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On the Edges of Vision
In On the Edges of Vision, unease sounds itself in the language of legend. Images call on memory, on the monstrous self. In Helen McClory's daring debut collection, the skin prickles against sweeps of light or darkness, the fantastic or the frightful; deep water, dark woods, or scattered flesh in desert sand. Whether telling of a boy cyclops or a pretty dead girl, drowned sailors or the devil himself, each story draws the reader towards not bleakness but a tale half-told, a truth half-true: that the monster is human, and only wants to reach out and take you by the hand.
136 pages, Paperback
First published June 4, 2015
22 people are currently reading
1046 people want to read
About the author
Helen McClory
11 books208 followersHelen McClory lives in Edinburgh and grew up between there and the isle of Skye. Her first collection, On the Edges of Vision, was published by Queen's Ferry Press in August 2015 and won the Saltire First Book of the Year 2015. Her second collection, Mayhem & Death, was written for the lonely and published in March 2018.
There is a moor and a cold sea in her heart.
There is a moor and a cold sea in her heart.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
June 8, 2023
Fate conto di essere al cinema, buio assoluto, siete seduti su delle poltrocine molto morbide, anche se l'odore di fritto dei popcorn smorza un po' quella poesia che il luogo riesce a creare ad ogni proiezione. Ed ecco che lo schermo all'improvviso si accende e via parte il film, anzi un mosaico di corti e...
Con uno stile poliedrico, l'autrice pennella diapositive che vanno dal grottesco, all'horror di serie Z, dalla poetica crepuscolare, all'humour nero, fino ad arrivare a toccare anche corde drammatiche.
I racconti sono molteplici e molto brevi, alcuni addirittura di neanche due pagine. Mi ha sbalordito la varietà dei racconti, uno differente dall'altro, sia per svolgimento che per scrittura. Per contro mi son ritrovato a leggerne alcuni completamente distante, annoiandomi spesso o rimanendo con un punto interrogativo alla fine.
Nel complesso una buona scoperta, da recuperare!
Con uno stile poliedrico, l'autrice pennella diapositive che vanno dal grottesco, all'horror di serie Z, dalla poetica crepuscolare, all'humour nero, fino ad arrivare a toccare anche corde drammatiche.
I racconti sono molteplici e molto brevi, alcuni addirittura di neanche due pagine. Mi ha sbalordito la varietà dei racconti, uno differente dall'altro, sia per svolgimento che per scrittura. Per contro mi son ritrovato a leggerne alcuni completamente distante, annoiandomi spesso o rimanendo con un punto interrogativo alla fine.
Nel complesso una buona scoperta, da recuperare!
December 9, 2018
Helen McClory is a star. I’ve never read anything quite like this, and as much as this at different times reminded me of many writers - Joy Williams, Angela Carter, George Saunders, Donald Barthelme, Lydia Davis - McClory has a unique voice. Expect great things and surely more prizes.
July 14, 2015
In ON THE EDGES OF VISION, Helen McClory masterfully explores the slow-burning terror that exists in the space between the darkness and the light. This author's brilliance lies in her patience and empathy, her sure knowledge of the monsters we all fear, and, most disturbing of all, the monsters that live within us. A stunning collection. Highly recommended.
August 3, 2015
Favorite stories: Pretty Dead Girl Takes a Break, Pecan Pie, and A Short History of Creation. Author interview forthcoming in The Female Gaze.
December 23, 2023
En 2015 descubrí a esta gran autora durante mi estancia en tierras escocesas, y hace unos días encontré en un botadero de El Sótano la edición en español de aquel libro que me cautivó. Así que comparto fragmentos de la reseña que escribí en esos días:
_On the edges of vision_ es uno de esos libros que con el mero título activa el engranaje de la imaginación. ¿Qué podemos encontrar en los bordes de la visión, donde las figuras se tornan borrosas, donde la fina capa que separa lo real de lo imaginario se diluye? ¿Qué historias se nos escapan pero alcanzamos a atisbar con el rabillo del ojo? Helen atrapó 40 de esas historias escurridizas. Historias de chicas asesinadas que regresan a la casa de sus captores para tomarse un café, de vampiros, de caníbales, de chicas que todas las noches queman sus cuerpos para renacer al día siguiente, de ahogados, de diablos en merenderos, de pueblos malditos, de sueños, de monstruos, de películas que nunca verás, de brujas, de amas de casa tristes, de chicas rezándole a San Miguel, de bailarinas de ballet tan pequeñas que no pueden contar sus historias, de fantasmas, de casas embrujadas, de botargas en busca de venganza, de rituales en aeropuertos, de cíclopes, de marionetas, de niñas vestidas con trajes de buzo, de venados blancos…
Helen absorbe las leyendas locales, las asimila y las transforma, creando su propia mitología; todo esto con un lenguaje preciso, bello y críptico que genera un ambiente de ensueño.
