Remorseless: Tales of Cruelty

by Thomas Tessier

Monsters are real. They lurk in the darkest places of this world, waiting to devour you, ready to tear into you. But the scariest monsters are the ones within you, driving you mad, feasting on you from the inside. They will eat you until there is nothing left, until the monster is all that remains. Until there is only sadness and insanity. And cruelty. Fifteen tales from the mind of horror master Thomas Tessier.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories

206 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Thomas Tessier grew up in Connecticut and attended University College, Dublin. He is the author of several acclaimed novels of terror and suspense, plays, poems, and short stories. His novel Fog Heart received the International Horror Guild's Award for Best Novel, was a Bram Stoker Award finalist, and was cited by Publishers Weekly as one of the Best Books of the Year. He lives in Connecticut.

Reviews

[Karl]

This is copy 23 of 100 signed numbered copies, signed by Thomas Tessier.

This is numbered 1 in Sinister Grin's book series.

Cover art by Alan M. Clark.

[Doungjai · Rating 5 out of 5]

REMORSELESS is another great collection of stories from Thomas Tessier (his other one is called GHOST MUSIC AND OTHER TALES, and is highly recommended). The majority of these are reprints from magazines and anthologies, but there are two new stories. While the characters and their stories are varied, the two themes most prevalent here are cruelty and loneliness.

Some of the highlights: The opening story, "Back In My Arms I Want You," is about a guy fresh out of jail looking to reconnect with his girl, although she's moved on and wants nothing to do with him. "Premature Noxia" introduces us to Larkin, an elderly man who notices and investigates something amiss in a nearby house during his late-night routine. "For No One" tells us of two very different men who cross paths with Sylvana, a mysterious young woman who has loved and lost. In "Goo Girl," Gretchen decides her boyfriend Drew needs to be taught a lesson after she discovers that he shared intimate photos of her. "Something Small and Gray, and Quick" brings us to Liechtenstein, where investment manager Richard Marsh collides head-on with a fear that's plagued him since childhood. In "The God Thing," we learn how badly bodybuilder Rex wants to win the prestigious Mr. God competition - and what he'll do to get there. "10-31-2001" is a flash fiction piece - a rarity from Mr. Tessier - about post 9/11 life and the realization that while the terror that struck us from outside the country is still very vivid, there are still many horrors going on within our towns that we should always be aware of. The final story, "The Infestation at Ralls," is about Van Helsing, who travels to London to visit a friend but quickly winds up at the Ralls School for Young Ladies to investigate a mysterious event involving one of the students.

There's not really a bad story in the lot, but the ones listed above are the ones I enjoyed the most. If I had one complaint to make - I wish Tessier would write faster. I enjoy his short stories as much as I enjoy his novels.

[Chris Cangiano · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are few authors out here who are better at plumbing the dark and disturbed recesses of the human mind as Thomas Tessier. His latest collection, Remorseless certainly delivers on that score and if it is not as strong as some of his longer work that's a minor quibble against this otherwise strong collection. The collections bills itself as a collections of Tales of Cruelty and that is where Tessier is at his strongest exploring the cruelty and darkness in the human mind and following it through to its conclusion. Recommended for those who like their fiction dark

[SARDON · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5 stars)

In his second full-length collection of short fiction, Tessier further explores the thematic tendencies which have dominated his body of work. Intimacy of both the erotic and merely sexual varieties appear in multiple pieces; most effectively in the psychological sadism of "For No One" and the perfectly poignant melancholy of "The Woman in the Club Car," and least so in the tiresome vengefulness of the opener "Back in My Arms I Want You" and the obtusely-titled "Goo Girl."

Tessier's unique approach to the body-horror subgenre, as previously demonstrated in earlier tales such as "Food" and "In Praise of Folly," appears again in the masterfully-developed atmosphere and suspense of "In the Sand Hills," as well as in the grotesquely comical effects of obsessive bodybuilding in one of the oldest entries, "The God Thing."

While both casual readers and critics have often commented that Tessier's talents are best displayed in long-form works--especially the novella--I've always found his forays into microfiction to be impressive. His first full-length collection closed with an evocative little piece entitled, "Nocturne," and the two similarly brief pieces in 'Remorseless' are equally rich in their hauntingly laconic suggestiveness; "If You See Me, Say Hello" is similar in effect to the subtly spectral romance of the aforementioned "The Woman in the Club Car," while the last line of "10/31/2001" sharply echoes with the insidious intent of one, lonely man on a Halloween evening.

While some of Tessier's finest short-form works appear in this collection, 'Ghost Music' is the ideal choice since it contains two of his most infamous classics, "Evelyn Grace" and "The Dreams of Doctor Ladybank."