Tribulations

by Richard Thomas

DESCRIPTION:

In the third short story collection by Richard Thomas, Tribulations, these stories cover a wide range of dark fiction—from fantasy, science fiction and horror, to magical realism, neo-noir, and transgressive fiction. The common thread that weaves these tragic tales together is suffering and sorrow, and the ways we emerge from such heartbreak stronger, more appreciative of what we have left—a spark of hope enough to guide us though the valley of death. Fireflies and wolves, ghosts and golems, tentacled beasts and demonic spirits—these psychological thrillers will hypnotize you as they slide the blade between your ribs, up close and personal, whispering in your ear as you gasp and pull them closer. Tribulations contains 25 short stories, including two that were long-listed for Best Horror of the Year. There are also five original full-page illustrations by Luke Spooner.

EARLY PRAISE FOR TRIBULATIONS:

"The stories Richard Thomas tells are dark rooms. Sometimes they are filled with terrors—ghosts and jealousies and strange beasts. Sometimes they are empty. And this might be the most terrifying thing of all. At times sharp and biting and other times dreamy and lyrical, Thomas is a powerful writer and Tribulations is a stellar collection."—Kristi DeMeester, author of Split Tongues

"Tribulations is a dark fiction collection for all readers. No matter your preference: this book ducks, dives, and bounces between genres like an Olympic skier taking on a hillside of slalom. Rarely is reading a collection straight-through as eclectic (or purely enjoyable) an experience. If you're not already a fan of Thomas: prepare to be."—Adam Cesare, author of Tribesmen and Zero Lives Remaining

"...one of the most productive and unique writers on the hardboiled and horror short story markets...Tribulations contains some of his best work...the end result is richer and more visceral than anything he's ever done before."—Dead End Follies

"Richard Thomas is on the cutting edge of neo-noir fiction and I dare anyone to say different. Tribulations is his best yet: elegantly twisted, superbly creepy, and dripping darkness. This is required reading for anyone into the shadow side of literature.”—Dread Central

"Tribulations shows that Richard Thomas not only knows his craft, but excels in it. Readers owe Richard Thomas a letter to thank him for sharing his brilliant work, and Richard Thomas owes readers a letter to apologize for giving them more reasons to never turn off the light"—Cultured Vultures.

“Richard Thomas does this thing where he introduces us to his friends, folks just like you or me, good, hard-working, honest folks. People we can relate to on many levels. And then, for whatever reason, he drops them right into the middle of hell. Maybe he just enjoys making them suffer. Maybe he knows that we enjoy watching. Whatever the case, with Tribulations he has let us get a little closer, made the glass between us and the suffering a little thinner, and reminded us that we just might be next in line.”—Horrornews.net

"At his best Thomas writes like his life depends on it, while his restraint and careful use of language ensure that these stories hit in all the right places. Whether it’s with a dash of stream-of-consciousness here, a bit of prose poem there, or a starkly minimalist passage, these stories speak to the things that haunt the darkest corners of the mind."—Hellnotes

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fantasy

234 pages, Paperback

Published April 28, 2016

About the author

Richard Thomas is the award-winning author of nine books: four novels—Incarnate (Podium), Disintegration and Breaker (Penguin Random House Alibi), and Transubstantiate (Otherworld Publications); four short story collections—Spontaneous Human Combustion (Turner Publishing—Bram Stoker finalist), Tribulations (Cemetery Dance), Staring Into the Abyss (Kraken Press), and Herniated Roots (Snubnose Press); as well as one novella of The Soul Standard (Dzanc Books). His over 175 stories in print include The Best Horror of the Year (Volume Eleven), Cemetery Dance (twice), Behold!: Oddities, Curiosities and Undefinable Wonders (Bram Stoker Award winner), The Hideous Book of Hidden Horrors (Shirley Jackson Award winner), Lightspeed, PANK, storySouth, Gargoyle, Weird Fiction Review, Midwestern Gothic, Shallow Creek, The Seven Deadliest, Gutted: Beautiful Horror Stories, Qualia Nous, Chiral Mad (numbers 2-4), PRISMS, Pantheon, and Shivers VI. He has won contests at ChiZine and One Buck Horror, has received five Pushcart Prize nominations, and has been long-listed for Best Horror of the Year seven times. He was also the editor of four anthologies: The New Black and Exigencies (Dark House Press), The Lineup: 20 Provocative Women Writers (Black Lawrence Press) and Burnt Tongues (Medallion Press) with Chuck Palahniuk. He has been nominated for the Bram Stoker (twice), Shirley Jackson, Thriller, and Audie awards. In his spare time he is a columnist at Lit Reactor. He was the Editor-in-Chief at Dark House Press and Gamut Magazine. His agent is Paula Munier at Talcott Notch. For more information visit www.whatdoesnotkillme.com.

