The Stay-Awake Men & Other Unstable Entities

by Matthew M. Bartlett, Scott Nicolay (Introduction)

A supermarket meat manager carves a doorway to a parallel world of bloody horror. A fading magician encounters his former mentor performing a terrifying new act. A party-goer ducks out early and is pursued by a creature bent on cruel malevolence. Winged creatures of unknown origin terrorize a small town. A disgruntled employee works his dark magic on a new breed of middle managers. A radio stunt shatters the sanity of a DJ. And a father talks his young daughter through a cataclysmic apocalypse. The Stay Awake Men and Other Unstable Entities. Seven new tales of terror by Matthew M. Bartlett.

Genres: Horror, Weird Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fiction

103 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 31, 2017

About the author

Matthew M. Bartlett was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1970. He writes dark and strange fiction at his home in Western Massachusetts, where he lives with his wife Katie and an unknown number of cats.

Reviews

[Karl]

While I had ordered and paid for the hardcover of "The Stay-Awake Men" directly from Dynotox Ministries last year, it has never arrived. As a matter of fact, Jordan Krall owes me a substantial amount of money for items that I ordered from him or his press, which now appears to have disappeared and will not respond to any e-mails. So being a fan of Mr. Bartlett, I ordered this paperback version of his book.

[Janie · Rating 5 out of 5]

These stories exist in hypnagogia, the surreal state before sleep where the impossible leers at us with knowing eyes. Sounds are not quite right, and familiar forms become monstrous in the half-light. Matthew Bartlett takes us to the edge of consciousness and makes real that which we fear the most. We are still awake.

[Rodney · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Stay-Awake Men and Other Unstable Entities is unsettling and unforgettable as Bartlett confidently explores some dark, strange places. This was a pleasure. I am even more of a fan.

[Phillip Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 to 4.5 for this hallucinatory, fever dream collection. Matthew M. Bartlett is a damn fine writer who just blows the doors off of the typical horror conventions. His writing reminds of a lava lamp, where shapes rise and fall, coalescing and changing into something you just can't look away from.

The last half of the collection of "No Abiding Place on Earth," "Kuklalar," "The Stay-awake Men," and "The Beginning of the World," are seared into my brain for good. He's the type of writer I will tell anyone I can about.

[Andrew Schultheis · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first Bartlett collection. The hallucinatory, nightmarish, paranoid tales in this book at times reminded me in tone and style of Thomas Ligotti, Mark Samuels and Jon Padgett. If you like these writers, you'll probably like this book. I did. Quite a bit actually. Looking forward to reading more by this author.

[Rodrigo Tello · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every story is a true masterpiece. And remember: there are fates worse than death...

[Orrin Grey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was first introduced to the work of Matthew M. Bartlett through last year's Creeping Waves, a collection that was really more mosaic novel as filtered through a bloody kaleidoscope. This slim volume is more like a traditional collection, only in the sense that the stories are more stand-alone tales, not the heavily interlocking Leeds stories that made up Creeping Waves. (Though, of course, Leeds does make an appearance here and there.) These are still Bartlett stories, however, through and through, and for those who haven't approached a Bartlett story before, you're in for a bizarre, bloody, grotesque treat.

Discovering Bartlett feels a lot like the first time I ever read Clive Barker or Thomas Ligotti, though Bartlett's voice is entirely his own. There's a confidence to the prose, to the weirdness, to the world-building. And "Spettrini," which had previously been released as a chapbook, is worth the price of this volume all by itself.

[Lewis Housley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can I just say that I love Matthew M. Barlett's work? I have barely gotten into his stuff this year, but it's great. It's raw, visceral, adult, and complex. "The Stay-Awake Men" melted my brain it was so good.

Certainly looking forward to reading more of his stuff.

[Zac Hawkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's nothing quite like getting lost in Leeds, Massachusetts. Bartletts opera house of woeful cosmic maladies.

As opposed to getting lost in Leeds, Yorkshire. Which come to think of it is also rather upsetting.

[Shawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lot of visceral imagery and a welcomed dose of surreal black humor try to help these bite sized nightmares become something a little more than sketches. I do wish some were expanded upon, especially "Spetrinni" or "No Abiding Place on Earth". The rest are fleeting in their impressions and really haven't done too much to tattoo themselves on the back of my eyelids as I try to find sleep at night.

Not bad, but not much meat on these maggot infested bones.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection is my favorite yet from Matt Bartlett. I miss the standard overarching world and theme from what other collections I've read thus far, but something about the writing here really drew me in. I don't want to say it's more mature, because I don't think the earlier stuff WASN'T, but he seems more comfortable with his authorial voice and dives into more varied themes and situations. Really good stuff.

[Stuart Coombe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark, short fiction. Some of these stories were genuinely nightmare inducing. I love the visceral unique voice of his stories.

[Donald Armfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bartlett puts your peepers to the test and ask a question...Are we awake? Or “Let me tell you something in private”
His dark settings and mysterious walks through city landscapes is a raising goose flesh delight, it’s terror that crawls up behind you and drags you deep into a place somewhere in Leeds, Massachusetts... that somewhere is the door Bartlett opens for you.
The whole collection is recommended but my top favorites “No Abiding Place on Earth” & “The Stay-Awake Men”

[Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The stories in this collection veer away from Bartlett’s usual hunting ground, the fictional town of Leeds, but are still as unsettling and weird as ever. The writing is flawless; he truly has a unique style which he uses to great effect, crafting stories that will stay with you well after finishing the book. I would wholeheartedly recommend this collection; Bartlett is my favourite writer and once again lives up to my expectations and leaves me impatient for more of his work!

[AgoraphoBook Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25

Some of the weirdest (in the best ways) and most disorienting and unnerving shorts I've read in a while .... Well, probably since Matthew's last killer collection.

Welcome to Leeds, Massachusetts.
We've been waiting for you.l

[Alex Wolfgang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coming off Bartlett's "Gateways to Abomination" just a few weeks ago, mesmerized by his bizarre, visceral style. I've never been big on flash fiction, but his unique voice made the book work for me. However, I did find myself wondering how he'd fare with longer works.

Apparently, Bartlett asked himself the same question. I'm happy to say that The Stay Awake Men maintains everything that made Gateways so exciting, but with more complex narratives to work from. I think it's an improvement.

This is a short collection, but there aren't duds. Standouts for me were Kuklalar and Spettrini. The former is Ligotti-esque corporate horror complete with marionettes, the latter a tale of the relationship between an amateur magician and his idol, the great Spettrini, who is more than our protagonist bargained for.

Overall, a fun book. I'll continue reading Bartlett.

[Alex Budris · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I read “Gateways to Abomination” one moment I’d be lovin’ it, then I’d suddenly decide it wasn’t doin’ it anymore, then I’d stop to read a passage out loud to myself, the words were that good.
I dunno what I was thinking; I started writing Leeds fan-fiction. I logged on to the author’s website and bought an advent calendar. I read the sequel.
“Creeping Waves” had me even further dialed into WXXT and left me wanting more, more, more…
I got it in the form of “The Stay-Awake Men.” Which should have been titled “Carnomancer” after the first grizzly story; an alternate world tale with some honest-to-god originality. Think Joe Lansdale - not in style, but in scope of imagination.

[Curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Digging the authors change of pace from Flash Fic to full-length shorts in this volume. Keep em coming.

2023 reread edit: Ah, to see my wholesome past-self leaving reviews as if this was a book of fiction and the radio isn't a living entity suffocating the planet in it's wavelike grip that gibbers to itself like a coked out DJ after too many overnight shifts.

[Tom Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

perfectly weird, dark as necessary for the back of the brain. dripping wings caught in the correct ears, grinning & cracked.

[Isobelle Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't bother to write reviews very often. Usually the stars rating system is sufficient for me to say whether I liked something or not and to what extent. Actual reviews are reserved, typically, for more interesting or challenging works. To that end:

This collection will challenge your expectations of what a Matthew Bartlett collection can be.

