her the parking lot at his work is muddy and that he wasnt hungry that day. As the week goes on the narrator continues the routine but sometimes does it out in the open where the passers buyers do not notice. He starts to miss work and stop eating. He doesnt notice the changes but his job calls Mary and tells her he isnt showing up. The guy decides he is going to feed the guy he kills a sandwich and ask him questions but at the end of the book it leave the sandwich and grabs his tire iron to kill him again.
The fifth story is called Mister Mhu's Pussy Show. Nolan goes to the red light district in Bangkok. Nolan has seen it all. One night he gets a flyer for a pussy show at a bar called Angel bar that he has never been too. He finds the bar hidden behind an alley lines with food trucks. A man sits outside trying to talk to hm but he doesnt have a tongue. Nolan watches the start of the show and is not impressed. He is about to leave when Tasanee takes the stage and he is obsessed. We learn that Tasanee mean angel. He goes to meet the bars owner with a ton of other men and tries to buy time with her. The owner refuses to let the men have time with Tasanee. Nolan buys alone time with a ladyboy to get into the back room and tries to get past the body guard that keeps Tasanee safe. While he is fighting the guard Tasanee says to let Nolan in. She leads him to a disgusting dank room where he goes down on her and her vagina cuts off his tongue. Her vagina swallows his head and shows him a type of hell where angles with broken wings fall from the sky. Nolan is wakes up in palace where the guard that was trying to prevent him from seee Tasanee has not face and Tasanee herself has wings and a snapping mouth where her Vagina should be. The owner of the bar is pissed that Tasanee couldnt control herself and now Nolan is able to see their forms. He is dragged away from her and walked through the bar where he sees all the dancers are actually creatures. He exits the bar and sees creatures everywhere. He sees his friend and tried to call out but can only make gurgle sounds. He realizes he is now like the man he saw outside the bar with no tongue.
The sixth story is called Lethe and Mnemosyne. It is about a family who goes to visit their grandfather in the hospital after he had a stroke. Their is a large chicken on the loose destroying the town and the grandfather is the only one who knows how to send it away. The family is being threatened with lawsuits and they are begging him to remember how he tamed the chicken. The stroke messed up his brain and he cant remember any of it.
The first story is titled Dog Man and Cat Bird- It is about this man child named Joe, his wife Missy and his son Brian. One day Joe finds a cat on his porch during a storm. He brings the cat inside the house and the cat dies, except it doesnt, it comes back to life. Joe tends to the kitty and keeps him in the garage. He notices that the Cat has wings. The cat likes Joe. Joe's wife Missy has been asking him to clean out the garage and get a job. Joe pretends to be cleaning out the garage but really he is chilling with CatBird and sculpting a cat with wings out of metal. He manages to keep his wife out of the garage but his son Brian comes in and see the cat, the cat loves Brian and they develop a strong bond. One day Missy goes into the garage, sees the cat and demands Joe gets rid of it. They family fights over this and in the middle of the night Brian wakes up Joe telling him there are monsters outside his window. Joe goes outside and sees that the monsters are a ton of black flying cats with red eye. They descend on Joe and Brian runs out to help save him. The black cats start to attach Brian and CatBird saves the day by fighting the bad cats and opening his mouth and pointing a ray of light out of her mouth at them. They fly away into the night. Joe thinks they are there to fight CatBird so he brings her to the animal shelter. Why he goes on a job interview he hears the employees talking about the scratches all over him that he received in the battle with the black flying cats. He hears them talk about two children that were found dead covered in scratches but with no other cause of death. He realizes the black cats were there for his son and not CatBird and goes back to the animal shelter to get her. She was taken to another shelter so he goes to get her and calls his wife to go home. She tells him that Brian is already home cause he had a half day. Joe speeds home and finds Brian trapped in the garage and surrounded by the black cats. He lets CatBird loose and she fights the Black Cats to the death to safe Joe and Brian. She passes away and they bury her in the back yard. Joe and family get a dog and a cat.
The Second Story is called Radioactive Monkey. It is about this guy named Johnny who goes to the bar every night to see the bartender Miranda. He doesnt really drink and he just sits there and either talks to her or stares at her. One night she gives him a nasty shot called radioactive monkey, it takes like crap mixed with blood and bananas. The next thing Johnny remembers is waking up naked in a bed with Miranda in the corner stroking her belly telling him that his seed took. He tells her he doesnt want to be a father and she says this child doesnt need you. She then eerily says but my other children do. A bunch of monkey children jump on Johnny and tear him apart and eat him. He dies.
