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Hallucinations
232 pages, Paperback
Published November 10, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 22, 2025
4.5 but I rounded up.
Hallucinations is a collection of twenty stories by Hamish Kavanaugh, and it did things to me. I thought about each story after it finished, wondering about it, even rereading some of them. Most of the stories feel like a desaturated fever dream, where everything appears normal but feels far from it. The giveaway of a fever dream is often it’s hyper saturation — colors so full of themselves they bleed and ooze — and psychedelic tendencies. Hallucinations is aptly named. I found myself questioning what happened in stories: was all of it real or is there an unreliable narrator, am I seeing connections where there are none? Some of these stories have a darker bend to them. The Cat House reads like a fuzzy memory, something you recount for friends and everyone assumes you’ve got it wrong, an exaggeration or misunderstanding. Some of the stories seem entirely benign. Mobsters appears grounded on first read, but when considered within the collection, I began to wonder. I started seeing threads that snaked between stories, but I could never quite tell if I was seeing things or not. I felt like I was hallucinating. My favorite story and the one which I think radiates this strange energy is The Island. It feels like one of those odd encounters or situations that happen once or twice a lifetime. The surreal kind, where it feels hazy when remembered. There are more than a few stories in this collection that will lurk in my mind for a long time.
Hallucinations is a collection of twenty stories by Hamish Kavanaugh, and it did things to me. I thought about each story after it finished, wondering about it, even rereading some of them. Most of the stories feel like a desaturated fever dream, where everything appears normal but feels far from it. The giveaway of a fever dream is often it’s hyper saturation — colors so full of themselves they bleed and ooze — and psychedelic tendencies. Hallucinations is aptly named. I found myself questioning what happened in stories: was all of it real or is there an unreliable narrator, am I seeing connections where there are none? Some of these stories have a darker bend to them. The Cat House reads like a fuzzy memory, something you recount for friends and everyone assumes you’ve got it wrong, an exaggeration or misunderstanding. Some of the stories seem entirely benign. Mobsters appears grounded on first read, but when considered within the collection, I began to wonder. I started seeing threads that snaked between stories, but I could never quite tell if I was seeing things or not. I felt like I was hallucinating. My favorite story and the one which I think radiates this strange energy is The Island. It feels like one of those odd encounters or situations that happen once or twice a lifetime. The surreal kind, where it feels hazy when remembered. There are more than a few stories in this collection that will lurk in my mind for a long time.
November 28, 2025
Hallucinations is an electrifying collection that drags readers into the liminal spaces between reality and illusion. Hamish Kavanagh writes with the precision of a literary craftsman and the daring of a surrealist, creating stories that feel both hyperreal and dreamlike. From gritty street corners to the polished surfaces of high-finance offices, each tale blurs the familiar until it becomes unsettlingly strange. Kavanagh channels the atmospheric tension of Joseph Conrad and the stark brutality of Cormac McCarthy, yet his voice remains entirely his own, lyrical, haunting, and unafraid to dig deep into the psychological abyss. These stories don’t simply ask you to observe darkness; they pull you into it, slowly, subtly, until you’re too invested to step away.
December 28, 2025
A slightly haunting collection of short stories - each with their own Hallucination interpretation. Each story is cleverly constructed, lingering with you long after you’ve finished reading, and leave you wanting more.
Loved this anthology a lot - can’t wait to see what else Hamish Kavanagh brings out.
Loved this anthology a lot - can’t wait to see what else Hamish Kavanagh brings out.
December 27, 2025
Poignant and visceral writing that will get your guts from the get go. Highly recommend
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews