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Boxcutters
One Amazon delivery stolen from a neighbor’s porch leads to plenty more. To keep the show going, a balding sitcom actress tries out a new wig and discovers a hunger for life. Jesus Christ claims the office’s coveted HR department vacancy, earning him a bitter detractor. A famous sculptor locks himself in a glass apartment in the park, turning his entire life into an exhibit. A young cashier takes his lumps to endure his small town’s mandatory fight club.
Is fate a construct of the gods? Do we feel safe relying on the maintenance guy? When memories themselves become drugs, what chance does the present have of keeping us tethered? Is our future influenced by unseen forces or are we all just going mad?
John Chrostek’s collection Boxcutters packs together thirteen stories of fools, freaks and fallen stars slamming against the boundary lines, desperate to push through grief and terror to find something close to freedom. With sharp, funny and incisive prose, this collection carves a through-line through the past, present, mythic and mundane to figure out how the hell we got here and whether there’s any chance at all we might get to break out.
Is fate a construct of the gods? Do we feel safe relying on the maintenance guy? When memories themselves become drugs, what chance does the present have of keeping us tethered? Is our future influenced by unseen forces or are we all just going mad?
John Chrostek’s collection Boxcutters packs together thirteen stories of fools, freaks and fallen stars slamming against the boundary lines, desperate to push through grief and terror to find something close to freedom. With sharp, funny and incisive prose, this collection carves a through-line through the past, present, mythic and mundane to figure out how the hell we got here and whether there’s any chance at all we might get to break out.
- GenresShort StoriesFiction
161 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 17, 2025
John Chrostek’s prose is so assured and confident that I felt immediate pleasure upon starting each story and not having a clue as to where I was about to be taken. I came to expect the unexpected, and that’s a good thing.
Starting with the title of collection: No story is titled “Boxcutters” and I spotted no box-cutter in the collection’s pages, though the opening story holds many boxes. However, other sharp objects — many used violently — are scattered throughout: a whittling knife; teeth; shards of broken dishes; scissors; the claws of a griffin.
Next, the unexpected in setting and character: ancient Greece; early-19th-century Eastern Europe; “decommissioned angels”; Richard Nixon in a brilliant flash; Alcides and his lover; an aging sitcom-star of the late-1950s/early-60s in the layered “Honey,” one of my favorites. Though most of the stories are set in places that seem familiar, they’re all slightly off-kilter, or even downright weird, as in another favorite, “The Great Dark.” From its beginning I felt pulled toward this almost fairytale-like story with its two young friends dealing, separately, with the unnamed, yet ultimately grimly portrayed, issues that periodically plague one of them, family problems that cause her to dissociate and to forget, even if temporarily, the one friend who loves her deeply and unconditionally.
Other things I loved:
This quote from “Big Green” (the story of a young woman whose sort-of friend has died and who’s summoned by his mother over a bequest): “She was never sure what to do with an anger you couldn’t send to the source. You couldn’t tell a flood to die back down because the storm was over.”
The cover: Since childhood I’ve had a big soft spot for cover illustrations that mysteriously, though exactly, depict the contents, especially ones that need to be deciphered.
Another unexpected: An extra story on the French flaps!
4.5
Thank you to Malarkey Books for a copy of the book, which was given to me for review purposes.
Starting with the title of collection: No story is titled “Boxcutters” and I spotted no box-cutter in the collection’s pages, though the opening story holds many boxes. However, other sharp objects — many used violently — are scattered throughout: a whittling knife; teeth; shards of broken dishes; scissors; the claws of a griffin.
Next, the unexpected in setting and character: ancient Greece; early-19th-century Eastern Europe; “decommissioned angels”; Richard Nixon in a brilliant flash; Alcides and his lover; an aging sitcom-star of the late-1950s/early-60s in the layered “Honey,” one of my favorites. Though most of the stories are set in places that seem familiar, they’re all slightly off-kilter, or even downright weird, as in another favorite, “The Great Dark.” From its beginning I felt pulled toward this almost fairytale-like story with its two young friends dealing, separately, with the unnamed, yet ultimately grimly portrayed, issues that periodically plague one of them, family problems that cause her to dissociate and to forget, even if temporarily, the one friend who loves her deeply and unconditionally.