Reviews

[Lezlie The Nerdy Narrative · Rating 5 out of 5]

TRIBULATIONS by Richard Thomas is a collection of short stories that showcase human response and behavior when faced with sorrow and suffering. Do the characters succumb? Do they come out of the other side of tunnel stronger for what they survived, hopeful for what tomorrow brings?

This was not my first dance with the beauty of Richard Thomas's writing. I previously read his newest collection, SPONTANEOUS HUMAN COMBUSION and I was completely smitten with his storytelling ability. What I love most about reading his work - the story isn't over just because you've closed the cover or read the last page. These stories stay with you, in your thoughts as your imagination runs wild with all the possibilities of what could have happened, or maybe would have happened if it were a piece of longer fiction.

I love and appreciate how some of the stories tie in together. That always makes it so much fun for the reader to make the connection between locations or characters in a story that appears later in the collection. That's the sort of feeling we readers talk about when we say rereading a book feels like "coming home" - you feel like you've experienced something with this character or characters, you're invested and it always warms the heart to encounter them again.

There are 25 stories included in this collection and there is not a single one that I would remove. Each one I would rank individually as a top tier read. While they may all rank high up - it's for different reasons. Some filled me with hope, others filled me dread, terror. Some had me thinking about them for days, sifting through the information given and deciding just where I thought it would track if it were to continue. I experienced some that I thought were heartwarming, some that in turn broke my heart.

I would recommend Richard Thomas to anyone who loves stories that make you think, stories that run you through the whole spectrum of emotions and leave you breathless with just how freaking good they are.

[Benoit Lelièvre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewing Richard Thomas' short stories can be tricky because of his quirky style and telescoped timelines. Tribulations is his most symbolic and most tormented collection yet where his characters are pitted against the very visions of Thomas' nightmares. Fireflies and The Wasteland, from the top of my head, were particularly brutal and vivid. There are also some more typical Richard Thomas stories in that collection, perhaps half of them, but he eased down on the existential theme which is a refreshing novelty because the man can really write beautiful and haunting symbolism.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Richard Thomas, Editor-in-Chief at Dark House Press, is fast becoming a household name in genre circles, and with good reason. Between writing his own stories, editing and co-editing anthologies (The New Black, Burnt Tongues, and The Lineup), and recently launching a Kickstarter campaign for a new dark fiction webzine, he’s been keeping busy.

Tribulations, his third collection, contains 25 succinct and affecting tales that once again prove Thomas to be as fine a writer as he is an editor. As with most collections, common threads run through the stories, sometimes deep between the lines and other times screaming their way to the surface. The title is a perfectly fitting one. At his best Thomas writes like his life depends on it, while his restraint and careful use of language ensure that these stories hit in all the right places.

Highlights include:

“Chrysalis,” in which a family man prepares his home for a brutal and possibly perpetual winter.

“Bringing in the Sheaves,” a disturbing yarn which delves into the childhood emergence of psychopathology.

“Flowers for Jessica,” a grotesque yet romantic tale where grief and passion meet and reconcile in a most unusual way.

“Balance Sheet,” in which a father proves his love for his daughter is unconditional through an increasingly harrowing series of sacrifices.