Story Three is called Product Placement. It is about a man named Donny who just broke up with his girlfriend Tracey because she got pregnant and he wanted her to get an abortion. He is living in a motel and drinking to much. One day he goes to the vending machine and sees a Flix Bar. A candy bar that has a smiling alien with jazz hands on the package. Donny gets the candy bar and loves it. He gets drunk and goes to bed. The next day he gets two Flix bars and heads off to work hungover. His best friend Tabor takes one of the candy bars and goes on and on about how much he loves them. Donny tells Tabor he has never heard of them and Tabor laughs him off. Through out the week Donny goes to work, goes home and gets drunk and goes back to work hungover. One night Tracy calls him crying telling him she had an abortion and tells him its over. The next day he goes to work topless, in sweat pants and a bathrobe. Tabor takes him to lunch and Donny suggests Burger King but Tabor has never heard of it. Donny freaks out and runs out of the car and keeps running until he gets back to the motel room. He sees a commercial on TV celebrating the 50th Flix Bar anniversary and notices he is drinking Jack Kenny Whiskey which does not exists. He freaks out again and runs back to Burrito Hut which is where he thought BK was located. He is disheveled and ranting about Flix Bars, BK and Jack Kenny Whiskey, he sees the Alien from the Flix Bar wrapper at the back of the Burrio Hut and loses his mind even more. He doesnt notice the cop in line and gets arrested for public drunkenness. While in the jail cell he gets abducted by the Flix Aliens and a battery with googly eyes. He learns that he is part of the 1% of the population that actually notices interdimensional changes and that he must be destroyed. He begs the aliens to spare his life by offering to owe them a favor. The aliens accept the deal and Donny is allowed to live. At the end of the book Tracey is in labor and give birth to a baby boy named Flixy. We learn that Donny proposed that they reverse the abortion and give him a baby so he would be forced to keep his mouth closed about the interdimensional product placements. The problem with the deal is that in this current dimension. Tracey already had the abortion. The aliens have to find the closest thing to Tracey from this dimension and switch her with another Tracey from a different dimension. The aliens assure Donny that the Traceys will not know the difference and both will be happy. Donny is basking in the joys of fatherhood and as he looks over at the baby and his wife in the hospital room he sees a faint greenish hue over both of them and a glimpse of purple teeth and reptilians eyes. Donny ignores it and they return to their human form.
The fourth story in the book is called This Guy. It is told from the first person perspective and i do not know the narrators name. It is about this guy who on his way to work every day goes into an alley and beats the same man to death everyday. His partner Mary starts to notice something is wrong with the narrator and asks why his pants are always dirty and why he is not eating his lunch. He tells her the parking lot at his work is muddy and that he wasnt hungry that day. As the week goes on the narrator continues the routine but sometimes does it out in the open where the passers buyers do not notice. He starts to miss work and stop eating. He doesnt notice the changes but his job calls Mary and tells her he isnt showing up. The guy decides he is going to feed the guy he kills a sandwich and ask him questions but at the end of the book it leave the sandwich and grabs his tire iron to kill him again.
The fifth story is called Mister Mhu's Pussy Show. Nolan goes to the red light district in Bangkok. Nolan has seen it all. One night he gets a flyer for a pussy show at a bar called Angel bar that he has never been too. He finds the bar hidden behind an alley lines with food trucks. A man sits outside trying to talk to hm but he doesnt have a tongue. Nolan watches the start of the show and is not impressed. He is about to leave when Tasanee takes the stage and he is obsessed. We learn that Tasanee mean angel. He goes to meet the bars owner with a ton of other men and tries to buy time with her. The owner refuses to let the men have time with Tasanee. Nolan buys alone time with a ladyboy to get into the back room and tries to get past the body guard that keeps Tasanee safe. While he is fighting the guard Tasanee says to let Nolan in. She leads him to a disgusting dank room where he goes down on her and her vagina cuts off his tongue. Her vagina swallows his head and shows him a type of hell where angles with broken wings fall from the sky. Nolan is wakes up in palace where the guard that was trying to prevent him from seee Tasanee has not face and Tasanee herself has wings and a snapping mouth where her Vagina should be. The owner of the bar is pissed that Tasanee couldnt control herself and now Nolan is able to see their forms. He is dragged away from her and walked through the bar where he sees all the dancers are actually creatures. He exits the bar and sees creatures everywhere. He sees his friend and tried to call out but can only make gurgle sounds. He realizes he is now like the man he saw outside the bar with no tongue.