The Stay-Awake Men lacks some of his signature elements - particularly the shocking, repulsive, and disgusting ones that either make me laugh hysterically or sit, puzzling over why I continue to read his stories. It also forgoes the usual focus on Leeds and its environs to some extent.

Another aspect that stood out for me is that most of these stories lack resolution. This is not entirely unusual in weird horror fiction, in which traditional endings are not necessarily to be expected, but it seems to be an integral part of the twisted DNA of these stories. At first I found this off-putting, but gradually, as I came to recognize it as a theme, I found that it added in a strange way to the overall effect of the collection.

This is definitely a different and at times more subtle Bartlett than the one we have met in Gateways to Abomination and Creeping Waves, and its not necessarily my favorite iteration of his talent, but its a fine contribution to the catalog of modern weird fiction from one of its most unique talents, and I did genuinely enjoy it.

[Brian O'Connell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent non-Leeds (mostly) horror stories by Bartlett that explore the author's signature brand of surreal horror in new ways. Standouts include "Carnomancer", the story of a supermarket meat manager dabbling in bizarre occult practices; "Kuklalar", wherein an office building (one that might be familiar to those who have read Bartlett's "Night Dog") is terrorized by psychically-manipulated mannequins; and "The Beginning of the World", a beautifully-written evocation of apocalypse. It's "No Abiding Place on Earth", however, that takes the cake: it's a haunting meditation on loneliness and aging, with some of Bartlett's best prose to date.

All in all, these are excellently written stories that display different sides of Bartlett's talent--without losing that atmosphere of nightmare which fuels his WXXT stories. The gorgeous illustrations by Dave Felton are an added bonus. Get this while you can.

[James Krstulovich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent book from Bartlett, this time a collection of short stories. On the one hand it makes for a nice change of pace from his mosaic novels, and I think it would be a fine introduction to his signature atmosphere. On the other hand it makes this reader better appreciate the deft touch it must take to craft a novel from similarly short pieces. The ultimate effect is comparable but distinct: each story being independent in this collection gave me a sense of having some breathing room, while the stories and vignettes in his novels work together to build and build a downright oppressive atmosphere that leaves me frazzled and feeling unwell. Truly a testament to Bartlett's skill and talent to work small, whether it's a short story that will stand on its own or a mosaic of short pieces.

(And you can't go wrong with either cover artist: Dave Felton or Yves Tourigny.)

[Joel Hacker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like many fans of Matthew Bartlett's work, I've read a considerable amount of what he has set to paper. If you find you're someone who his dense, hallucinatory, unpredictable nightmare prose appeals to, you likely don't ever get tired of feverishly stumbling through his world. However, I have by and large not read his work in anything resembling publication order. Owing that mostly to my habit of binge buying/reading whole bodies of work at once with sometimes sizable breaks in between. Consequently, I came to Stay-Awake Men, one of his earlier books, long after digesting much later iterations of his work. Which is a travesty, as barring some of the 'fun' examples his bizarre vision of the world, this is likely one of my favorite collections. I think it is probably also one of the easiest entry points for new readers of Bartlett, save possibly for one off stories appearing in anthologies with other authors' work.
I easiest entry point, though not necessarily the most rewarding for all readers. Long-time fans of Bartlett likely know him for his Leeds/WXXT work, and while there are mentions of and connections to Leeds here, these are mostly stand alone stories. While Leeds has its appeal, jumping feet first into that body of work can be disorienting and confusing, with what feels like definitive world-building that you're never quite in on all the details of with the feeling that things both dangerous and incomprehensible may lurk in those holes in your knowledge. Stay-Awake Men by contrast will give new readers a good taste of Bartlett's rock solid authorial talent, without quite yet setting them adrift in that red sargasso sea full of, well...its definitely not seaweed...
We have a glowing introduction from Scott Nicolay, well known in weird fiction, lavishing on well deserved praise for Bartlett. This is followed by 'Carnomancer of The Meat Manager's Prerogative' which like the later 'Following You Home' gives us both a narrator and world so unreliable that we may never know what part of the madness is external and what part internal. 'Spettrini' falls between them, and is one of my favorites of the collection. Its trappings of illusion and true, terrifying magic are reminiscent of Barker's 'Last Illusion' without a D'Amour (or Scott Bakula) to protect our fragile world and sanity. 'No Abiding Place on Earth' feels like an apocalypse tale swirled round with bits of folklore spanning centuries and an elderly protagonist, something I always love. 'Kuklalar', which is tied with 'Spettrini' for possibly my favorite entry here, along with 'Stay Awake Men' give us a little us a little less hallucinatory insight into how aspects of Leeds and WXXT may fit into our larger world. While I suspect this isn't meant as world building per se, its an intriguing and different approach to the material that has become a cornerstone of Bartlett's body of work.