Conforme devoraba las historias (aunque estoy seguro que ellas me estaban devorando), una extraña sensación se apoderó de mi cuerpo; esa misma sensación que te visita cada vez que encuentras a un autor cuyos vasos comunicantes son muy evidentes: la brevedad, lo fantástico, lo críptico, el lenguaje cuidado… Además, descubrir que los lugares que frecuentas (como la biblioteca central, donde paso la mayor parte de las tardes) sirvieron como locación de algunos cuentos me hicieron sentir que yo también estaba ahí, como actor incidental.
Helen ha sido un gratísimo y maravilloso descubrimiento, que justifica con creces la misión que me propuse al llegar a estas tierras lluviosas.
Acá pueden leer la reseña completa:
https://www.penumbria.mx/on-the-edges...
_On the edges of vision_ es uno de esos libros que con el mero título activa el engranaje de la imaginación. ¿Qué podemos encontrar en los bordes de la visión, donde las figuras se tornan borrosas, donde la fina capa que separa lo real de lo imaginario se diluye? ¿Qué historias se nos escapan pero alcanzamos a atisbar con el rabillo del ojo? Helen atrapó 40 de esas historias escurridizas. Historias de chicas asesinadas que regresan a la casa de sus captores para tomarse un café, de vampiros, de caníbales, de chicas que todas las noches queman sus cuerpos para renacer al día siguiente, de ahogados, de diablos en merenderos, de pueblos malditos, de sueños, de monstruos, de películas que nunca verás, de brujas, de amas de casa tristes, de chicas rezándole a San Miguel, de bailarinas de ballet tan pequeñas que no pueden contar sus historias, de fantasmas, de casas embrujadas, de botargas en busca de venganza, de rituales en aeropuertos, de cíclopes, de marionetas, de niñas vestidas con trajes de buzo, de venados blancos…
Helen absorbe las leyendas locales, las asimila y las transforma, creando su propia mitología; todo esto con un lenguaje preciso, bello y críptico que genera un ambiente de ensueño.
Conforme devoraba las historias (aunque estoy seguro que ellas me estaban devorando), una extraña sensación se apoderó de mi cuerpo; esa misma sensación que te visita cada vez que encuentras a un autor cuyos vasos comunicantes son muy evidentes: la brevedad, lo fantástico, lo críptico, el lenguaje cuidado… Además, descubrir que los lugares que frecuentas (como la biblioteca central, donde paso la mayor parte de las tardes) sirvieron como locación de algunos cuentos me hicieron sentir que yo también estaba ahí, como actor incidental.
Helen ha sido un gratísimo y maravilloso descubrimiento, que justifica con creces la misión que me propuse al llegar a estas tierras lluviosas.
Acá pueden leer la reseña completa:
https://www.penumbria.mx/on-the-edges...
May 23, 2020
Picchi lynchiani non male.
January 25, 2021
2.5-3/5
June 2, 2020
La realtà, quella brutta e mediocre condizione di vita con la quale ci tocca confrontarci ogni giorno, si regge su un delicato equilibrio sociale. In questo libro, l'assurdo invade il quotidiano e lo trasforma completamente, popolandolo di personaggi sinistri, strambi, svitati, e di situazioni piene di disagio, quasi insopportabili. Ho cominciato a leggere questa raccolta con diffidenza, ma la scrittura della McClory mi ha stregata (e confusa, soprattutto) praticamente subito.