Although there are arguably some literal monsters here, most of what you’ll find between the covers of Tribulations is a distinctly human brand of horror. Desperation, helplessness, addiction and regret all have their time to shine. Whether it’s with a dash of stream-of-consciousness here, a bit of prose poem there, or a starkly minimalist passage, these stories speak to the things that haunt the darkest corners of the mind. If you’re the kind of person who likes to visit those places (and come on, if you’re reading this, you know you are,) be sure to pick up Tribulations.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Richard Thomas continues his streak of awesomeness with these dark stories. Is there anything he isn't good at?

[Ross Jeffery · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘What’s your earliest memory?’

So a young girl is asked by her grandfather at the end of the world, and her answer, like much of what is contained in the pages of Tribulations, will surprise you. This short story collection by Richard Thomas, released earlier in 2016, is something of a miraculous rarity, a collection that is as thematically unified as it is diverse in its explorations, as coherently stylised as it is eclectic in voice. There is increasingly a trend in the music world for the album which is a collection of songs, far flung from the days of Origins of Symmetry, where an album hung together like stanzas in a ballad. The same is mirrored in the literary world, with many short story collections functioning more like a timeline of stories penned by the same author. Tribulations is different, and stands out as such, but it is not only the thematic unity which sets it apart, but also the deft, confident handling of narrative prose which marks a real master at work.

There are 25 stories in this collection, which is quite a considerable number (and I must say that fact made me nervous initially, as there is definitely such a thing as too much); thankfully, this is not an issue for several reasons. Firstly, the stories are compact and to the point – this is a far cry from the bordering-on-novella stories of King. Expect your “punchline” quickly and expect it hard and in the guts. Secondly, the stories are all written with a captivating atmosphere that draws you in, making you want to read on as though there was a singular narrative to follow. I’ve quoted it before and I will quote it again, as Dean Koontz once said in his introduction to Songs of the Dying Earth: ‘I can forgive a writer many faults if he has the capacity to weave a warp and weft of mood from page one to the end of his story.’ And Richard Thomas can certainly do that, with scintillating, rhythmic prose that casts a kind of hypnotic spell.

Mood is all-important to horror, and in this way Richard Thomas creates the perfect eerie atmosphere to his tales. Neo-noir would be one way to describe it, the sense of lives desiccated of colour, morality, the deepened shadows of the protagonist’s environs, the sense of criminal intent just below the surface of things. This atmosphere particularly comes across in tales such as Chrysalis (which will have you sweating with tension), Misty (which oozes a sense of degradation) and Shackled to the Shadows (which takes you into what feels like a mind in dream-state).

However, this frightening, intense atmosphere is never at the expense of real, deep emotional feeling. If you’ve ever read a Best American Short Stories collection, you will know that the American writers are, generally, much better at striking to the emotional heart of things than we Brits, who are over-conscious of avoiding sentiment to the point of Freudian repression. Richard Thomas demonstrates his lineage from this US tradition and delivers some powerful emotional punches that are memorable and original. Stories such as Vision Quest and On a Bent Nail Head in particular will leave you emotionally drained and more profoundly than that, will deliver a deep catharsis for you. I do not know if Richard Thomas has experienced a deep personal loss, and it would be impertinent for me to ask, but he certainly delivers bone-deep insight into what loss does to your mind, how it alters perception, behaviour, and ultimately, belief systems about the universe we inhabit. The supernatural current, constantly at the edge of detection much like in True Detective, is at once a brilliant observation on the reality of how we experience the world (which is often not logical or orderly) and a commentary on how grief, rage, regret can change the way in which our world operates, catalysting the apparent incursion of demonic, or seemingly demonic, forces.