[Boone · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't love it. I love me some weird, but it has to be tied to a story, and too many of these felt like snippets from something more. There's potential here, but it's not realized. I feel that an anthology with one or two of these little bites would be fine, if they're sandwiched between more structured pieces to set mood or tone, but it's too much. It's like trying to stage a meal that's only amuse bouche, or building a house out of nothing but trim.

I did like the writing, and the weird ideas being played with were good. If the author ever fleshes these out into larger stories, with real characters and plot, I think he'd be on to something. He's great at evoking a mood (although another small point, it's all very much a single note of bleakness).

Anyway.

[C.F. Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

The nuance of Ligotti, the spectacle of Lovecraft, and the poetic swagger of Bradbury—but more unapologetically visceral than any of them. I really enjoyed this collection. It’s a quick, fun read—only 90 pages.

Matthew M. Bartlett writes stories that have bizarre, dreamlike flow and logic. A story will seem like it’s about one thing, only to mutate into something else by the end. It’s really quite unique.

My personal favorite of them is the title story, “The Stay-Awaken Men.”

Definitely recommend if you’re a fan of weird fiction. Or if you’re feeling like something interesting.

[Lisa Frankenstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the strongest collection (given its brevity), but there was some haunting prose with echoes of Brian Evenson in the final story that will stick with me a while.

The format of “introduce a few characters, things get weird, things go sideways, full stop” resonates with me more when there are reccurring characters/ settings (like WXXT). I’d read whole novellas about characters like The Carnomancer or a journalist tracking down the truth about late night broadcasts of self-imposed sleep deprivation, but this left me hungry for more.

[Markthulhu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each story is a wild ride in the dark, with glimpses of strange and terrifying things passing by on the roadside. This is no round trip; there’s nowhere safe to stop and rest. Just an unsettling feeling of needing to get to the end, as dreadful as it may be. The car stops and unseen hands thrust you into a strange world that was there all along. Nothing to do but hail the next dark ride that comes along.

[Des Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perfect circle to the two sets of candles quoted at the beginning of this real-time review, as well as this story being the perfect brief coda for the whole book, as a father and daughter, touchingly (inspiringly for us) face being born, as earlier preceded by his wife and her mother.
Worth staying awake for.

The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long or impractical to post here.
Above is one of its observations at the time of the review.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Matthew Bartlett has a very unique storytelling ability. It feels old style, but new. Complex, but easy to read. I have seen his work compared to Ligotti or Barron or Langan even Padgett, but Matt really has his own thing going and it is so enthralling and intriguing to read. Very impressive. I will read whatever he puts out there.

4-1/2 stars rounded up to 5 based on Padgett's narration which fit the stories perfectly.

[Squid · Rating 2 out of 5]

"No abiding place on earth" was good until things started farting and shitting.

I did not like the other stories within. I like a good weird horror. This was not weird, it was random.

Guy is in a room
Then it becomes a different room
Then three people walk in
Then they become a giant arm


I should have read the reviews first. "hallucinatory" is a word I'll know to avoid in the future.