Non c'è orrore più efficace di quello che striscia fuori dalle nostre certezze quotidiane, e l'autrice lo sa. C'è qualcosa di sinistro e asfissiante nel nostro mondo, qualcosa di sbagliato e perverso, fatto di metafore allucinanti e situazioni paradossali, e tutto questo è molto, troppo vicino alle nostre vite, alla nostra mediocre e rassicurante realtà, e la McClory lo espone alla luce del sole, nero su bianco, come una macchia che cerchi di nascondere ma che rimane sempre lì, a disturbare.
Le storie sono assurde, grottesche e disturbanti, e lo dico con sincera ammirazione verso chi le ha scritte. Un trip soffocante e folle nelle trame più oscure del quotidiano, alla (vana) ricerca di senso e buonsenso.
Non c'è orrore più efficace di quello che striscia fuori dalle nostre certezze quotidiane, e l'autrice lo sa. C'è qualcosa di sinistro e asfissiante nel nostro mondo, qualcosa di sbagliato e perverso, fatto di metafore allucinanti e situazioni paradossali, e tutto questo è molto, troppo vicino alle nostre vite, alla nostra mediocre e rassicurante realtà, e la McClory lo espone alla luce del sole, nero su bianco, come una macchia che cerchi di nascondere ma che rimane sempre lì, a disturbare.
Le storie sono assurde, grottesche e disturbanti, e lo dico con sincera ammirazione verso chi le ha scritte. Un trip soffocante e folle nelle trame più oscure del quotidiano, alla (vana) ricerca di senso e buonsenso.
May 13, 2017
2.5 stars.
I liked the format of this collection - a mix of general short stories, interspersed with genuine flash fiction which was something I hadn't read before and really enjoyed the experience of. If a short story can knock me out in a single page, then that will wow me.
Sadly I didn't really warm to this collection. Although I enjoyed the more supernatural element to some of the stories, and I felt that some of them had some very clever ideas and were fresh and interesting, I found the majority of them to be completely unmemorable. I felt myself zoning out as I flipped through most of the pages, and I didn't really understand the point of some of the stories I was reading. Which was a shame, because McClory for sure has a way with words.
I guess this one just wasn't really for me.
I liked the format of this collection - a mix of general short stories, interspersed with genuine flash fiction which was something I hadn't read before and really enjoyed the experience of. If a short story can knock me out in a single page, then that will wow me.
Sadly I didn't really warm to this collection. Although I enjoyed the more supernatural element to some of the stories, and I felt that some of them had some very clever ideas and were fresh and interesting, I found the majority of them to be completely unmemorable. I felt myself zoning out as I flipped through most of the pages, and I didn't really understand the point of some of the stories I was reading. Which was a shame, because McClory for sure has a way with words.
I guess this one just wasn't really for me.
December 8, 2021
Istantanee che non sono sicura mi siano piaciute.
⠀
"Fotogrammi di un film horror perduto" è come un grande album di foto, dove ahimè non si è usciti sempre bene in foto.
Nonostante l'attenzione nel rimanere in palette sia stata evidente.
⠀
Horror non è la parola esatta per descrivere questi 40 racconti. Li descriverei tutt' al più storie brevi, al limite del grottesco.
Ma anche su questo non ne sono sicura.
⠀
Lo stile è asciutto e la struttura scheletrica. Un po' come se Helen McClory avesse voluto lasciare nella fantasia del lettore la creazione
delle atmosfere. Un po' come se avesse tanto da dire, ma non riuscisse a trasmetterle.
⠀
Per me è un grande meh.
⠀
"Fotogrammi di un film horror perduto" è come un grande album di foto, dove ahimè non si è usciti sempre bene in foto.
Nonostante l'attenzione nel rimanere in palette sia stata evidente.
⠀
Horror non è la parola esatta per descrivere questi 40 racconti. Li descriverei tutt' al più storie brevi, al limite del grottesco.
Ma anche su questo non ne sono sicura.
⠀
Lo stile è asciutto e la struttura scheletrica. Un po' come se Helen McClory avesse voluto lasciare nella fantasia del lettore la creazione
delle atmosfere. Un po' come se avesse tanto da dire, ma non riuscisse a trasmetterle.
⠀
Per me è un grande meh.
April 30, 2016
More like 3.5. The writing was absolutely stunning, but I would have preferred a clearer narrative in some of the stories - just personal preference.
February 5, 2024
ascoltato in audiolibro.
