Hostile Environments

by Jan Kaneen

Thirty macabre, funny, and twisted short stories exploring the shifting sands of what makes somewhere a safe or dangerous place to inhabit.

Addressing contemporary anxieties of the climate crisis, gender identification, the need for the me-too movement, BLM, the growth of populism, fake truth, the impact of the pandemic, the perils of navigating cyberspace and social media

These stories explore how a person’s sanctuary can be another’s hellscape. Being as much dependent on gender, age, race, disability, sexuality, personal belief systems, and how we self-identify, as on actual physical place. Hostile Environments cast readers into immersive narrative worlds that teeter on the brink of horror, the edge of science fiction, the margins of dirty realism, and the fringes of fairytale.

158 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 7, 2025

Reviews

[Rue Baldry]

This is a brilliant collection of flash fiction and short short stories which takes an off-kilter view of life. It’s sometimes weird and disturbing, but it is as often moving and insightful. It’s a beautiful book, with each story illustrated at its title as well as the cover. There are stories told from within migraine or dementia, as well as metaphors extended into surreality, women’s lives, atmospheric pieces and whimsical pieces. All of them are flawlessly written in clear, lovely prose. It’s a great book to pick up and put down without losing your train of thought because the stories are so short. I’ve tried to write at this tiny, precise length and found it very difficult; it’s a real skill.

In fact I read it in a few days, kept looking forward to coming back to it. The reason for the long read time is because I just physically lost the paperback. It was behind a card on a shelf in the end. It was annoying and frustrating for months when I wanted to be getting in with reading it, though.

[Bronwen Griffiths]

This wouldn't normally be my 'go-to' type of reading (I'm not the biggest fan of ghost and/or horror stories) but I really enjoyed this collection. It's weird and fun, and with so many stories in here you will be bound to find much to like. A great book for the autumn season!