The sixth story is called Lethe and Mnemosyne. It is about a family who goes to visit their grandfather in the hospital after he had a stroke. Their is a large chicken on the loose destroying the town and the grandfather is the only one who knows how to send it away. The family is being threatened with lawsuits and they are begging him to remember how he tamed the chicken. The stroke messed up his brain and he cant remember any of it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 14, 2011
Once upon a time I went to a local bookstore and the guy behind the counter asked me what kind of books I liked to read.
I said, "Weird ones, mostly."
He got the strangest look on his face. I'm sure he'd been expecting me to say, Mystery or Horror or some other easily defined genre. At last he said, "Well we've got some Steven King stuff over there."
I'm not sure why "weird" isn't a genre by now. If I was running a book store it would have a section labeled "Weird Stuff," You'd go over there and find books like Three Bags Full, House of Leaves, The Beasts of New York, and the Thursday Next Series. And if you went a further down the row, nestled somewhere between Buddy Holly is Alive and Well on Ganymede and When Graveyards Yawn you'd find a little book by Chuck Wendig called Irregular Creatures.
Reading this book was a strange experience for me. See, when I was a kid we used to go to the creek and swim. I remember dipping my toe into the freezing water, and then my feet, and then my legs. Finally, I'd take the plunge and sink my whole body into the water. After a minute or two I was wondering why I had been so freaked out by a little cold water.
Getting into this book was a lot like getting into that creek. It took me a while to acclimatize to the style of prose Wendig employs to deliver his stories. At first it struck me as overly simplistic and far too direct. But gradually as that first story slowly unfolded I began to understand. From that point on there was no turning back. I plowed forward through each increasingly weird tale and loved every minute of it.
There are books that you will read for the sheer beauty of the sentences, the perfect poetry of the prose. This isn't one of those books. This book takes every hint of artificial adornment and crushes it beneath its hobnailed boot; it spits upon subtlety, and gleefully defenestrates that worn out old saw that the writer must show and not tell.
If Chuck Wendig wants us to know that he hates Mondays he does not muck about with an entire paragraph describing the process of waking from a fitful dream only to realize that the cat has peed on the floor and the alarm clock reset itself in the night culminating with a final horrified glance at the calendar.
When Chuck Wendig wants us to know that he hates Mondays he writes, "I [bleep]ing hate Mondays," and moves on with the story.
And I for one am fine with that. In fact that's part of the beauty of this book. Because what Wendig has to say is far too important to let it be overshadowed by how he says it. It is clear from the get-go that the stories are the stars of the show in this book and they are amazing.
I will not do you the disservice of summarizing the tales, but I will say they're probably unlike anything you've ever read. The best of the bunch is a tiny tale called "Beware of Owner." Reading this story is like having someone slide a rusty machete into your belly and then twist it hard. And I mean that in a good way.
The other stories are good too, though some better than others. One in particular, "The Auction" had a fantastically well-developed setting that felt as if it could contain an entire novel's worth of action, but the story itself didn't quite live up to the incredible world that had been created for it. Also when reading "Lethe and Mnemosyne" I got slightly confused. Even after looking up the mythological characters of the title I still didn't get what any of it had to do with a giant killer chicken. If any of you know I would love to be enlightened.
But anything critical I can say would be insignificant compared to the wonder and the awe contained in this oddly charming menagerie of monstrosities. Irregular Creatures is a fantastic book, fully worth the pittance of a price its author is asking. So slap your three dollars down on the digital barrelhead and prepare to be amazed.
Irregular Creatures will take you on a journey you will never forget.
I said, "Weird ones, mostly."
He got the strangest look on his face. I'm sure he'd been expecting me to say, Mystery or Horror or some other easily defined genre. At last he said, "Well we've got some Steven King stuff over there."
I'm not sure why "weird" isn't a genre by now. If I was running a book store it would have a section labeled "Weird Stuff," You'd go over there and find books like Three Bags Full, House of Leaves, The Beasts of New York, and the Thursday Next Series. And if you went a further down the row, nestled somewhere between Buddy Holly is Alive and Well on Ganymede and When Graveyards Yawn you'd find a little book by Chuck Wendig called Irregular Creatures.