Other things I loved:
This quote from “Big Green” (the story of a young woman whose sort-of friend has died and who’s summoned by his mother over a bequest): “She was never sure what to do with an anger you couldn’t send to the source. You couldn’t tell a flood to die back down because the storm was over.”
The cover: Since childhood I’ve had a big soft spot for cover illustrations that mysteriously, though exactly, depict the contents, especially ones that need to be deciphered.
Another unexpected: An extra story on the French flaps!
4.5
Thank you to Malarkey Books for a copy of the book, which was given to me for review purposes.
June 20, 2025
The stories in this book are bonkers, in the best way. Truly a pleasure.
June 12, 2025
This was billed as a collection of Weird stories, however, while most stories were more literary "weird" or absurd and less Weird in the speculative sense, although there was certainly some of that.
That being said, I thought this was a solid debut showing a lot of potential. The prose was sharp, the characters relatable, there was a good mix of humor and seriousness. The literary absurd was on point and the Weird fiction was peppered in nicely. It also really spoke to just the nature of the present day woe a lot of people feel.
That being said, I thought this was a solid debut showing a lot of potential. The prose was sharp, the characters relatable, there was a good mix of humor and seriousness. The literary absurd was on point and the Weird fiction was peppered in nicely. It also really spoke to just the nature of the present day woe a lot of people feel.
May 20, 2025
Boxcutters is a delightful, engaging, and peculiar (in the best way) read.
I’ve found myself thinking of “Honey” everyday. Chrostek weaves an environment of eerie feminine rage that perfectly lays the foundations for the story’s arc and characters. I found myself on set with Trudie, sitting in her dressing room, feeling the broken dish against her skin.
“Honey” is just one of many evocative and gripping stories John paints for us. A wonderful read all around.
I’ve found myself thinking of “Honey” everyday. Chrostek weaves an environment of eerie feminine rage that perfectly lays the foundations for the story’s arc and characters. I found myself on set with Trudie, sitting in her dressing room, feeling the broken dish against her skin.
“Honey” is just one of many evocative and gripping stories John paints for us. A wonderful read all around.
May 19, 2025
Excellent and diverse range of weird short fiction, spanning from horror to... harder to describe. But always surprising, sharp, well-written, and a joy to read. I really liked this.
July 21, 2025
Top notch writing, I mean, wow. Wow. Wow! Thoroughly compelling, ridiculously engaging, wholly original. Every story drew me fully in. Every story made me want to keep going. Every story ended with me wanting more. Every story resided and lingered in my thoughts for days. Such outstanding and creative storytelling. I had to pace my reading of these stories in order to fully absorb and integrate each and every story. So very, very pleased to have stumbled upon this collection.
Yes, I do realize how giddy this sounds, like a kid in a candy store, but discovering a new and previously unknown-to-me writer that I can get this giddy about is rare. If I’m lucky, this occurs maybe once or twice a year. This is one of those occurances.
Yes, I do realize how giddy this sounds, like a kid in a candy store, but discovering a new and previously unknown-to-me writer that I can get this giddy about is rare. If I’m lucky, this occurs maybe once or twice a year. This is one of those occurances.
June 23, 2025
John Chrostek writes fearlessly. Gives characters names like Hugo Victor. The stories in Boxcutters show incredible range (from realistic to speculative to fictional academic treatise) and each one yields some surprise.
August 18, 2025
These are Kafka meets Philip K. Dick chaos. Plenty of characters to love and some to hate, including Jesus. If nothing else these stories should be read for the craft of the final line—Chrostek executes masterfully throughout. And the gorgeous book art! Great work by Malarkey Books. Don't miss the flash piece on the dust jacket flaps.
Five bags of popcorn!
Five bags of popcorn!
June 22, 2025
Wonderful little collection with stories that feel acutely attuned to the dread and uncertainty that pervades 21st century life. Impressive range of perspectives and subject matters with a strong, distinctive voice throughout. I particularly enjoyed "Glass Spectacle," "Big Green," and "His Ghostly Portion."
August 22, 2025
Not explicitly horror, but often macabre, these short stories are intriguing, bizarre, and widely varied. Odd juxtapositions in language are, by turns, surreal and sublime. Certain passages read ambiguously, but an eeriness pervades, which springs from Chrostek’s unique voice and vision. I highly recommend this collection.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews