Tripping the Tale Fantastic: Weird Fiction by Deaf and Hard of Hearing Writers

by Christopher Jon Heuer (Editor), David Langford (Contributor), Kristen Ringman (Contributor)

From haunted Civil War battlefields to a severed ear discovered on a nightly run; from lab-grown dinosaurs to forest creatures that steal away children under the cover of night; from deadly bio-engineered fleas to a burning teenage desire for cybernetic amputations: Deaf and hard of hearing authors from around the world bring you this fun, though oftentimes disturbing, collection of short fiction.


"So often the future we imagine is homogenous: everyone has the same baseline abilities and there is a presumption that all five senses are the norm. This collection has stories of people accessing new technologies, and people living in worlds where to hear is to be abnormal. There are stories that explore the imposition of language values on the Deaf community and the harm committed in the name of 'help.' And there are stories in which we get to experience how others communicate. A thought-provoking collection." --Farah Mendlesohn, author of Rhetorics of Fantasy


"Even for someone like myself--a hearing person who has long been around the Deaf community--this anthology often gives insight into a series of deaf characters in a way perhaps no hearing writer ever could, from reading the innermost thoughts from a Deaf perspective in thriller/horror to science fiction and fantasy, and every genre in between, whether it's 'The Ear, ' which interestingly recalls the old radio drama Suspense or the more chilling 'In the Haunted Darkness, ' which puts into words the feelings of likely more than a few people, sadly. More importantly, those stories without a deaf character highlight the most crucial takeaway: a deaf writer can world-build and set scenes as well as anyone." --Dave Galanter, author of Troublesome Minds


Contributors include Kris Ashton, John Lee Clark, Michael R. Collings, Willy Conley, Bobby Cox, Daniel Crosby, Marsha Graham, Kristen Harmon, Lilah Katcher, David Langford, Raymond Luczak, A. M. Matte, Brighid Meredith, Kristen Ringman, Maverick Smith, Tonya Marie Stremlau, Jacob Waring, Joanne Yee, and Kelsey M. Young.


Christopher Jon Heuer is the author of two books. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Disability, Short Story Collection, Science Fiction

198 pages, Paperback

First published October 9, 2017

Reviews

[David H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the things I liked in Heuer's introduction to this anthology was his desire to have more than Deaf/HOH stories by Deaf/HOH writers (though those are excellent!). I'd hate for any writer to feel they must only write from their own experience (though selfishly I'm starved for D/HOH content).

Like all anthologies, not every story worked for me. I won't rehash or rate every single story here, as there were 19 of them (all but one of whose authors were new to me). I will point out a few of my favorites:

* My favorite piece was Bobby Cox & Joanne Yee's "Rui's Story," which was opaque in its setting, but involved one of the most beautiful metaphors for signing I've seen yet.

* Kelsey M. Young's "Understanding" was absolutely fascinating to me as a great use of worldbuilding to develop not only a future deaf colony planet, but also featuring what's basically a guidance counselor helping a student in a setting that doesn't or won't accommodate his needs. I don't often see my own experiences reflected in this manner.

* David Langford's reprinted story, "Hearing Aid," was fun if only because of some of the repressed humor throughout (why is Anderson even friends with that asshole Nigel, ha!).

All of the stories in Tripping the Tale Fantastic were science fiction, fantasy, or horror, and about 3-4 also had mystery elements. From what I can tell, about half of all the stories featured Deaf/HOH characters. I'm definitely going to follow the contributors for further stories.

[Leigh Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deaf reader reviewing books with deaf characters. This book is listed on my ranked list of books with deaf characters.

This is an anthology of stories, most of which contain a deaf character. I have no complaints, and why would I when all these stories are by deaf or hard of hearing authors?

Titles with explicitly deaf characters are:

“The Meaning, not the Words” by Kristen Ringman
“The Ear” by Willy Conley
“Family Dog” by Raymond Luczak
“The Vibrating Mouth” by John Lee Clark
“The Job” by Maverick Smith
“The Climax” by Tonya Maria Stremlau
“In the Haunted Darkness” by Michael R. Collins
“Spirit Box” by Kristen Harmon
“Understanding” Kelsey M. Young
“Online Dating” by Daniel Crosby

Other titles metaphorize deafness, such as “Hearing Aid” by David Langford and “Rui’s Story” by Bobby Cox and Joanne Yee.

I also enjoyed the stories with no deaf characters.

[Xavi G. Xochi · Rating 4 out of 5]

My absolute favorite story from this wonderful collection (some were meh admittedly though) was Starting from Scratch by Kris Ashton! Amazing, and literally perfect story; from start to finish. Second favorite was Ghostly Demands by Marsha Graham, enthralling story, was sad when it ended.

[Babsidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely collection of stories, some spectacular, some okay. I really, really want sequels to at least three of them. More from these authors, please?

[Sara G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some truly excellent stories, and some a bit ok, but mostly a great intro to many of these writers.