Reading this book was a strange experience for me. See, when I was a kid we used to go to the creek and swim. I remember dipping my toe into the freezing water, and then my feet, and then my legs. Finally, I'd take the plunge and sink my whole body into the water. After a minute or two I was wondering why I had been so freaked out by a little cold water.
Getting into this book was a lot like getting into that creek. It took me a while to acclimatize to the style of prose Wendig employs to deliver his stories. At first it struck me as overly simplistic and far too direct. But gradually as that first story slowly unfolded I began to understand. From that point on there was no turning back. I plowed forward through each increasingly weird tale and loved every minute of it.
There are books that you will read for the sheer beauty of the sentences, the perfect poetry of the prose. This isn't one of those books. This book takes every hint of artificial adornment and crushes it beneath its hobnailed boot; it spits upon subtlety, and gleefully defenestrates that worn out old saw that the writer must show and not tell.
If Chuck Wendig wants us to know that he hates Mondays he does not muck about with an entire paragraph describing the process of waking from a fitful dream only to realize that the cat has peed on the floor and the alarm clock reset itself in the night culminating with a final horrified glance at the calendar.
When Chuck Wendig wants us to know that he hates Mondays he writes, "I [bleep]ing hate Mondays," and moves on with the story.
And I for one am fine with that. In fact that's part of the beauty of this book. Because what Wendig has to say is far too important to let it be overshadowed by how he says it. It is clear from the get-go that the stories are the stars of the show in this book and they are amazing.
I will not do you the disservice of summarizing the tales, but I will say they're probably unlike anything you've ever read. The best of the bunch is a tiny tale called "Beware of Owner." Reading this story is like having someone slide a rusty machete into your belly and then twist it hard. And I mean that in a good way.
The other stories are good too, though some better than others. One in particular, "The Auction" had a fantastically well-developed setting that felt as if it could contain an entire novel's worth of action, but the story itself didn't quite live up to the incredible world that had been created for it. Also when reading "Lethe and Mnemosyne" I got slightly confused. Even after looking up the mythological characters of the title I still didn't get what any of it had to do with a giant killer chicken. If any of you know I would love to be enlightened.
But anything critical I can say would be insignificant compared to the wonder and the awe contained in this oddly charming menagerie of monstrosities. Irregular Creatures is a fantastic book, fully worth the pittance of a price its author is asking. So slap your three dollars down on the digital barrelhead and prepare to be amazed.
Irregular Creatures will take you on a journey you will never forget.
July 13, 2011
Chuck Wendig’s Irregular Creatures is yet another feather in the short story collection cap, featuring nine speculative fiction tales that will shock, amuse, bewilder and entertain. In the author’s own words, the stories "drunkenly swerve between fantasy, horror and science fiction — with a dash of humour and absurdity thrown in for good measure".
There are two factors every story in this collection share. Firstly, they each feature an irregular creature, whether a flying cat, alien, mermaid, demon, or something else entirely. Secondly, they’re all very weird, and very good.
One of my favourites is "Dog Man and Cat Bird", which strikes the perfect balance between supernatural (flying cats) and very believable characters (a suburban family with marital problems). An excellent piece of urban fantasy with a lot of heart.
I was also very impressed by "Mister Mhu’s Pussy Show", which I somehow enjoyed despite being highly disturbed. The writing is visceral and evocative, the magic gritty and seedy, the plot unexpected. Certainly not for the faint-hearted.
Science fiction tale "Product Placement" is another favourite due to its highly imaginative concept. What if you woke up one day and all the brands you knew had disappeared, to be replaced by unfamiliar names?
Two stories stood out for their strong young protagonists. In "The Auction", a young boy and his father go to the most bizarre underground market in the world, where anything can be bought and sold — or stolen. This contrasts nicely with the very dark “Beware of Owner”, which takes place on a farm in the middle of nowhere with a psychotic father who doesn’t abide trespassers, be they animal or human.
"A Radioactive Monkey" is short, gory, and disturbing, packing an unexpected punch in very limited space.
"This Guy" takes time travel and zombies and mashes them up together in a way you’ve never seen before.
Perhaps the weakest of the bunch were "Do-Overs and Take-Backs" and "Lethe and Mnemosyne", both of which I found a little confusing.
Overall, however, this is a consistently strong collection reminiscent of Neil Gaiman’s darkly bizarre fiction.
Chuck Wendig has a very distinct writing style, frank and unapologetic, darkly funny and slightly insane. He doesn’t shy away from profanity, sex or violence, but does so without crossing the line into the gratuitous.