July 25, 2017
Originally reviewed for monkeybicycle:
A debut collection that lingers in the curves of your eyes and during the double-blink gazes of late night shadows, Helen McClory has wound tight, unexpected stories in On the Edges of Vision. With forty flash fiction stories taking up a slim amount of pulp, a reader would be tempted to finish at break speed, congratulating themselves on a job well done, but it would be a disservice not to slowly read the prose. McClory has polished each sentence and selected every word to elicit fear, surprise, and, most importantly, the uncanny (that most pleasurable of experiences in literature, if I do blatantly opine).
It is hard to pinpoint exactly where the collection as a whole lies: perhaps it is the author’s own fairy tale world, full of lopped-off body parts and viscera. Or maybe bits of the irreal, with familiar characters—vampires, cyclops—but which become unexpected as they slump next to you on a bar stool, buying your next drink.
The story which most embodies the book’s unique narrative world is the later “Ipseity,” where the main character is introduced in a mirrored surrounding with a painting of the man she is supposed to marry. However, McClory punches our expectations,
“She was supposed to be wealthy; she was supposed to be a princess… But she didn’t have a tiara, and no one came to remove her clothes at night or put peas under her mattress to test her.”
With a paragraph jump soon after, similarities to the Twilight Zone episode “Five Characters in Search of an Exit” are hard to avoid. Instead of peeling away layers, the author seems to add extra strips to her stories, building on what you just read, what you expected, and covering it with a new gooey strip of well-crafted prose.
Because the stories are short, the smallest being a paragraph, it would be easy to think of them as ephemeral, bits of fiction to enjoy in one moment before moving on to the next, but as the title of the collection suggests, these stories and characters are hangers on. They might not appear in the forefront of your imagination, but they toil in the side view, translucent memories trailing you as you read on to the next story.
In what is no doubt my favorite of the entire collection, McClory makes vivid so many intentions of her craft in “Coral-Red.” The reader feels comfortable in Miriam’s house, which “has been featured in several stylish magazines,” but by the end of the first paragraph, the world is again tilted as it’s revealed the house is currently haunted. Children run through walls as Miriam putters around her house, preparing it for magazine spread photographs. Out of nowhere we learn the truth about Miriam and the violence of her past. Who are these children? It’s here where McClory is most uncanny, and she encompasses that term, which comes from the German Unheimliche, but more importantly the unhomely. What should be familiar and safe is menacing even within a home where one should feel most restful.
Not every story is filled with brooding dread; plenty are fanciful, humorous stories filled with dread as well. “Sexually Frustrated Mermaids” fantasize about, well, you know what and a bedraggled sandwich-shaped mascot commits a bloody crime in “A Common Enough Thing.” When turning himself into the police, he meets “[an] officer with the scissors, a woman with over thirty years in the profession who had recently been demoted to desk and costume-removal duty.”
Certainly the most impressive and timely story is the first. “Pretty Dead Girl Takes a Break” reads as a direct reaction to the saturation of young dead women who are often the center of downcast crime dramas, but really aren’t. Their bodies are found, but, actually, the audience is more concerned with Matthew McConaughey’s loopy ramblings about time and all that. But McClory takes the focus back to the dead girl: “Her death is always about things other than death.”
Many active readers might find themselves manically underlining that sentence.
On the Edges of Vision is simmering. It also feels cyclical: even with its last page, the collection continues to go round. Reviewing stories already read, new corners are stumbled upon, missing limbs are found, and characters have changed and frothed. The book is never quite over and like the title suggests, stays on the edges, just out of reach, ready to be revisited. If anything, McClory’s monsters are both homely and unfamiliar, and the tangle is what makes this collection ever so enjoyable.
A debut collection that lingers in the curves of your eyes and during the double-blink gazes of late night shadows, Helen McClory has wound tight, unexpected stories in On the Edges of Vision. With forty flash fiction stories taking up a slim amount of pulp, a reader would be tempted to finish at break speed, congratulating themselves on a job well done, but it would be a disservice not to slowly read the prose. McClory has polished each sentence and selected every word to elicit fear, surprise, and, most importantly, the uncanny (that most pleasurable of experiences in literature, if I do blatantly opine).
It is hard to pinpoint exactly where the collection as a whole lies: perhaps it is the author’s own fairy tale world, full of lopped-off body parts and viscera. Or maybe bits of the irreal, with familiar characters—vampires, cyclops—but which become unexpected as they slump next to you on a bar stool, buying your next drink.
The story which most embodies the book’s unique narrative world is the later “Ipseity,” where the main character is introduced in a mirrored surrounding with a painting of the man she is supposed to marry. However, McClory punches our expectations,
“She was supposed to be wealthy; she was supposed to be a princess… But she didn’t have a tiara, and no one came to remove her clothes at night or put peas under her mattress to test her.”
With a paragraph jump soon after, similarities to the Twilight Zone episode “Five Characters in Search of an Exit” are hard to avoid. Instead of peeling away layers, the author seems to add extra strips to her stories, building on what you just read, what you expected, and covering it with a new gooey strip of well-crafted prose.
Because the stories are short, the smallest being a paragraph, it would be easy to think of them as ephemeral, bits of fiction to enjoy in one moment before moving on to the next, but as the title of the collection suggests, these stories and characters are hangers on. They might not appear in the forefront of your imagination, but they toil in the side view, translucent memories trailing you as you read on to the next story.
In what is no doubt my favorite of the entire collection, McClory makes vivid so many intentions of her craft in “Coral-Red.” The reader feels comfortable in Miriam’s house, which “has been featured in several stylish magazines,” but by the end of the first paragraph, the world is again tilted as it’s revealed the house is currently haunted. Children run through walls as Miriam putters around her house, preparing it for magazine spread photographs. Out of nowhere we learn the truth about Miriam and the violence of her past. Who are these children? It’s here where McClory is most uncanny, and she encompasses that term, which comes from the German Unheimliche, but more importantly the unhomely. What should be familiar and safe is menacing even within a home where one should feel most restful.
Not every story is filled with brooding dread; plenty are fanciful, humorous stories filled with dread as well. “Sexually Frustrated Mermaids” fantasize about, well, you know what and a bedraggled sandwich-shaped mascot commits a bloody crime in “A Common Enough Thing.” When turning himself into the police, he meets “[an] officer with the scissors, a woman with over thirty years in the profession who had recently been demoted to desk and costume-removal duty.”
Certainly the most impressive and timely story is the first. “Pretty Dead Girl Takes a Break” reads as a direct reaction to the saturation of young dead women who are often the center of downcast crime dramas, but really aren’t. Their bodies are found, but, actually, the audience is more concerned with Matthew McConaughey’s loopy ramblings about time and all that. But McClory takes the focus back to the dead girl: “Her death is always about things other than death.”
Many active readers might find themselves manically underlining that sentence.
On the Edges of Vision is simmering. It also feels cyclical: even with its last page, the collection continues to go round. Reviewing stories already read, new corners are stumbled upon, missing limbs are found, and characters have changed and frothed. The book is never quite over and like the title suggests, stays on the edges, just out of reach, ready to be revisited. If anything, McClory’s monsters are both homely and unfamiliar, and the tangle is what makes this collection ever so enjoyable.
January 21, 2023
Perturbante, criptico, surrealista
September 10, 2021
Ciò che è privo di dolore è inesauribile.
Ragazza bella morta si prende una pausa ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Motel, tavola calda, farmacia notturna ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Di quella volta che mi hai tagliato la mano e poi l’hai servita a tavola, come se fosse prosciutto ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Materiale ⭐️⭐️
Biblico ⭐️⭐️⭐️
I marinai annegati ⭐️⭐️
Regalo ⭐️⭐️
Conflagrazione ⭐️⭐️
Ragazzo ciclope ⭐️⭐️
Torta di noci pecan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
In onore di Hesse ⭐️⭐️
Piatto ⭐️⭐️
Fotogrammi di un film horror perduto ⭐️⭐️
Agile ⭐️⭐️
Ombre ⭐️⭐️
Divinità domestica ⭐️⭐️
Tripofobia ⭐️⭐️
Arte ⭐️⭐️
Il sangue/Traumatofobia ⭐️⭐️⭐️
L’isola oltre questa ⭐️⭐️
Glitter rosa ⭐️⭐️
Viaggio atomizzato ⭐️⭐️
Ipseità ⭐️⭐️⭐️
La padrona di casa nel machair ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Incontro con una piccola strega ⭐️⭐️
Rosso corallo ⭐️⭐️
Uomo e cosa ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Automatismo ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Una cosa abbastanza normale ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sirene sessualmente frustrate ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Grandi passi ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Fulmine estivo ⭐️⭐️
Il museo dei dolori ⭐️⭐️
Non detto ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Infilarsi ⭐️⭐️
Scienza ⭐️⭐️
Allestire i tavoli! ⭐️⭐️
Breve storia della creazione ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sophrosyne ⭐️⭐️
Each Uisge ⭐️⭐️
Mah. Tanti racconti della raccolta sono confusi, troppo brevi per svilupparsi realmente in qualcosa di interessante. Quelli davvero belli sono pochi. Si salva comunque anche l’atmosfera generale, non proprio orrorifica, ma sicuramente inquietante.
