Dark Rides: A Novel in Stories

by Derek McCormack, Lisa Robertson (Foreword)

Dark Rides is like the best carnival dark ride you've ever been on: funny and frightening, short and shocking. Dark Rides is a collection of stories about gay teenagers growing up in a small city in Canada in the 1950s. There's a different kid in each of the stories: the kid that loves Hank Williams, the kid that works at a haunted hayride, the kid that thinks he's Caligula and so on. They don't meet, but they share similar attributes: they're all named Derek McCormack, and they all fall for the wrong people in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Published for the first time in 1996, Dark Rides was Derek McCormack's first book. This thirtieth anniversary edition features new illustrations and a foreword by Lisa Robertson.

Genres: Queer, LGBT, Fiction, Contemporary, Gay

113 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1996

Reviews

[Wolf Vanlaer · Rating 3.75 out of 5]

Dares to be dirty! Short, sadistic and erotic stories set in rural Canadian villages. Funky illustrations, spunky vocabulary. Got a bit monotonous towards the end, but with only a hundred pages in total, and a fast reading pace that was no issue

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insightful, funny, sometimes heartbreaking, but often reflective. Dark rides was a joy to read.

In this collection of short vignettes, we follow the anecdotes of a gay boys, all named Derek McCormack as they navigates their homosexuality in rural Canada in the 1950s. Sometimes Some have erotic escapades with another local boy, one goes to Toronto for conversion therapy, sometimes they're with a girl, but longing for a boy. Many are unpleasant people, but they also often faces unfairness despite. This was an endearing series of stories that kept you thinking and empathizing with our flawed main characters.

Despite seemingly being a standard short story collection, this was quite experimental. All stories followed characters with the same name, all named after the author. The stories took place in the same geographical area, but all had different characters. It was intriguing, but didn't linger on any speculation for this stylistic decision. Many of these short stories were quite short, just 4-5 pages, so there wasn't a ton of time to dive into any one in serious depth, but still some managed to pack a punch. I'd definitely pick up more by the author.

[Joel Wheeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Any book that references the Red Dog in Peterborough is a good one to me.

[Caleb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Derek McCormack lives at the austere intersection of Denis Johnson and Flannery O'Connor. Uniquely dark and unforgettable short fiction.

[Liv · Rating 5 out of 5]

I used to be a trapshooter but now I’m a pyrotechnician

[alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

some stories didn’t give much but the ones that did were amazing

[Anna Lancry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect stories.
Although the annoying foreword by Lisa Robertson in the 30th anniversary edition almost put me off the whole thing

[r. fay]

Godrek McCorgod does it again, like he always does!! all eyes on Pilot Press by the way, doing what no one else seems to be able to do: identify real talent!!!

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfectly captures the small town gay experience of yesteryear...a strong companion piece to BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN.

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not uninteresting, but it's quite a stretch to call this a novel. Even if all of the stories are about the same character it's difficult to put together a coherent timeline that would have them all happening to the same person. And in any event there's no narrative or thematic throughline connecting the stories - no story leads to the next; there's no difference in the character or his situation at the end of the book from the front of the book. To me this really read as a collection of very brief and minimalist short stories and not as the coherent story of a single person.
I do find the project interesting - i.e., telling the story of a gay teenager in a rural 1950s environment and through a gothic and sometimes violent style - so I was predisposed to get something out of this. However, none of the individual stories landed with me. At least it's a quick read!

[Yureka Eric Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

so trauma

[Paula Glancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Burning house books February Bookclub pick.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very short but good read. Short stories about gay kids in the 50s. Enjoyed lots other than there was a woman on the bus who wouldn't stop shouting the entire time

[joanne · Rating 3.25 out of 5]

succinct and powerful. i feel so bad every time there’s a reference I recognize: cne (the ex), toronto, peterborough… like why was ontario highkey hell for queer people

[Måns BT · Rating 4 out of 5]

En kort, fin och öm liten bok, som jag känner att jag måste läsa om för att helt greppa. Vissa historier är så drabbande, den sista, till exempel, slår en rakt i hjärtat.

[Carter MacLean · Rating 1.25 out of 5]

Not my thing at all. Last time I’ll take a recommendation from TikTok

[readingz0ne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfect to read in a single sitting. Some stories funny, all hard hitting (3/5)

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is, like, 80 pages long or something, told in a dozen or so short stories, so I'm still trying to understand how the author can call it a novel. But I did enjoy McCormack's choppy, poetic writing style.