The mark of a great collection, however, in my humble view, is not that the whole collection leaves an impression, but rather that one or two outstanding stories, stories so powerful you will never forget them, are framed by other exemplary works. Think of it like the stand out track on an album: Tunnel of Love on Dire Strait’s Making Movies, where we step from rock ‘n’ roll into the realms of epic. Stephen King’s Night Shift was full of brilliant, memorable stories, Strawberry Spring, Gray Matter, Graveyard Shift to name a few, but it was The Woman in the Room that left people gobsmacked, that showed us beneath King’s humble veneer of ‘I’m like you but I just got the gift of the gab’, there might be a literary giant, a second Homer, waiting to burst into the stratosphere and change how we think about stories. Like the master, there are stand out stories in Richard Thomas’ collection that must be mentioned: Little Red Wagon is a masterpiece in which a seemingly innocuous motif returns to goose-bump-raising effect, leaving you with a final image and question so powerful it makes you feel bloodless. I immediately had to re-read this story upon finishing it to determine whether my interpretation was correct and to piece together the subtle evidence in the narrative. I am still left with questions, but this is a good thing. A good writer knows when not to spell it out.

Misty also deserves a special mention for its ingenious subversion of what I call the ‘turn of the screw’ genre (after Henry James’ chilling ghost-story masterpiece). The concept, in brief, is that each successive turn of the screw makes the story worse, more frightening, more dreadful, more compelling, as you drill down to some final focal point of absolute horror. Richard Thomas subverts this in Misty by giving us a final turn of the screw that is at once unexpected, chilling and intelligently tapping into societal concerns and expectations. This could almost be considered the beginnings of creating a new subdivision of horror, as the type of horror I experienced reading this story is so different from any other I’ve encountered; in an age where we are de-sensitised by the graphic nature of TV, pornography and news broadcasts, it is a triumph to create a narrative that can still evoke a new type of horror.

As you know, it is traditional for me to make critical comments on a piece I review, regardless of how much I enjoyed it. It is honestly difficult to come up with anything in this instance, as Tribulations is clearly a meticulously crafted modern masterpiece, but if I did have one concern, it was that at times a couple of the stories felt like they were too focused on eliciting an emotional response as opposed to telling the story itself. Dance, Darling, for example, was perhaps my least favourite of all the stories, because, in my humble view (and I am not a master like Richard Thomas), it was too focused on inducing pathos for its suffering characters rather than reaching some climactic or revelatory point of narrative. However, this comment may be more a case of personal taste than anything else.

Lastly, I’d like to talk about the unity of Tribulations. How do the stories pull together? They pull together because of recurrent echoes, images, themes, events. You will start to notice three or four stories in that a certain woman seems to be an echo of another woman, but slightly different. A certain child stares with the same intensity as another. There are even some stories which appear to dovetail in terms of their narratives, such as Fireflies and Playing With Fire, but then again, it could be my mind playing tricks on me. This collection will do that to you, make you see things which aren’t there, which incidentally is another thematic strand running through the whole thing, particularly well captured in the paranoia of Chasing Shadows.

Tribulations is cutting edge both in execution, theme and setting, but it is also classic in that there is a mastery on display here, a surety of hand in the direction and intention of the stories. Poetic and magical at all times, but down to earth in the way it reflects the tribulations of everyday people. It is refreshing that in the midst of a world in which increasingly the focus is on issues – political, societal, topical – that a great writer can remind us the best writing is timelessly about people, feelings and experiences. Basically, to shed light on the tribulations and triumphs of being alive.

By Joseph Sale

[Andrew Novak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Think O. Henry with monsters and wasteland settings.

Think Shirley Jackson with strippers and ghosts.

Think tasteful twists and several megatons of incendiary emotional payload. Sadness, angst, anxiety, fear, lust, love, sentimentality—Thomas covers all bases with raw authenticity and daring creativity.

Here are some synopses of my favorites from Tribulations:

“Vision Quest” – A man’s desire to reunite with his family revolves around deliberate high-speed freeway wrecks. Yeah. Fans of J.G. Ballard’s Crash will love this one.

“The Wastelands” – Life on the fringes of a dystopian police-state sucks, especially if you had to kill your wife and kids to spare them a fate worse than death. So why not team up with a mutant-humanoid giant in a desperate attempt to revive them?

“Misty” – A man falls in love with a woman he thinks might be a stripper. Hilarity does not ensue.

“The Handyman” – Hey, it’s a cruel, cyberpunk world and a man with a multi-purpose cybernetic arm has gotta do what he’s gotta do to get by, amirite?