Ragazza bella morta si prende una pausa ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Motel, tavola calda, farmacia notturna ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Di quella volta che mi hai tagliato la mano e poi l’hai servita a tavola, come se fosse prosciutto ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Materiale ⭐️⭐️
Biblico ⭐️⭐️⭐️
I marinai annegati ⭐️⭐️
Regalo ⭐️⭐️
Conflagrazione ⭐️⭐️
Ragazzo ciclope ⭐️⭐️
Torta di noci pecan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
In onore di Hesse ⭐️⭐️
Piatto ⭐️⭐️
Fotogrammi di un film horror perduto ⭐️⭐️
Agile ⭐️⭐️
Ombre ⭐️⭐️
Divinità domestica ⭐️⭐️
Tripofobia ⭐️⭐️
Arte ⭐️⭐️
Il sangue/Traumatofobia ⭐️⭐️⭐️
L’isola oltre questa ⭐️⭐️
Glitter rosa ⭐️⭐️
Viaggio atomizzato ⭐️⭐️
Ipseità ⭐️⭐️⭐️
La padrona di casa nel machair ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Incontro con una piccola strega ⭐️⭐️
Rosso corallo ⭐️⭐️
Uomo e cosa ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Automatismo ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Una cosa abbastanza normale ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sirene sessualmente frustrate ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Grandi passi ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Fulmine estivo ⭐️⭐️
Il museo dei dolori ⭐️⭐️
Non detto ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Infilarsi ⭐️⭐️
Scienza ⭐️⭐️
Allestire i tavoli! ⭐️⭐️
Breve storia della creazione ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sophrosyne ⭐️⭐️
Each Uisge ⭐️⭐️
Mah. Tanti racconti della raccolta sono confusi, troppo brevi per svilupparsi realmente in qualcosa di interessante. Quelli davvero belli sono pochi. Si salva comunque anche l’atmosfera generale, non proprio orrorifica, ma sicuramente inquietante.
October 30, 2020
I think I’m too cerebral for this book. I want meaning and endings and logic. I love the gothic and myth and monsters. But I’m not capable of closing off my intellect and relishing the sensuality of ambiguity. McClory addresses these things in passing — meaning, ambiguity, reason, always to point towards the way these stories ought to be read — as experiences not story arcs which travel a straightforward path which the head-bound like me can follow and predict.
I ‘got’ some of the stories better than others. A couple just seemed to be unconnected words. Others felt like set-ups which didn’t go anywhere. I’m being absolutely honest when I say I think the problem is with me. I’m the same with a lot of contemporary poetry. I think I’m supposed to just let the writing happen to me, and I’m rubbish at that. I can’t do yoga or mindfulness either.
The writing is undoubtedly beautiful, the angle of the gaze always unusual, the settings well drawn.
My favourites were Pecan Pie, Sexually Frustrated Mermaids, Man and What, and Ipseity.
I ‘got’ some of the stories better than others. A couple just seemed to be unconnected words. Others felt like set-ups which didn’t go anywhere. I’m being absolutely honest when I say I think the problem is with me. I’m the same with a lot of contemporary poetry. I think I’m supposed to just let the writing happen to me, and I’m rubbish at that. I can’t do yoga or mindfulness either.
The writing is undoubtedly beautiful, the angle of the gaze always unusual, the settings well drawn.
My favourites were Pecan Pie, Sexually Frustrated Mermaids, Man and What, and Ipseity.
February 14, 2016
This is a lovely collection of stories which juxtaposes the weird and wonderful with the ordinary. Stand out stories for me were probably Pecan Pie and A Short History of Creation. I also liked Unspoken a lot, although I almost wish it wasn't a flash fiction story because I'd like to find out more about the characters introduced there! Helen McClory has a unique and wonderful writing voice, and I'm interested to see what she does next. In the meantime, if you're looking for literary short stories you should check out On The Edges of Vision.
March 31, 2016
By turns enchanting, scary, unsettling and curiously comic, this collection of (very) short stories won the Saltire First Book award. The length and variety of the pieces make it really easy to dip into, and often you're hooked from the first sentence or by the title.
The one frustration is that sometimes really good ideas are no sooner introduced than the story is over. They cry out for longer treatment, which is perhaps why McClory has also written a novel and is working on another - as well as a second flash-fiction collection, provisionally titled Mayhem And Death.
The one frustration is that sometimes really good ideas are no sooner introduced than the story is over. They cry out for longer treatment, which is perhaps why McClory has also written a novel and is working on another - as well as a second flash-fiction collection, provisionally titled Mayhem And Death.
March 18, 2024
Good grief...what a colossal waste of time. Since when does a random collection of gibberish equate to short stories? I guess this here is the example. There may have literally been 3 stories of 40 that made a somewhat linear story otherwise most of them, IMO, were utter nonsense.
I do like to give writers props though for putting it out there. I'm sure there's an audience for this...it's just not me.
I do like to give writers props though for putting it out there. I'm sure there's an audience for this...it's just not me.
April 10, 2016
A very thoughtful and surreal collection of stories that blurs the line of what makes something a monster and what makes it human. So very often it is absolutely stunning (Material, A Common Enough Thing, Pecan Pie), and only occasionally stumbles when it veers toward the very abstract. When the stories focus on the very small, on the very quiet, the book illuminates brilliantly.
August 29, 2016
Fantastic collection of flash fiction and shorter fiction filled with monsters, magic, dark humor, and beautiful, beautiful writing!
May 2, 2021
La mia videorecensione: https://youtu.be/rqBYlXb4cQk
January 25, 2022
Una donna andata a fuoco, una legata, uccisa e abbandonata in mezzo al nulla, il figlio di due demoni, tre vampiri in un motel, la ballerina di plastica di un carillon che prende vita. Le loro storie e quelle di molti altri personaggi compongono questa raccolta di brevi racconti oscuri: piccole storie, fotogrammi e figure che attingono ad un immaginario tipicamente considerato “horror”, macabro per catapultare però i personaggi in situazioni a volte quotidiane, a volte di riflessione intima e introspettiva.
Sono piccole gemme narrative in cui l’elemento “terrifico” perde la sua centralità, per lasciare il posto a sentimenti comuni, con cui tutti possiamo empatizzare.
Peccato per l’alto numero di racconti un po’ troppo enigmatici che rendono difficile la comprensione del loro senso più profondo al lettore (le due stelle sono motivate solo da questo aspetto). Compensano un numero inferiore di altre storie scritte invece con un livello di qualità e pregio di significato veramente incredibile.
Sono piccole gemme narrative in cui l’elemento “terrifico” perde la sua centralità, per lasciare il posto a sentimenti comuni, con cui tutti possiamo empatizzare.
Peccato per l’alto numero di racconti un po’ troppo enigmatici che rendono difficile la comprensione del loro senso più profondo al lettore (le due stelle sono motivate solo da questo aspetto). Compensano un numero inferiore di altre storie scritte invece con un livello di qualità e pregio di significato veramente incredibile.
October 3, 2022
Per celebrare il mese più spaventoso dell'anno ho deciso di dedicarmi a un paio di letture non per forza orrorifiche, ma comunque inquietanti. La mia scelta è ricaduta su "Fotogrammi di un film horror perduto" della McClory, libro di cui avevo sentito in tempo di pandemia e lockdown e che avevo voglia di leggere.
Si tratta di una quarantina di brevi racconti, delle vere e proprie scene che si leggono in poco tempo, ma non mi hanno lasciato molto.
Se per alcuni racconti l'effetto della "normalizzazione del surreale" funziona, come nel primo racconto, nella maggior parte degli altri non è così. È chiaro che non si trattino di storie horror in senso stretto, ma ho avuto molta difficoltà a leggerle. Occasione sprecata, peccato.
Si tratta di una quarantina di brevi racconti, delle vere e proprie scene che si leggono in poco tempo, ma non mi hanno lasciato molto.
Se per alcuni racconti l'effetto della "normalizzazione del surreale" funziona, come nel primo racconto, nella maggior parte degli altri non è così. È chiaro che non si trattino di storie horror in senso stretto, ma ho avuto molta difficoltà a leggerle. Occasione sprecata, peccato.
September 21, 2019
As a keen reader of this author's work, I was at first dismayed then delighted to learn that I'd had this wee gem on my shelves yet somehow never read it. On starting this I was immediately ensnared by the varying, challenging voices delivering these potent short works that expand, haunt and tickle the reader's imaginations, all in a good way.
"And the monster always, always hungers to touch." Love the author's sentence build and repeat use of words for emphasis and rhythm.
Not easily available so library borrow or buy second hand where you can, then pounce to purchase most recent work mayhem and death; more short fiery works of disquieting explosion. Ta. Ash.
"And the monster always, always hungers to touch." Love the author's sentence build and repeat use of words for emphasis and rhythm.
Not easily available so library borrow or buy second hand where you can, then pounce to purchase most recent work mayhem and death; more short fiery works of disquieting explosion. Ta. Ash.
December 8, 2021
Three words come to mind to describe this book: quirky, elegant and inconsistent. The first I use it in the best connotation possible; the book is like watching an arthouse film, like something out of german expressionism.
The second word speaks for itself. The writing is smooth (albeit confusing at times).
The third is what has brought my rating for it down. Some of the stories are an absolute delight, in the most bizarre, imaginative way. Others, unfortunately, were outright incomprehensible to me.
The second word speaks for itself. The writing is smooth (albeit confusing at times).
The third is what has brought my rating for it down. Some of the stories are an absolute delight, in the most bizarre, imaginative way. Others, unfortunately, were outright incomprehensible to me.
October 29, 2023
Questo libro è come la proverbiale scatola di cioccolatini di "Forrest Gump", non sai mai veramente cosa ti capita. A volte onirici, a volte scioccanti, a volte fuori di testa, a volte anche un po' noiosi, una carrellata di piccoli racconti. E proprio come pescando a caso i cioccolatini di una scatola che ho letto questo libro, godendomi ogni racconto, voltando pagina e trovandomi di fronte a un altro. Non posso dire di averli graditi tutti, ma nel complesso questo libro è stata una bella esperienza.
September 18, 2020
3.75🌟
Penso che un titolo non potesse essere pi azzeccato: con qualche vivida pennellata e pochissime pagine a disposizione per ogni racconto, l'autrice ci porta dentro ai suoi 'fotogrammi horror', brevissime storie dalle tinte spesso più weird che puramente horror.
Difficilmente amo i racconti così brevi, molti di questi invece mi sono arrivati come coltellate.
Da divorare in un pomeriggio pigro d'autunno.
Voto: 7/8
Penso che un titolo non potesse essere pi azzeccato: con qualche vivida pennellata e pochissime pagine a disposizione per ogni racconto, l'autrice ci porta dentro ai suoi 'fotogrammi horror', brevissime storie dalle tinte spesso più weird che puramente horror.
Difficilmente amo i racconti così brevi, molti di questi invece mi sono arrivati come coltellate.
Da divorare in un pomeriggio pigro d'autunno.
Voto: 7/8
March 25, 2022
Es una recopilación de cuentos. Todos me parece que tienen matices de misterio, de ciencia ficción, literatura gótica y fantasía. Los cuentos son breves y precisos. Algunos de sus cuentos con final abierto, como si no bastara el suspenso, la autora nos deja que la historia continúe en nuestra imaginación. En ocasiones pensé que las historias me transportaban al cine independiente, tal cual, que estaba viendo un cortometraje de arte.
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July 24, 2024
non posso che riconoscere la varietà e la fantasia dei "flash" narrativi dell'autrice ma per la maggior parte le storie non mi hanno trasmesso alcunchè, certe vicende non le ho proprio capite, come se fossero solo delle bozze, dei bozzetti senza sviluppo. Un grosso boh.
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