If you’re looking to spice up your reading list, I’d highly recommend this collection.
There are two factors every story in this collection share. Firstly, they each feature an irregular creature, whether a flying cat, alien, mermaid, demon, or something else entirely. Secondly, they’re all very weird, and very good.
One of my favourites is "Dog Man and Cat Bird", which strikes the perfect balance between supernatural (flying cats) and very believable characters (a suburban family with marital problems). An excellent piece of urban fantasy with a lot of heart.
I was also very impressed by "Mister Mhu’s Pussy Show", which I somehow enjoyed despite being highly disturbed. The writing is visceral and evocative, the magic gritty and seedy, the plot unexpected. Certainly not for the faint-hearted.
Science fiction tale "Product Placement" is another favourite due to its highly imaginative concept. What if you woke up one day and all the brands you knew had disappeared, to be replaced by unfamiliar names?
Two stories stood out for their strong young protagonists. In "The Auction", a young boy and his father go to the most bizarre underground market in the world, where anything can be bought and sold — or stolen. This contrasts nicely with the very dark “Beware of Owner”, which takes place on a farm in the middle of nowhere with a psychotic father who doesn’t abide trespassers, be they animal or human.
"A Radioactive Monkey" is short, gory, and disturbing, packing an unexpected punch in very limited space.
"This Guy" takes time travel and zombies and mashes them up together in a way you’ve never seen before.
Perhaps the weakest of the bunch were "Do-Overs and Take-Backs" and "Lethe and Mnemosyne", both of which I found a little confusing.
Overall, however, this is a consistently strong collection reminiscent of Neil Gaiman’s darkly bizarre fiction.
Chuck Wendig has a very distinct writing style, frank and unapologetic, darkly funny and slightly insane. He doesn’t shy away from profanity, sex or violence, but does so without crossing the line into the gratuitous.
If you’re looking to spice up your reading list, I’d highly recommend this collection.
November 16, 2011
I had a blast reading Chuck's novella, Shotgun Gravy, which I finished in the space of one day. Like most of Wendig's material, it was very readable: full of inventive profanity, bizarre sensory details, and a cheerful, homespun vulgarity that reminds me a bit of early Stephen King.
Irregular Creatures has all those elements, but I found it a little uneven. The book features nine short stories. Of those, four are quite good, three are mildly inexplicable, and two seem downright pointless. When Wendig's on, he's really on, but when he's off, it's equally as evident. The two weakest tales seem to amount to the author pointing at some gruesome stuff and saying "hey, look at this gruesome stuff! Neat, huh? Well, see you around." Which is not inherently bad, but I was hoping for more.
A couple of the stories were no more than a few paragraphs describing a bizarre situation -- no characterization, no resolution, just some brief Lynchian weirdness, and it's on to the next story. Personally, I would have rather seen fewer stories with more meat to them.
That said, Irregular Creatures was still a fun read. If you already know you like Wendig's work, you'll get some enjoyment out of this. If you don't know his work, I don't recommend it for an introduction. Read Shotgun Gravy instead.
Irregular Creatures has all those elements, but I found it a little uneven. The book features nine short stories. Of those, four are quite good, three are mildly inexplicable, and two seem downright pointless. When Wendig's on, he's really on, but when he's off, it's equally as evident. The two weakest tales seem to amount to the author pointing at some gruesome stuff and saying "hey, look at this gruesome stuff! Neat, huh? Well, see you around." Which is not inherently bad, but I was hoping for more.
A couple of the stories were no more than a few paragraphs describing a bizarre situation -- no characterization, no resolution, just some brief Lynchian weirdness, and it's on to the next story. Personally, I would have rather seen fewer stories with more meat to them.
That said, Irregular Creatures was still a fun read. If you already know you like Wendig's work, you'll get some enjoyment out of this. If you don't know his work, I don't recommend it for an introduction. Read Shotgun Gravy instead.
January 13, 2011
These stories were, largely, engaging, engrossing, and appealing even despite (or maybe because of?) the more grotesque elements. Some of the stories (I'm looking at you, Product Placement and Mister Mhu's ***** Show) inspired a physical reaction, though I'm not going to detail the specifics; suffice to say I don't recommend eating candy while reading Product Placement. Others evoked more emotional reactions, like the first story in the anthology, Dog-Man and Cat-Bird (A Flying Cat Story). This is a great tale to lead with--and is consequently the longest one--as it sets the mood and tone for the rest of the stories. It is at once creepy and touching, scary and amusing, sad and slightly joyful. Wendig's voice screams out of these stories. I happen to dig his style, so I had an awesome time reading his book. I was not at all disappointed (except when I got to the end and realized there was no more).