“Divining” – A hardscrabble, Tarot card-reading construction worker falls headlong into a sordid romance.

“Gandaberunda” – A mythological creature stalks the children of a small town.

“Asking for Forgiveness” – A humanoid dog-child contemplates the controversial decisions of its human parents.

“The Offering on the Hill” – A tale of a man’s mystical, desert-wasteland, post-apocalypse, desperate-horror-dread-quest to be reunited with his family.

Richard Thomas’s Tribulations is slick neon city streets and deep primeval wilderness. It’s a loved one’s caress and burning blood in your eyes. It’s blossoming hopes and deteriorating relationships. It is the soft dance of fireflies and the snapping maw of a rabid feral dog.

Yes, time to re-up on the Xanax, friends, because the twenty-five stories of Tribulations all deliver on the titular promise. Big time. You’re gonna feel the weight of the world as you read, and you're gonna love every second of it.

[I. H. Syracusa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of absolute bangers. Original and creative takes on horror and noir. I loved this collection. Works great as a gateway drug for his latest collection Spontaneous Human Combustion. Some standouts for me are: "Flowers for Jessica," "Vision Quest," and "Shackled to the Shadows." But I thought they were all exemplary.

[Marcie Fraser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Richards Thomas’s Tribulations made me very uncomfortable, in a really good way. You know that way, the way you feel when you know you shouldn’t be doing something. The stories twist through every emotion. Dark building suspense which made me  sit up straight and breath heavy sighs. It’s a book that makes you wriggle in your chair. The stories are packed tightly with compressed meaningful words that leave you satiated. Glittered with surprising romantic gems and families enduring frightening turmoil, the main characters seem desperate to try to be the hero in their own frightening nightmare.

[Bjorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome. I'll try to write a review soon.

EDIT: I'm not going to do a long, extensive review of this collection, but I wanted to say that I liked it quite a bit. It was a pretty quick read (I devoured it in a weekend) with some good creepy imagery and solid storytelling. I enjoyed how some of the stories seemed to be connected by characters or events, but were never explicitly addressed as being as such. The stories range from surreal and dreamlike to stark and terrifying to weird and full of unease. There's lots to like in these stories, and I look forward to reading more of Richard Thomas's work.

[Johann Thorsson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of dark and weird fiction.

Each story superbly written though the collection as a whole lacks a focus. Still, that's like saying that the great box of assorted chocolates you just ate didn't all taste the same.

Richard Thomas writes with a fury and the stories here are all wonderfully gritty. Highly recommended for fans of the rough dark stuff.

[Netanella · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this much more than I actually did.

There are some stand out stories here - brutal, gut-clenching stories of loss and suffering and death. Yet there are so many of these stories and their similar pace - their storytelling - became a relentless staccato of grief and despair that, eventually, and with a little regret, I had to put aside.

[Audra (ouija.reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I received a copy of this book for review*

This collection is the smell coming up through the floorboards. It's that basement door you avoid eye contact with—you know it's crazy, but something's there, watching, waiting. These stories have elements of fantasy and the supernatural, but they also dig into something innately human and they will get under your skin. The whole spectrum of dark literary genius lies here. Disturb at your own risk.

Richard Thomas is not to be missed. As Editor-in-Chief of Dark House Press, he is consistently putting out amazing and beautiful books, but his own are just as stunning. A worthy addition to the genre and one of the reasons that horror should be taken seriously.

[Michael Gladish · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read that touches not only dark fiction, but many stories where characters must make touch decisions, based on care and love. Favorites in this area for me were "Chrysalis" and "The Wastelands". Bleak views of the future abound and I really enjoyed how the author managed the grief and sorrow presented. Wish Goodreads rating system would go to one decimal point. I'd give this book a 4.4 or 4.5.

[Bill Hsu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice cover, and some really nice ideas here. But I'm not a fan of some of the writing.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes we need a little darkness in our lives to fully appreciate the light. Richard Thomas gives us that and so much more in his collection of short stories... you can read my full review here https://horrornovelreviews.com/2016/0...