February 7, 2017
This review orders the short stories according to favourite to least favourite-
1. Product Placement: this story was so relevant and highly personified. Quirkest.
2. The Auction: sweet, twisty, unique af.
3. Dog-Man and Cat-Bird: has relations with but not as paranormal as The Auction.
4. Do-Overs and Take-Backs: No narrative sequence but interesting.
5. Beware of Owners: a reflection of a selfish life, I enjoyed it.
6. This Guy: A downward spiral. Violence trigger but not shocking enough.
7. Mister Mhu's Pussy Show: Creepy creative, confusing, eh.
8. A Radioactive Monkey: Eh.
9, Lethe and Mnemosyne: Meh.
1. Product Placement: this story was so relevant and highly personified. Quirkest.
2. The Auction: sweet, twisty, unique af.
3. Dog-Man and Cat-Bird: has relations with but not as paranormal as The Auction.
4. Do-Overs and Take-Backs: No narrative sequence but interesting.
5. Beware of Owners: a reflection of a selfish life, I enjoyed it.
6. This Guy: A downward spiral. Violence trigger but not shocking enough.
7. Mister Mhu's Pussy Show: Creepy creative, confusing, eh.
8. A Radioactive Monkey: Eh.
9, Lethe and Mnemosyne: Meh.
April 14, 2011
If you are easily offended or squeamish or do not like fantasy, sci-fi or horror, you might want to take a pass on this book. But, and this is a big BUT, if you don’t fall into any of the above categories DEFINITELY check out Irregular Creatures by Chuck Wendig. Irregular Creatures is a collection of creepy and original short stories reminiscent of the old TV shows Twilight Zone and Outer Limits. It will give you the willies and sometimes even disgust you, but at all times you will be entertained. And the writing is among some of the best I’ve ever encountered.
June 10, 2011
My favorite story in this collection was the shortest one, "Lethe and Mnemosyne", not for the story it told but for the story it only HINTED at. I did skip the last story, and a couple of them went over my head completely. Overall, though, reading this collection left me feeling like I had attended a modern freakshow and had been given a glimpse at the arcane reality that lay beneath the geeks' performances.
March 30, 2016
What a fun little book of stories. I have to say that some of these tales, especially the first and the last really surprised me with his engrossed I got with the characters and the story.
I really like his style of writing and found it was funny in all of the right places.
I really like his style of writing and found it was funny in all of the right places.
May 30, 2017
I wanted to read something I could read in a day, and it had to be something imaginative. I looked up a couple of fantasy series, but nothing seemed to click, and then I just remembered this little collection I had bought a couple of years ago. The reason I had bought it was that I used to follow Chuck Wendig's blog fairly regularly back then, but also because of blue of the cover and the cat on the cover. I haven't looked at the blog in a while and just didn't remember his writing style at all.
The stories are laced with a terrible sense of humour, cliches and a kind of casual-direct writing style that goes very well with some stories. Many stories are simply snippets. They're all very weird, some more than others, and a couple I just couldn't make any sense of. My favourites were the first story, possibly the longest, about the man who rescues a flying cat; and the very last story. An easy afternoon read. I wouldn't recommend you to buy it, but it did make me curious to eventually look up Wendig's longer works.
The stories are laced with a terrible sense of humour, cliches and a kind of casual-direct writing style that goes very well with some stories. Many stories are simply snippets. They're all very weird, some more than others, and a couple I just couldn't make any sense of. My favourites were the first story, possibly the longest, about the man who rescues a flying cat; and the very last story. An easy afternoon read. I wouldn't recommend you to buy it, but it did make me curious to eventually look up Wendig's longer works.
April 29, 2019
Chuck Wendig is, I suspect, a very interesting guy. Irregular Creatures is a very strange collection of horror/speculative fiction short stories. Tonally a mix ranging from comedic to grim and violent, often fairly adult in content, these stories are also a wide range in lengths, from just a couple pages long to nearly novelette. I found the longer ones, without exception, to be more to my liking. "If John Scalzi wrote horror, but more fucked-up" is probably the best way I can characterize these stories. My two favorite stories were "Product Placement", in which a man starts to question his sanity as he notices brands, products, and stores he's never heard of before that everyone else seems to find normal, and "The Auction", in which a young man visits a Diagon-Alley-like magical auction with his father and ends up trying to rescue one of the creatures he meets.
December 30, 2019
Short but Interesting
3.5 Stars
A couple of these stories are only 2-3 pages long. One of those really felt more like a prologue than an actual story.
There were some editorial issues - wrong words or spelling errors - that were very noticeable.
This was my first Wendig book. It is dark, violent in places, and certainly not for kids, but I liked it enough to want to read more of his stuff.
3.5 Stars
A couple of these stories are only 2-3 pages long. One of those really felt more like a prologue than an actual story.
There were some editorial issues - wrong words or spelling errors - that were very noticeable.
This was my first Wendig book. It is dark, violent in places, and certainly not for kids, but I liked it enough to want to read more of his stuff.
November 27, 2016
Straight forward
There are some good stories to be had here, even if on several occasions I found myself looking at a confusing paragraph structure, or something that felt written backwards.
But don't let that stop you, CW is a workman like writer, and there is someone to learn from the way he does what he does.
And then of course there are the stories.
There are some good stories to be had here, even if on several occasions I found myself looking at a confusing paragraph structure, or something that felt written backwards.
But don't let that stop you, CW is a workman like writer, and there is someone to learn from the way he does what he does.
And then of course there are the stories.
March 13, 2019
Este libro es una colección de historias breves. Breves y bizarras, pero bastante entretenidas. Me gustó la combinación de seres oscuros y malévolos que se mezclan con las actitudes humanas como el miedo, la curiosidad y el egoísmo.
Es un libro muy corto que se lee rápido y que no falla en tenerlo a uno prendado de las historias.
Es un libro muy corto que se lee rápido y que no falla en tenerlo a uno prendado de las historias.
August 17, 2017
A nice collection of (weird) creature short stories. Some are interesting, some are shocking. Was interesting to read, but nothing special.
October 27, 2018
Here's a book of short stories from Chuck Wendig.
They're a pretty mixed bag, from demon cats to a startling role reversal between two very different characters. Some I likes, some seemed more like ideas for a short story.
Perfectly cromulent stories, mostly.
They're a pretty mixed bag, from demon cats to a startling role reversal between two very different characters. Some I likes, some seemed more like ideas for a short story.
Perfectly cromulent stories, mostly.
November 11, 2020
An interesting choice, i really liked it
June 3, 2021
Some stories are better than others, but always surprisingly weird in some way.
June 18, 2022
A good little read
Didn't really understand the last story but all the others were enjoyable and quirky
Didn't really understand the last story but all the others were enjoyable and quirky
July 13, 2023
Interesting collection of stories. The ‘bat’ cat one is the best. Some lack the finesse of Stephen King’s short stories. Mainly because they leave too much unanswered.
December 29, 2012
Storie di varia lunghezza tutte alle prese con "Irregular creatures", ovvero elementi strani e spesso indesiderabili come gatti volanti, demoni, alieni o semplicemente psicopatici.
Mi piace molto lo stile dell'autore, prossimamente passerò ai romanzi.
Dog-man and Cat-Bird ★★★★
Una situazione familiare critica: lui dorme sul divano, lei costretta a essere severa avendo un marito che sembra un bambino e un figlio.
Lui, amante dei cani, si trova a accudire un gatto decisamente particolare a cui possono spuntare le ali.
Storia simpatica e simpatica la gatta (Mrow!).
A radioactive monkey ★★ (*)
Storia brevissima dal finale piuttosto prevedibile, genere horror.
Product placement ★★★★ (*)
Prodotti di cui non ricordavi l'esistenza ma che sembrano radicati da anni, queste sono le anomalie che il protagonista si troverà a affrrontate. Storia interessante (influenzata da Dick?).
This guy ★★★ (*)
L'amore umano per la routine in un contesto horror.
Miset Mhu's pussy show ★★★
Ancora genere horror, storia con meccanismo simile a "Product placement".
Lethe and mnemosyne ★★★ (*)
Storia brevissima sull'importanza delle memorie degli anziani.
The auction ★★★.5
Jack porta il figlio Benjamin all'Asta, un mondo ricco di creature strane in cui il ragazzo dovrà aiutare una sirena.
Beware of the owner ★★★★ (*)
Un bambino e il padre alle prese con un gatto intruso nella proprietà.
Do-overs and take-backs ★★★
Un altro racconto relativo alla presenza di più realtà che possono collegarsi tra loro.
(*) Disponibili anche gratis nel sito web dell'autore.
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Stories of various length all about "Irregular creatures", so strange elements of undesirable creatures such as flying cats, demons, aliens or simply psychopaths.
I like this writer's style and I will try also his novels.
Dog-man and Cat-Bird ★★★★
A family in a critic situation: he is sleeping on the coach, she has to be strict since she has a child and a husband behaving as the child.
He, a dog-man, meets a wonderfully strange cat (it has wings sometimes).
A nice story and a nice cat (Mrow!).
A radioactive monkey ★★ (*)
A very short story with a predictable ending, horror genre.
Product placement ★★★★ (*)
Brands you do not remember existing at all but well known to the other people, these are the anomalies the protagonist has to deal with.
Interesting story (some influences from P.K. Dick?)
This guy ★★★ (*)
Human love for routine in an horror setting.
Miset Mhu's pussy show ★★★
Again an horror story with a turnover similar to the one of "Product placement".
Lethe and mnemosyne ★★★ (*)
A very short story about the importance of the elderlies.
The auction ★★★.5
Jack takes his son Benjamin to the Auction, a world rich of strange creatures where the boy will end in helping a mermaid.
Beware of the owner ★★★★ (*)
A children and his dad dealing with a cat intruder within their property.
Do-overs and take-backs
Another story about more realities that can link together.
(*) Stories available for free in the author website
Mi piace molto lo stile dell'autore, prossimamente passerò ai romanzi.
Dog-man and Cat-Bird ★★★★
Una situazione familiare critica: lui dorme sul divano, lei costretta a essere severa avendo un marito che sembra un bambino e un figlio.
Lui, amante dei cani, si trova a accudire un gatto decisamente particolare a cui possono spuntare le ali.
Storia simpatica e simpatica la gatta (Mrow!).
A radioactive monkey ★★ (*)
Storia brevissima dal finale piuttosto prevedibile, genere horror.
Product placement ★★★★ (*)
Prodotti di cui non ricordavi l'esistenza ma che sembrano radicati da anni, queste sono le anomalie che il protagonista si troverà a affrrontate. Storia interessante (influenzata da Dick?).
This guy ★★★ (*)
L'amore umano per la routine in un contesto horror.
Miset Mhu's pussy show ★★★
Ancora genere horror, storia con meccanismo simile a "Product placement".
Lethe and mnemosyne ★★★ (*)
Storia brevissima sull'importanza delle memorie degli anziani.
The auction ★★★.5
Jack porta il figlio Benjamin all'Asta, un mondo ricco di creature strane in cui il ragazzo dovrà aiutare una sirena.
Beware of the owner ★★★★ (*)
Un bambino e il padre alle prese con un gatto intruso nella proprietà.
Do-overs and take-backs ★★★
Un altro racconto relativo alla presenza di più realtà che possono collegarsi tra loro.
(*) Disponibili anche gratis nel sito web dell'autore.
---
Stories of various length all about "Irregular creatures", so strange elements of undesirable creatures such as flying cats, demons, aliens or simply psychopaths.
I like this writer's style and I will try also his novels.
Dog-man and Cat-Bird ★★★★
A family in a critic situation: he is sleeping on the coach, she has to be strict since she has a child and a husband behaving as the child.
He, a dog-man, meets a wonderfully strange cat (it has wings sometimes).
A nice story and a nice cat (Mrow!).
A radioactive monkey ★★ (*)
A very short story with a predictable ending, horror genre.
Product placement ★★★★ (*)
Brands you do not remember existing at all but well known to the other people, these are the anomalies the protagonist has to deal with.
Interesting story (some influences from P.K. Dick?)
This guy ★★★ (*)
Human love for routine in an horror setting.
Miset Mhu's pussy show ★★★
Again an horror story with a turnover similar to the one of "Product placement".
Lethe and mnemosyne ★★★ (*)
A very short story about the importance of the elderlies.
The auction ★★★.5
Jack takes his son Benjamin to the Auction, a world rich of strange creatures where the boy will end in helping a mermaid.
Beware of the owner ★★★★ (*)
A children and his dad dealing with a cat intruder within their property.
Do-overs and take-backs
Another story about more realities that can link together.
(*) Stories available for free in the author website
Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews