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Nothing is Everything
‘Nothing is Everything’ is the masterful new collection from acclaimed Canadian author Simon Strantzas. With elegant craftsmanship Strantzas delicately weaves a disquieting narrative through eerie and unexpected landscapes, charting an uncanny course through territories both bleak and buoyant, while further cementing his reputation as one of the finest practitioners of strange tales.
Advance praise for “Nothing is Everything”
“Simon Strantzas captures the creepiness of small town Ontario; there is something of Seth, of Alice Munro in his work, wonderfully tangled with the likes of Aickman and Jackson. Uncanny as a ventriloquist’s doll, but with a real, beating heart.”
-Camilla Grudova, author of The Doll’s Alphabet
“Welcome to Nothing is Everything, the latest collection by Simon Strantzas. Taking the paths less traveled to the human heart and mind, and excavating the strangeness that abides therein, Strantzas is one of the most striking writers working today.”
-Angela Slatter, author of the World Fantasy Award-winning The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings
“Simon Strantzas is Shirley Jackson-grade eerie, creating stories that are as unsettling as they are elegant.”
-Kij Johnson, author of At the Mouth of The River of Bees
“The unexpected has arrived, and has brought with it the unknown. Simon Strantzas’ stories arrive without warning, to offer those unknown gifts and sidelong glimpses that bring mystery close enough to touch.”
-Kathe Koja, author of The Cipher, and Christopher Wild
“Simon Strantzas's compelling stories unfold across a liminal landscape of small towns and ordinary situations where encounters with the uncanny are often revelatory. With his latest collection, he further cements his place as a significant voice among a wave of writers who are redefining the boundaries of genre, blending a literary sensibility with a powerful sense of the possibilities for transcendence in the everyday.”
-Lynda E. Rucker, author of The Moon Will Look Strange, and You’ll Know When You Get There
Simon Strantzas is the author of Burnt Black Suns (Hippocampus Press, 2014), Nightingale Songs (Dark Regions Press, 2011), Cold to the Touch (Tartarus Press, 2009), and Beneath the Surface (Humdrumming, 2008), as well as the editor of Aickman’s Heirs (Undertow Publications, 2015), a finalist for both the World Fantasy and British Fantasy Awards, and the winner of the Shirley Jackson Award. He also edited Shadows Edge (Gray Friar Press, 2013), and was the guest editor of The Year’s Best Weird Fiction, Vol. 3 (Undertow Publications, 2016). In 2016, he co-founded the non-fiction journal, Thinking Horror, which is dedicated to exploring the literary field of horror and its various philosophies. His writing has been reprinted in a number of annual best-of anthologies, and published in venues such as Nightmare, Cemetery Dance, and Postscripts. His short story, “Pinholes in Black Muslin”, was a finalist for the British Fantasy Award, and his collection, Burnt Black Suns, a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award. He lives with his wife in Toronto, Canada.
Advance praise for “Nothing is Everything”
“Simon Strantzas captures the creepiness of small town Ontario; there is something of Seth, of Alice Munro in his work, wonderfully tangled with the likes of Aickman and Jackson. Uncanny as a ventriloquist’s doll, but with a real, beating heart.”
-Camilla Grudova, author of The Doll’s Alphabet
“Welcome to Nothing is Everything, the latest collection by Simon Strantzas. Taking the paths less traveled to the human heart and mind, and excavating the strangeness that abides therein, Strantzas is one of the most striking writers working today.”
-Angela Slatter, author of the World Fantasy Award-winning The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings
“Simon Strantzas is Shirley Jackson-grade eerie, creating stories that are as unsettling as they are elegant.”
-Kij Johnson, author of At the Mouth of The River of Bees
“The unexpected has arrived, and has brought with it the unknown. Simon Strantzas’ stories arrive without warning, to offer those unknown gifts and sidelong glimpses that bring mystery close enough to touch.”
-Kathe Koja, author of The Cipher, and Christopher Wild
“Simon Strantzas's compelling stories unfold across a liminal landscape of small towns and ordinary situations where encounters with the uncanny are often revelatory. With his latest collection, he further cements his place as a significant voice among a wave of writers who are redefining the boundaries of genre, blending a literary sensibility with a powerful sense of the possibilities for transcendence in the everyday.”
-Lynda E. Rucker, author of The Moon Will Look Strange, and You’ll Know When You Get There
Simon Strantzas is the author of Burnt Black Suns (Hippocampus Press, 2014), Nightingale Songs (Dark Regions Press, 2011), Cold to the Touch (Tartarus Press, 2009), and Beneath the Surface (Humdrumming, 2008), as well as the editor of Aickman’s Heirs (Undertow Publications, 2015), a finalist for both the World Fantasy and British Fantasy Awards, and the winner of the Shirley Jackson Award. He also edited Shadows Edge (Gray Friar Press, 2013), and was the guest editor of The Year’s Best Weird Fiction, Vol. 3 (Undertow Publications, 2016). In 2016, he co-founded the non-fiction journal, Thinking Horror, which is dedicated to exploring the literary field of horror and its various philosophies. His writing has been reprinted in a number of annual best-of anthologies, and published in venues such as Nightmare, Cemetery Dance, and Postscripts. His short story, “Pinholes in Black Muslin”, was a finalist for the British Fantasy Award, and his collection, Burnt Black Suns, a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award. He lives with his wife in Toronto, Canada.
259 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 16, 2018
38 people are currently reading
314 people want to read
About the author
Simon Strantzas
96 books283 followersSimon Strantzas is the author of Nothing is Everything, Burnt Black Suns, Nightingale Songs, Cold to the Touch and Beneath the Surface and has been nominated for the British Fantasy and Shirley Jackson Awards. His work has been appeared in The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror (ed. Stephen Jones), The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror (ed. by Paula Guran), Best Horror of the Year (ed. by Ellen Datlow), Cemetery Dance, and Nightmare. He lives in Toronto, Canada.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
April 30, 2019
The stories in this diverse collection are beautifully written. Beware, however, that beneath the fine writing lies a rumbling that becomes ever louder, exposing seemingly impossible transformations and boundless trepidation. Be prepared to open your mind to everything, which springs from the darkness of nothing, then spins full force back into the light, where nothing will ever be the same.
April 13, 2025
En mi actual búsqueda por encontrar autores de terror contemporáneos que me gusten me he topado con Simon Strantzas. Resulta que este autor canadiense no me era totalmente desconocido, aunque fue después de acabar el libro cuando me percaté de ello, pues la antología que Valdemar dedicó al rey de amarillo incluía un relato suyo, relato que no recuerdo en absoluto como no recuerdo ninguno otro de aquella antología, lo cual dice mucho de la calidad del trabajo de los autores recogidos.
Simon Strantzas es considerado como un heredero de Robert Aickman, y su obra ha aparecido en antologías dedicadas al singular escritor inglés, tan ignorado en vida como selectamente admirado en la muerte. Dado que soy un hombre de gustos sencillos, por no decir más simple que el mecanismo de un chupete, esta particularidad motivó mi elección. Y, por una vez, al igual que el agente M, elegí creer; elegí, y como suele ser habitual, la comparación resultó ser falaz. Porque el parecido que Strantzas tiene con Aickman es el mismo que podría tener con cualquier autor de weird contemporáneo, a saber, el que un colega escritor lo suficientemente conocido como para que sus palabras sirvan para decorar contraportadas le quiera ver, o lo que es lo mismo, nada de nada. A mi juicio, Strantzas sigue una filosofía muy alejada de la del inglés a la hora de tratar lo extraño, esa presunta irrupción de lo sobrenatural que perturba la realidad establecida, y, sobre todo, de contar una historia. Porque el hechizo de Aickman consiste en su oblicuidad a la hora de contar una historia, si es que acaso quiere contar una; Strantzas, por el contrario, sabe perfectamente qué quiere contar, y la extrañeza de lo sobrenatural no es más que un adorno coqueto y tenebroso o un catalizador.
Algo que destaca de este autor por sobre otros contemporáneos a los que he leído es su importante componente humano, y digo humano, que no social: no estamos ante el tan habitual escaparate de miserias al que nos tiene acostumbrado Mariana Enríquez y sus muchas clones de combate. Aquí la sociedad y el peso que su influencia pueda tener en sus personajes es incluso más superfluo que lo sobrenatural o extraño. Todos Los personajes de esta antología son mujeres, por lo general de mediana edad, con una personalidad pusilánime y timorata a extremos patológicos, a veces innata y otras acrecentado por un trauma del pasado, que las hacen incompatibles con el mundo que las rodean. Son personas funcionales hasta cierto punto pero que sufren con las interacciones más sencillas, necesitan de un acicate para cambiar, florecer. Ahí es donde entra en escena lo extraño, que actua a modo de catalizador. He recurrido a este símil botánico porque es un símbolo recurrente que Strantzas utiliza para evidenciar esta mutación que en realidad no es tal, pues, insisto, aquí la materia prima no se transforma, sino que se libera. Sus mujeres son como capullos que encapsulan sus verdaderas identidades, y no es hasta su encuentro con lo sobrenatural que florecen, se abren y se muestran ante el mundo como seres completos, perfectamente adaptadas al mundo, o incluso más, pues ahora posen un entendimiento por encima de sus semejantes sobre los aspectos más trascendentales de la existencia.
Porque Strantzas también es de esos escritores sublimes, como Cristopher Slatski o Kurt Fawver, cuyas pretensiones están muy por encima de sus resultados, pues abordan sus conceptos más abstractos y trascendentales en mayúscula: aquí no se habla de la muerte, sino de la MUERTE; aquí la nada es la NADA, como el infinito es lo INFINITO y lo inefable INEFABLE. Esta impostura estética, el típico resabio ligottiniano, resulta tan ridículo como las paroxismos de horror cósmicos de en su momento los peores continuadores de Lovecraft, pero parece que se ha convertido en el signo de los tiempos en los que vivimos. Ahora toca el absurdo existencial y el nihilismo, tenga o no sentido, venga o no al caso. Aquí, estos arrebatos no hacen si no desmerecer el conjunto, porque al sentirse como un añadido ex profeso sus descripciones no son lo suficientemente potentes o sugerentes.
Desafortunadamente, este componente humano que tan fresco me resultó al inicio pronto me produjo una constante y desagradable sensación de déjà vu. Strantzas no solo trabaja siempre con el mismo personaje, sino que recicla imágenes y estructuras enteras en la mayoría de los cuentos. Lo floral y los jardines se repiten siempre para reflejar este cambio; el bosque, en cambio, si aparece como algo más sugerente, como un terreno inexplorado al que podemos acceder pero en el que es facil extraviarse. Si hubiera puesto más el énfasis en esta clase de recursos sus relatos se hubieran visto beneficiados por esa ambigüedad que hace, precisamente, tan atractiva la obra de Aickman. Pero Strantzas quiere contarte algo, y te lo va a contar para que lo entiendas perfectamente, aunque tenga que tratarte como un tonto para lograrlo.
La antología contiene los siguientes relatos:
En este crepúsculo (***): una universitaria espera el autobús que la lleve a casa. Mientras espera en la estación, un joven desharrapado comienza a inquietarla con sus insistentes preguntas. La joven, en principio reacia a abrirse emocionalmente al extraño, acaba por confesarle la fuente de todos sus problemas: un accidente de tráfico con una víctima mortal que provocó.
El concurso de talentos de nuestro pueblo (**): cada año, el único colegio del pueblo celebra un concurso de talentos en el que siempre todos los niños ganan. Una de las madres, no conforme con el fallo, decide diseñar su propio concurso, uno en el que el talento de su hijo brille realmente. Este pequeño cambio será seguido por la creación un nuevo concurso, esta vez, de madres.
Esos últimos rescoldos (***): Tras una dura emancipación, la protagonista decide visitar a su familia tras años sin verse. Cuando llega se encuentra que una parte de la casa está carbonizada, su madre, completamente enloquecida, y su hermano mellizo, a quien tanto quería, desaparecido. Pero eso no es lo más extraño, pues en el cuarto de su hermano, el más afectado por las llamas y posiblemente origen del fuego, ha aparecido un bosque en apariencia infinito.
Flor que se desenvuelve (***): la protagonista, una mujer tímida a niveles patológicos, queda atrapada en el ascensor de la oficina con un compañero de trabajo, un hombre corpulento, barbado y agradable que le invita a almorzar con él en el último piso, convertido en jardín botánico. Los sentimientos que empieza a sentir por él, unidos a la influencia que el jardín ejerce sobre ella, obrarán un cambio en su personalidad.
Perros-fantasma (***): en un pueblo desolado por la sequia y cubierto por el polvo, la protagonista y sus amigos, tres adolescentes con bastantes problemas a sus espaldas, quieren ver un perro-fantasma, unas peligrosas criaturas que acechan en los límites de la población y que nadie que se haya topado con ellas ha logrado sobrevivir.
En la hierba alta (***): una mujer que acaba de perder a su marido encuentra en las lindes de su granja un indefenso ser, un niño mitad humano mitad vegetal, del que se hace cargo inmediatamente y al que cuida como a su hijo.
La quinta piedra (***): desde su infancia, una niña sufre ataques epilépticos al entrar en contacto con determinadas piedras. Al dar con la quinta de estas piedras, decide tratar su afección con fármacos para poder vivir una vida normal. Ya anciana y viuda el recuerdo de las piedras la lleva a abandonar su medicación.
El increíble Mr. Tucán (****): para celebrar su cumpleaños, el marido de la protagonista le ha preparado una sorpresa muy especial: una cena en un teatro cuyo reclamo es un espectáculo de magia protagonizado por Mr. Toucan. Cuando el espectáculo comienza, el público se divierte más por la incompetencia que por las dotes para la prestidigitación del mago. Sin embargo, luego del intermedio, el mago realizará una serie de trucos imposibles de explicar mediante la razón.
Alexandra se pierde (**): la protagonista viaja junto a su novio para ver el mar por primera vez. Incapaz de salir de su pueblo, el viaje supone todo un desafío para su patológica timidez.
Toda la realidad florece en llamas (**): durante una gala para obtener fondos para la Galería Nacional de Ontario, la protagonista, una virtuosa aunque apocada restauradora, conoce a un misterioso hombre que la convence para que le enseñe la joya de la galería, el cuadro que acaba de restaurar y por el cual ella siente verdadera fascinación. Debido a sus responsabilidades, la protagonista dejará solo al extraño junto al cuadro, y es entonces es cuando ocurre la tragedia. El cuadro ha sido vandalizado, y aquel hombre con singulares y radicales ideas sobre el arte es líder de una banda de terroristas artísticos, los Enfants Terribles, que busca denunciar el uso mercantilista del arte mediante estos actos vandálicos. La protagonista, luego de entrar en contacto con el líder de la célula, comenzará a verse paradójicamente atraída por sus ideas y su misión.
Simon Strantzas es considerado como un heredero de Robert Aickman, y su obra ha aparecido en antologías dedicadas al singular escritor inglés, tan ignorado en vida como selectamente admirado en la muerte. Dado que soy un hombre de gustos sencillos, por no decir más simple que el mecanismo de un chupete, esta particularidad motivó mi elección. Y, por una vez, al igual que el agente M, elegí creer; elegí, y como suele ser habitual, la comparación resultó ser falaz. Porque el parecido que Strantzas tiene con Aickman es el mismo que podría tener con cualquier autor de weird contemporáneo, a saber, el que un colega escritor lo suficientemente conocido como para que sus palabras sirvan para decorar contraportadas le quiera ver, o lo que es lo mismo, nada de nada. A mi juicio, Strantzas sigue una filosofía muy alejada de la del inglés a la hora de tratar lo extraño, esa presunta irrupción de lo sobrenatural que perturba la realidad establecida, y, sobre todo, de contar una historia. Porque el hechizo de Aickman consiste en su oblicuidad a la hora de contar una historia, si es que acaso quiere contar una; Strantzas, por el contrario, sabe perfectamente qué quiere contar, y la extrañeza de lo sobrenatural no es más que un adorno coqueto y tenebroso o un catalizador.
Algo que destaca de este autor por sobre otros contemporáneos a los que he leído es su importante componente humano, y digo humano, que no social: no estamos ante el tan habitual escaparate de miserias al que nos tiene acostumbrado Mariana Enríquez y sus muchas clones de combate. Aquí la sociedad y el peso que su influencia pueda tener en sus personajes es incluso más superfluo que lo sobrenatural o extraño. Todos Los personajes de esta antología son mujeres, por lo general de mediana edad, con una personalidad pusilánime y timorata a extremos patológicos, a veces innata y otras acrecentado por un trauma del pasado, que las hacen incompatibles con el mundo que las rodean. Son personas funcionales hasta cierto punto pero que sufren con las interacciones más sencillas, necesitan de un acicate para cambiar, florecer. Ahí es donde entra en escena lo extraño, que actua a modo de catalizador. He recurrido a este símil botánico porque es un símbolo recurrente que Strantzas utiliza para evidenciar esta mutación que en realidad no es tal, pues, insisto, aquí la materia prima no se transforma, sino que se libera. Sus mujeres son como capullos que encapsulan sus verdaderas identidades, y no es hasta su encuentro con lo sobrenatural que florecen, se abren y se muestran ante el mundo como seres completos, perfectamente adaptadas al mundo, o incluso más, pues ahora posen un entendimiento por encima de sus semejantes sobre los aspectos más trascendentales de la existencia.
Porque Strantzas también es de esos escritores sublimes, como Cristopher Slatski o Kurt Fawver, cuyas pretensiones están muy por encima de sus resultados, pues abordan sus conceptos más abstractos y trascendentales en mayúscula: aquí no se habla de la muerte, sino de la MUERTE; aquí la nada es la NADA, como el infinito es lo INFINITO y lo inefable INEFABLE. Esta impostura estética, el típico resabio ligottiniano, resulta tan ridículo como las paroxismos de horror cósmicos de en su momento los peores continuadores de Lovecraft, pero parece que se ha convertido en el signo de los tiempos en los que vivimos. Ahora toca el absurdo existencial y el nihilismo, tenga o no sentido, venga o no al caso. Aquí, estos arrebatos no hacen si no desmerecer el conjunto, porque al sentirse como un añadido ex profeso sus descripciones no son lo suficientemente potentes o sugerentes.
Desafortunadamente, este componente humano que tan fresco me resultó al inicio pronto me produjo una constante y desagradable sensación de déjà vu. Strantzas no solo trabaja siempre con el mismo personaje, sino que recicla imágenes y estructuras enteras en la mayoría de los cuentos. Lo floral y los jardines se repiten siempre para reflejar este cambio; el bosque, en cambio, si aparece como algo más sugerente, como un terreno inexplorado al que podemos acceder pero en el que es facil extraviarse. Si hubiera puesto más el énfasis en esta clase de recursos sus relatos se hubieran visto beneficiados por esa ambigüedad que hace, precisamente, tan atractiva la obra de Aickman. Pero Strantzas quiere contarte algo, y te lo va a contar para que lo entiendas perfectamente, aunque tenga que tratarte como un tonto para lograrlo.
La antología contiene los siguientes relatos:
En este crepúsculo (***): una universitaria espera el autobús que la lleve a casa. Mientras espera en la estación, un joven desharrapado comienza a inquietarla con sus insistentes preguntas. La joven, en principio reacia a abrirse emocionalmente al extraño, acaba por confesarle la fuente de todos sus problemas: un accidente de tráfico con una víctima mortal que provocó.
El concurso de talentos de nuestro pueblo (**): cada año, el único colegio del pueblo celebra un concurso de talentos en el que siempre todos los niños ganan. Una de las madres, no conforme con el fallo, decide diseñar su propio concurso, uno en el que el talento de su hijo brille realmente. Este pequeño cambio será seguido por la creación un nuevo concurso, esta vez, de madres.
Esos últimos rescoldos (***): Tras una dura emancipación, la protagonista decide visitar a su familia tras años sin verse. Cuando llega se encuentra que una parte de la casa está carbonizada, su madre, completamente enloquecida, y su hermano mellizo, a quien tanto quería, desaparecido. Pero eso no es lo más extraño, pues en el cuarto de su hermano, el más afectado por las llamas y posiblemente origen del fuego, ha aparecido un bosque en apariencia infinito.
Flor que se desenvuelve (***): la protagonista, una mujer tímida a niveles patológicos, queda atrapada en el ascensor de la oficina con un compañero de trabajo, un hombre corpulento, barbado y agradable que le invita a almorzar con él en el último piso, convertido en jardín botánico. Los sentimientos que empieza a sentir por él, unidos a la influencia que el jardín ejerce sobre ella, obrarán un cambio en su personalidad.
Perros-fantasma (***): en un pueblo desolado por la sequia y cubierto por el polvo, la protagonista y sus amigos, tres adolescentes con bastantes problemas a sus espaldas, quieren ver un perro-fantasma, unas peligrosas criaturas que acechan en los límites de la población y que nadie que se haya topado con ellas ha logrado sobrevivir.
En la hierba alta (***): una mujer que acaba de perder a su marido encuentra en las lindes de su granja un indefenso ser, un niño mitad humano mitad vegetal, del que se hace cargo inmediatamente y al que cuida como a su hijo.
La quinta piedra (***): desde su infancia, una niña sufre ataques epilépticos al entrar en contacto con determinadas piedras. Al dar con la quinta de estas piedras, decide tratar su afección con fármacos para poder vivir una vida normal. Ya anciana y viuda el recuerdo de las piedras la lleva a abandonar su medicación.
El increíble Mr. Tucán (****): para celebrar su cumpleaños, el marido de la protagonista le ha preparado una sorpresa muy especial: una cena en un teatro cuyo reclamo es un espectáculo de magia protagonizado por Mr. Toucan. Cuando el espectáculo comienza, el público se divierte más por la incompetencia que por las dotes para la prestidigitación del mago. Sin embargo, luego del intermedio, el mago realizará una serie de trucos imposibles de explicar mediante la razón.
Alexandra se pierde (**): la protagonista viaja junto a su novio para ver el mar por primera vez. Incapaz de salir de su pueblo, el viaje supone todo un desafío para su patológica timidez.
Toda la realidad florece en llamas (**): durante una gala para obtener fondos para la Galería Nacional de Ontario, la protagonista, una virtuosa aunque apocada restauradora, conoce a un misterioso hombre que la convence para que le enseñe la joya de la galería, el cuadro que acaba de restaurar y por el cual ella siente verdadera fascinación. Debido a sus responsabilidades, la protagonista dejará solo al extraño junto al cuadro, y es entonces es cuando ocurre la tragedia. El cuadro ha sido vandalizado, y aquel hombre con singulares y radicales ideas sobre el arte es líder de una banda de terroristas artísticos, los Enfants Terribles, que busca denunciar el uso mercantilista del arte mediante estos actos vandálicos. La protagonista, luego de entrar en contacto con el líder de la célula, comenzará a verse paradójicamente atraída por sus ideas y su misión.
Want to read
November 8, 2018Contents:
009 - "In This Twilight" (new)
029 - "Our Town’s Talent" (new)
047 - "These Last Embers"
059 - "The Flower Unfolds"
077 - "Ghost Dogs" (new)
109 - "In the Tall Grass"
127 = "The Fifth Stone"
141 - "The Terrific Mr. Toucan" (new)
169 - "Alexandra Lost"
189 - "All Reality Blossoms in Flames" (new)
171 - Acknowledgements
273 - About the Author
009 - "In This Twilight" (new)
029 - "Our Town’s Talent" (new)
047 - "These Last Embers"
059 - "The Flower Unfolds"
077 - "Ghost Dogs" (new)
109 - "In the Tall Grass"
127 = "The Fifth Stone"
141 - "The Terrific Mr. Toucan" (new)
169 - "Alexandra Lost"
189 - "All Reality Blossoms in Flames" (new)
171 - Acknowledgements
273 - About the Author
May 9, 2019
“...in this moment of nothing, everything is possible, whatever you imagine.”
I greatly enjoyed this collection of wildly imaginative stories. Each one is so unique and creative. Simon Strantzas is a brilliant author with an amazing ability to convey feelings of detachment and isolation in an oddly beautiful way.
My favorite story? The Terrific Mr. Toucan, wherein an older married couple witness incredible marvels while at a dinner theatre.
Though In the Tall Grass and The Fifth Stone are close rivals. Really, you can’t go wrong with any of these intriguing stories. They are all thought-provoking, touching and fascinating.
“Sometimes chaos can be beautiful.”
I greatly enjoyed this collection of wildly imaginative stories. Each one is so unique and creative. Simon Strantzas is a brilliant author with an amazing ability to convey feelings of detachment and isolation in an oddly beautiful way.
My favorite story? The Terrific Mr. Toucan, wherein an older married couple witness incredible marvels while at a dinner theatre.
Though In the Tall Grass and The Fifth Stone are close rivals. Really, you can’t go wrong with any of these intriguing stories. They are all thought-provoking, touching and fascinating.
“Sometimes chaos can be beautiful.”
May 6, 2019
A couple of years ago I read Simon Strantzas’ collection of short stories, Burnt Black Suns, and dismissed it in my Goodreads review as “weird fiction by the numbers,” giving it two stars. And it completely was that and barely deserved the two I gave it. This collection, however, is one of the best I’ve ever read, by any author in any genre. It’s so different from Strantzas’ prior book that I don’t understand how they were written by the same person. Everything here is fantastic, and even the stories that lose their way and don’t end cogently or satisfactorily (only two for me) are beautifully written and will compel you to keep reading them. There is an emotional honesty to these stories that will grab you and hold you tight. I freely admit that after reading “In the Tall Grass,” I wept like a little baby.
Highly recommended for lovers of horror, weird fiction, literature, or life in general.
Highly recommended for lovers of horror, weird fiction, literature, or life in general.
January 24, 2019
An absolutely fantastic collection from Strantzas. His fifth collection of original material and the third that I've read. I'm confidant stating that the evolution of his work and the maturation of his style have certainly secured this as my favorite.
Ten remarkable tales all bound by a handful of similar themes: alienation, communication breakdown, anxiety, a sense of fatalism and, ultimately, surrender of self. The protagonists of these stories, all female by the way, share a characteristic brokenness that paints them with shades of tragedy even as each piece begins. Each harbors a secret and, though varying widely in gravity, each secret weighs upon the soul of its carrier. Some kindle secret dreams in their hearts, some hide secret fears in their souls, and some are simply the hosts of dark, eldritch secrets outside their capacity to control. But in all cases, these secrets tear at them, mark them, and designate them as being, in some fashion, alienated from others of their kind. Sometimes, most frighteningly, even those closest to them. Parents, children, a beloved spouse of 30 years...
And, in typical fashion that he has elevated to an art form, Strantzas chooses as the canvas for these tales the simplest and most prosaic of locales. The sorts of places you walk past or move through every day without ever pausing to think about the shadows that shift in the corner. A bus terminal in a college town. The grade school gymnasium. Farmhouses. Art galleries. Childhood homes. But the dimly-lit simplicity of his settings always carries just enough foreboding that it never truly serves to disarm the reader...but rather to heighten the sense of unease so pervasive in the mundane. His locations, much like his protagonists, exist just slightly out of synch. A half-step off from the march that moves the world.
The stories are haunting, touching, and, at times, even devastating. Full of dark promise that is realized not so much when secrets are revealed, but when they are understood...by both the readers and the (sometimes unfortunate) characters who carry them for us.
Ten remarkable tales all bound by a handful of similar themes: alienation, communication breakdown, anxiety, a sense of fatalism and, ultimately, surrender of self. The protagonists of these stories, all female by the way, share a characteristic brokenness that paints them with shades of tragedy even as each piece begins. Each harbors a secret and, though varying widely in gravity, each secret weighs upon the soul of its carrier. Some kindle secret dreams in their hearts, some hide secret fears in their souls, and some are simply the hosts of dark, eldritch secrets outside their capacity to control. But in all cases, these secrets tear at them, mark them, and designate them as being, in some fashion, alienated from others of their kind. Sometimes, most frighteningly, even those closest to them. Parents, children, a beloved spouse of 30 years...
And, in typical fashion that he has elevated to an art form, Strantzas chooses as the canvas for these tales the simplest and most prosaic of locales. The sorts of places you walk past or move through every day without ever pausing to think about the shadows that shift in the corner. A bus terminal in a college town. The grade school gymnasium. Farmhouses. Art galleries. Childhood homes. But the dimly-lit simplicity of his settings always carries just enough foreboding that it never truly serves to disarm the reader...but rather to heighten the sense of unease so pervasive in the mundane. His locations, much like his protagonists, exist just slightly out of synch. A half-step off from the march that moves the world.
The stories are haunting, touching, and, at times, even devastating. Full of dark promise that is realized not so much when secrets are revealed, but when they are understood...by both the readers and the (sometimes unfortunate) characters who carry them for us.
June 11, 2019
Originally published at Risingshadow.
As a devoted fan of all things dark and weird, I was delighted to read Simon Strantzas' Nothing is Everything. I found it to be an impressive collection with lush literary weirdness and excellent prose. It chillingly demonstrates that darkness and weirdness come in many forms and strange things can happen anywhere. Realism, uncertainty and strangeness collide and intersect in an exceptionally beautiful and haunting way in this collection.
After reading the Simon Strantzas' previous collection, Burnt Black Suns, I was almost certain that it would be difficult for the author to top it in terms of quality and originality, but I was wrong. This collection is even better than the previous collection, because its contents feel more mature and the author has reached a new peak in his writing skills by writing something slightly different.
The contents of this collection are peppered with spellbinding imagery, eerie atmosphere, heartfelt bleakness and sense of isolation. When you reach the end of this collection, you'll feel deeply rewarded by what you've read, because the author has guided you through strange landscapes and odd territories in a captivating way and has led you towards the strongly pulsing heart of disquieting weirdness.
Nothing is Everything contains the following stories:
- In This Twilight (original to this collection)
- Our Town's Talent (original to this collection)
- These Last Embers
- The Flower Unfolds
- Ghost Dogs (original to this collection)
- In the Tall Grass
- The Fifth Stone
- The Terrific Mr. Toucan (original to this collection)
- Alexandra Lost
- All Reality Blossoms in Flames (original to this collection)
These diverse stories are wonderfully fresh and original with a distinct touch of modern weirdness and seductively dark undertones. They're fascinating, touching and haunting stories, because they're filled with slow-burning weirdness and they offer the reader alluring glimpses of transcendence and otherwordliness.
The author masterfully writes about detachment, isolation and brokenness. I find his descriptions of the characters' feelings and experiences touching and oddly beautiful, because he delves into their secrets and tells of things that weigh upon their souls. It's great that he explores the characters' lives in an insightful way, because it adds a layer of depth to the stories.
The events in these stories take place in everyday locales: bus terminals, childhood homes, small towns, art galleries etc. Although the locales are mundane, the author uses them to display unexpected sights, wonders and terrors, lending them an air of unsettling strangeness.
Here's more information about the stories and my thoughts about them:
In This Twilight:
- A story about a university student, Harriet Myers, who decides to travel home. When she is waiting for a bus, she begins a conversation with a young and unshaven man who has been sleeping at the bus terminal. When the bus arrives, the man also comes aboard the bus and Harriet finds herself having a bizarre conversation with him...
- The author writes captivatingly and thought-provokingly about darkness and evokes an atmosphere that echoes unease and dark promise.
- I found myself captivated by how Harriet began to understand certain things when she talked with the man and revealed what had happened to her.
- This beautifully written story is one of the finest examples of literary weird fiction one could ever hope to find, because it has that distinct feel of subtle weirdness to it that makes it seductively strange and immersive.
Our Town's Talent:
- A story about a small town's annual talent show and the unexpected consequences of the town having another talent show.
- The author writes incredibly well about what the children do in the talent show and how the mothers feel about the show. He also writes excellently about the town, because the town could any small town anywhere in the world, because it's a place where nothing changes and people have become settled in their lives.
- This story has accurate and insightful commentary concerning talent shows.
- The ending is filled with a strange sense of awakening and connection, because the wives and mothers, who have for a long time been prisoners of their own routines, rediscover and understand their power.
These Last Embers:
- A story about Samantha who, after losing her job in the city, returns to her childhood home and tries to reconnect with her parents and twin brother, Lemule. When she arrives home, she notices that the house has been damaged by fire. She also notices that Lemule is absent and when she enters his room, an impossible and strange sight awaits her there.
- The author writes touchingly about why Samantha left her parents and how she feels about coming back home and meeting her twin brother.
- I was impressed by what Samantha found in her brother's room, because the sight was utterly bizarre.
- This story is an excellent and memorable tale with strong slipstream elements.
The Flower Unfolds:
- In this story, Candice Lourdes finds a botanical garden at the top of the Simpson Tower. After finding the garden and meeting a mysterious man, Ben Stanley, Candice's life begins to change.
- Finding the garden and meeting the man serve as catalysts for a needed change, because Candice is a shy person and her life has been controlled and uneventful. I enjoyed reading about how Candice began to blossom as she boldly embraced the unknown and let the shackles of her old life fade away.
- This is an atmospheric, wonderfully strange and touching story about change and awakening.
Ghost Dogs:
- This dark story tells of a teenage girl and his friends who decide to find a ghost dog, because they want to see one.
- There's an intriguingly apocalyptic feel to this story, because it tells of a town that has suffered some kind of an apocalypse. The residents of the town suffer from heat and are being attacked and harassed by ghost dogs.
- This story has an emotional and surprisingly deep impact on the reader, because it is told from the protagonist's point of view. The author offers the reader a fascinating glimpse inside the protagonist's mind and explores how she feels about her life, her friends and the town.
- I liked this story very much, because it's something different and the ending is excellent.
In the Tall Grass:
- This story tells of Reiter and Heike who live on the farm. Heike prays for Reiter to be saved, but he dies and is buried in the tall grass at the edge of the farm. Later, Baum is born. He is a strange and odd-looking son made of branches and twigs. One day, Heike decides to take Baum to the city in her truck.
- I find this story an incredibly strong and touching tale of love and loneliness, and of being different. I was taken by its sad and heart-breaking atmosphere.
- This is one of the most beautifully written and most captivating weird tales I've ever had the pleasure of reading. (You can't help but be touched by this story, because it's incredibly beautiful and sad.)
The Fifth Stone:
- In this story, a girl finds strange stones that cause her seizures and pain. When she becomes adult, she forgets the stones for many years. After her husband dies, she finds the fifth stone in his belongings and becomes obsessed by it and the other stones again.
- I was taken by the author's fluent way of writing about the protagonist's life and how she coped with what happened to her, because the seizures and the pain became a part of her life. I was also impressed by the protagonist's obsession over the stones, because her situation felt intriguingly unnerving due to her being unable to get the stones out of her mind when she found the fifth stone.
- I loved the ending, because it's chillingly nightmarish and satisfyingly weird. I won't reveal what happens at the end, but I can guarantee that it doesn't disappoint anybody.
- This is a memorable story that fans of weird fiction will be eager to read.
The Terrific Mr. Toucan:
- In this brilliant story, a married couple is celebrating their 30th anniversary. Jeffrey takes his wife to Millhaven Theatre for a dinner and a magic show. The evening's perfomance is anything but impressive, but during the second half of the show things change and become something wholly different.
- The wife's thoughts about her daughter, Molly, bring depth and melancholy to the story.
- The author's way of combining fantasy elements and drama is truly captivating and works perfectly.
Alexandra Lost:
- A story about Alexandra Leaving who is driving with her boyfriend, Leonard, towards the coast. During the journey, Alexandra is worried that they'll get lost and is terrified about what her boyfriend has told her about feeling completely insignificant while witnessing the immensity of the ocean.
- In this story, the author paints a vivid picture of how interested Leonard is in seeing the ocean and taking Alexandra there for the first time. What happens between Alexandra and Leonard is handled excellently, because there's a gradually deepening sense of dread to the narrative which reaches its culmination at the end.
- As a big fan of Lovecraftian weirdness, I was deeply impressed by this story and its atmosphere. I find this story fresh and compelling, because it's filled with quiet horror and the ending is deeply satisfying in its weirdness.
- This novella-length story is a masterful addition to Lovecraftian weird fiction.
All Reality Blossoms in Flames:
- This final story tells about Mae Olsen, an art restorer, who meets a mysterious man called Halton Graves at a gala. Mae finds out that the man has connections to Enfants Terrible, which is a group of people dedicated to stealing and vandalising artwork. Soon, the man introduces Mae to the group and she becomes involved in their work...
- I won't reveal what happens in this story, but I'll mention that I loved everything about it, because the story gradually expands and becomes increasingly unsettling until it ends in a mesmerisingly apocalyptic way.
- The way the author writes about Mae and her feelings is simply outstanding, because it pulls the reader into the story. I was fascinated by how Mae felt about her connection to the group and their philosophy, because she was pulled into their world against her will, but seemed to understand them.
- This is the strongest and most compelling story in this collection. It's a prime example of beautifully written and immersive weird fiction.
The characterisation is excellent and insightful in each of the stories. The author has created characters that feel achingly real, because they have their own feelings, problems and worries. The characters struggle with various issues and they're all a bit broken in their own ways. What makes the characterisation especially interesting is that all of the protagonists are female.
One of the best things about this collection is that the author doesn't explain any of the supernatural happenings and doesn't deliver easy answers. I admire and respect this kind of storytelling, because what happens in the stories feels all the more powerful when certain things are left for the reader to figure out.
I love the author's prose, because it's elegant and descriptive. His literary writing style is compelling, because he writes in a beautiful and confident way that leaves readers wanting more. If you enjoy reading literary weird fiction, you won't be disappointed by the author's prose and writing style.
Simon Strantzas' Nothing is Everything can be wholeheartedly recommended to everybody who loves dark stories and weird fiction. If you call yourself a devoted fan of weird fiction, you can't afford to miss this brilliant and unique collection, because it contains inventive, mesmerising and unsettling stories that will linger on your mind. This collection is modern weird fiction at its utmost finest and most compelling.
Highly recommended!
As a devoted fan of all things dark and weird, I was delighted to read Simon Strantzas' Nothing is Everything. I found it to be an impressive collection with lush literary weirdness and excellent prose. It chillingly demonstrates that darkness and weirdness come in many forms and strange things can happen anywhere. Realism, uncertainty and strangeness collide and intersect in an exceptionally beautiful and haunting way in this collection.
After reading the Simon Strantzas' previous collection, Burnt Black Suns, I was almost certain that it would be difficult for the author to top it in terms of quality and originality, but I was wrong. This collection is even better than the previous collection, because its contents feel more mature and the author has reached a new peak in his writing skills by writing something slightly different.
The contents of this collection are peppered with spellbinding imagery, eerie atmosphere, heartfelt bleakness and sense of isolation. When you reach the end of this collection, you'll feel deeply rewarded by what you've read, because the author has guided you through strange landscapes and odd territories in a captivating way and has led you towards the strongly pulsing heart of disquieting weirdness.
Nothing is Everything contains the following stories:
- In This Twilight (original to this collection)
- Our Town's Talent (original to this collection)
- These Last Embers
- The Flower Unfolds
- Ghost Dogs (original to this collection)
- In the Tall Grass
- The Fifth Stone
- The Terrific Mr. Toucan (original to this collection)
- Alexandra Lost
- All Reality Blossoms in Flames (original to this collection)
These diverse stories are wonderfully fresh and original with a distinct touch of modern weirdness and seductively dark undertones. They're fascinating, touching and haunting stories, because they're filled with slow-burning weirdness and they offer the reader alluring glimpses of transcendence and otherwordliness.
The author masterfully writes about detachment, isolation and brokenness. I find his descriptions of the characters' feelings and experiences touching and oddly beautiful, because he delves into their secrets and tells of things that weigh upon their souls. It's great that he explores the characters' lives in an insightful way, because it adds a layer of depth to the stories.
The events in these stories take place in everyday locales: bus terminals, childhood homes, small towns, art galleries etc. Although the locales are mundane, the author uses them to display unexpected sights, wonders and terrors, lending them an air of unsettling strangeness.
Here's more information about the stories and my thoughts about them:
In This Twilight:
- A story about a university student, Harriet Myers, who decides to travel home. When she is waiting for a bus, she begins a conversation with a young and unshaven man who has been sleeping at the bus terminal. When the bus arrives, the man also comes aboard the bus and Harriet finds herself having a bizarre conversation with him...
- The author writes captivatingly and thought-provokingly about darkness and evokes an atmosphere that echoes unease and dark promise.
- I found myself captivated by how Harriet began to understand certain things when she talked with the man and revealed what had happened to her.
- This beautifully written story is one of the finest examples of literary weird fiction one could ever hope to find, because it has that distinct feel of subtle weirdness to it that makes it seductively strange and immersive.
Our Town's Talent:
- A story about a small town's annual talent show and the unexpected consequences of the town having another talent show.
- The author writes incredibly well about what the children do in the talent show and how the mothers feel about the show. He also writes excellently about the town, because the town could any small town anywhere in the world, because it's a place where nothing changes and people have become settled in their lives.
- This story has accurate and insightful commentary concerning talent shows.
- The ending is filled with a strange sense of awakening and connection, because the wives and mothers, who have for a long time been prisoners of their own routines, rediscover and understand their power.
These Last Embers:
- A story about Samantha who, after losing her job in the city, returns to her childhood home and tries to reconnect with her parents and twin brother, Lemule. When she arrives home, she notices that the house has been damaged by fire. She also notices that Lemule is absent and when she enters his room, an impossible and strange sight awaits her there.
- The author writes touchingly about why Samantha left her parents and how she feels about coming back home and meeting her twin brother.
- I was impressed by what Samantha found in her brother's room, because the sight was utterly bizarre.
- This story is an excellent and memorable tale with strong slipstream elements.
The Flower Unfolds:
- In this story, Candice Lourdes finds a botanical garden at the top of the Simpson Tower. After finding the garden and meeting a mysterious man, Ben Stanley, Candice's life begins to change.
- Finding the garden and meeting the man serve as catalysts for a needed change, because Candice is a shy person and her life has been controlled and uneventful. I enjoyed reading about how Candice began to blossom as she boldly embraced the unknown and let the shackles of her old life fade away.
- This is an atmospheric, wonderfully strange and touching story about change and awakening.
Ghost Dogs:
- This dark story tells of a teenage girl and his friends who decide to find a ghost dog, because they want to see one.
- There's an intriguingly apocalyptic feel to this story, because it tells of a town that has suffered some kind of an apocalypse. The residents of the town suffer from heat and are being attacked and harassed by ghost dogs.
- This story has an emotional and surprisingly deep impact on the reader, because it is told from the protagonist's point of view. The author offers the reader a fascinating glimpse inside the protagonist's mind and explores how she feels about her life, her friends and the town.
- I liked this story very much, because it's something different and the ending is excellent.
In the Tall Grass:
- This story tells of Reiter and Heike who live on the farm. Heike prays for Reiter to be saved, but he dies and is buried in the tall grass at the edge of the farm. Later, Baum is born. He is a strange and odd-looking son made of branches and twigs. One day, Heike decides to take Baum to the city in her truck.
- I find this story an incredibly strong and touching tale of love and loneliness, and of being different. I was taken by its sad and heart-breaking atmosphere.
- This is one of the most beautifully written and most captivating weird tales I've ever had the pleasure of reading. (You can't help but be touched by this story, because it's incredibly beautiful and sad.)
The Fifth Stone:
- In this story, a girl finds strange stones that cause her seizures and pain. When she becomes adult, she forgets the stones for many years. After her husband dies, she finds the fifth stone in his belongings and becomes obsessed by it and the other stones again.
- I was taken by the author's fluent way of writing about the protagonist's life and how she coped with what happened to her, because the seizures and the pain became a part of her life. I was also impressed by the protagonist's obsession over the stones, because her situation felt intriguingly unnerving due to her being unable to get the stones out of her mind when she found the fifth stone.
- I loved the ending, because it's chillingly nightmarish and satisfyingly weird. I won't reveal what happens at the end, but I can guarantee that it doesn't disappoint anybody.
- This is a memorable story that fans of weird fiction will be eager to read.
The Terrific Mr. Toucan:
- In this brilliant story, a married couple is celebrating their 30th anniversary. Jeffrey takes his wife to Millhaven Theatre for a dinner and a magic show. The evening's perfomance is anything but impressive, but during the second half of the show things change and become something wholly different.
- The wife's thoughts about her daughter, Molly, bring depth and melancholy to the story.
- The author's way of combining fantasy elements and drama is truly captivating and works perfectly.
Alexandra Lost:
- A story about Alexandra Leaving who is driving with her boyfriend, Leonard, towards the coast. During the journey, Alexandra is worried that they'll get lost and is terrified about what her boyfriend has told her about feeling completely insignificant while witnessing the immensity of the ocean.
- In this story, the author paints a vivid picture of how interested Leonard is in seeing the ocean and taking Alexandra there for the first time. What happens between Alexandra and Leonard is handled excellently, because there's a gradually deepening sense of dread to the narrative which reaches its culmination at the end.
- As a big fan of Lovecraftian weirdness, I was deeply impressed by this story and its atmosphere. I find this story fresh and compelling, because it's filled with quiet horror and the ending is deeply satisfying in its weirdness.
- This novella-length story is a masterful addition to Lovecraftian weird fiction.
All Reality Blossoms in Flames:
- This final story tells about Mae Olsen, an art restorer, who meets a mysterious man called Halton Graves at a gala. Mae finds out that the man has connections to Enfants Terrible, which is a group of people dedicated to stealing and vandalising artwork. Soon, the man introduces Mae to the group and she becomes involved in their work...
- I won't reveal what happens in this story, but I'll mention that I loved everything about it, because the story gradually expands and becomes increasingly unsettling until it ends in a mesmerisingly apocalyptic way.
- The way the author writes about Mae and her feelings is simply outstanding, because it pulls the reader into the story. I was fascinated by how Mae felt about her connection to the group and their philosophy, because she was pulled into their world against her will, but seemed to understand them.
- This is the strongest and most compelling story in this collection. It's a prime example of beautifully written and immersive weird fiction.
The characterisation is excellent and insightful in each of the stories. The author has created characters that feel achingly real, because they have their own feelings, problems and worries. The characters struggle with various issues and they're all a bit broken in their own ways. What makes the characterisation especially interesting is that all of the protagonists are female.
One of the best things about this collection is that the author doesn't explain any of the supernatural happenings and doesn't deliver easy answers. I admire and respect this kind of storytelling, because what happens in the stories feels all the more powerful when certain things are left for the reader to figure out.
I love the author's prose, because it's elegant and descriptive. His literary writing style is compelling, because he writes in a beautiful and confident way that leaves readers wanting more. If you enjoy reading literary weird fiction, you won't be disappointed by the author's prose and writing style.
Simon Strantzas' Nothing is Everything can be wholeheartedly recommended to everybody who loves dark stories and weird fiction. If you call yourself a devoted fan of weird fiction, you can't afford to miss this brilliant and unique collection, because it contains inventive, mesmerising and unsettling stories that will linger on your mind. This collection is modern weird fiction at its utmost finest and most compelling.
Highly recommended!
February 14, 2019
Simon Strantzas's fifth collection brings together ten prime examples of why he's considered one of the best authors of "strange stories" working today. He's a master at building a sense of unease and keeping his readers off-balance. You won't find explanations for supernatural occurrences in a Simon Strantzas story, but you will find yourself thinking about them long after you've read them. Among the strongest pieces in this collection, in my opinion, are the novella "All Reality Blossoms in Flames," in which a group of anti-establishment artists take up a cause that turns out to be part of something much larger than they can control, and "The Terrific Mr. Toucan," in which a cheap dinner-theater magic show goes hauntingly awry. But the strongest story in the collection, and my absolute favorite, is "Ghost Dogs," which is an expert piece of dark science fiction that utilizes pitch-perfect voice and tone. An original story to the collection, "Ghost Dogs" is worth the cover price alone. Strantzas's fiction continues to leave me in awe, and NOTHING IS EVERYTHING is a welcome addition to his growing body of work.
December 4, 2018
Simon’s previous collection Burnt Black Suns was a masterfully written collection of weird fiction, Nothing is Everything is much the same but this time the horror is subtler and the stories weirder and more varied. This collection is just as good as the previous, it manages to illicit unease and awe in equal measures while also maintaining a high standard as each and every story in this collection is absolutely fantastic. I’d highly recommend this, it’s undoubtedly one of the best collections of the year.
January 6, 2019
What a fantastic collection this was! I'm still new to Simon Strantzas, having only previously read Burnt Black Suns, but his imagination seems to be kaleidoscopic. Each story I've read has been interesting in often different ways. In some, there's a certain quality that reminds me of what Aickman I've read, others more Lovecraftian, etc. But none feel reliant on these influences, instead taking them and forging something new. Truly a fantastic talent.
August 19, 2019
4 to 4.5. These are deeply woven tales, expertly written and evoking a sense of impending entrapment. But whether entrapment comes from outside forces or the is the character's own downfall is up for grabs. Much more dark fantasy and weird then downright scary, but great all the same!
May 1, 2019
My ratings for the stories in Nothing is Everything averages to 3.85, thus rounding up to 4 stars.
My comments on the stories can be read here, posts 124 to 133.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
My comments on the stories can be read here, posts 124 to 133.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
January 1, 2022
This book proves that Simon Strantzas has become a modern master of the slow burn horror story. His writing is hipnotic with an undercurrent of dread which kept my interest in every story.
August 10, 2022
Another fine collection with visceral psychological tales that explore real aspects of life with surreal weird tale mutations.
Stories that worked for me:
In This Twilight
There is a view of the darkness and one’s philosophy of it, man on floor of bus sleeping wakes up with new occupant and expounds Nothing is Everything.
Embracing a darkness.
“I bet you’re like everybody else; you only see the dark one way. You see it as a negative. Like it’s subtraction, the end of something. The light dies and fades to darkness. And it doesn’t matter if it’s light, or if it’s life. The dark equals decay. A transition from something that is to something that isn’t. Like a corruption of an ideal toward chaos and absence.
“I get it. Life teaches you to think that way. Everything you’ve seen in your textbooks and from your parents and teachers and institutions tells you to run away from the dark, from the void. The dark is nothingness, and nothingness means the end.
“But they’ve got it all wrong. Like, it’s actually the opposite. In nothing is everything. Darkness is actually perfection, the most perfect state there is. It’s not the decay of light or life. It’s when there is so much light, too much life, all the life, that it transcends what we know and understand and becomes something more than we can sense. It becomes nothing because we can’t possibly grasp it all. So much is summed up that it travels past the understandable and becomes darkness, becomes nothing. When you grasp the truth of the dark, it’s like grasping at an understanding you can’t really have—of what exists beyond everything. But it doesn’t just go beyond it; it kind of makes it irrelevant at the same time.”
These Last Embers
Memories of kin, one loved and parted, with a sister trying to reconcile her brother, returning home, a once burning brightness and darkness.
“The house remained unchanged in her mind’s eye. There, it was framed with her memories, both sturdy and bright. The paint on the porch looked as it always had, peeled away in the corners by a series of children’s nails. The windows stayed large and bright, with wooden frames flanked by a pair of nailed-down shutters. And yet, when the car pulled closer to the destination, creeping up the stone drive, she saw the house in the light of reality and wondered if she’d made a wrong turn somewhere. But it was impossible. There stood the mailbox with her parents’ name stencilled across the side; there grew the large tree in the front yard, shorn of those lowest branches from which she and Lemule had once swung so freely; there remained the swing set her father had installed where the grass was once thickest and coolest on her summer-warmed skin. Yet the shapes of the windows looked different, the colour of the roof altered, the front door frame replaced. And, changed most of all, the dark stain of fire that had turned the rear of the house black.”
The Fifth Stone
Youth, stones and seizures.
Age, loss and loneliness.
Visions and dreams.
A crucible life needing escape with Simon Strantzas crafting before you.
The Flower Unfolds
Lovely Candice in her workplace, at the office, in the city, her heart at battle with things, complexities and anxieties within working with colleagues and people, she is low on self-confidence and needing some love and may just get some aid via the botanical garden on the roof floor of the skyscraper.
Through a small box, an elevator, she explores new terrain and they stir her in good and bad ways.
A intriguing visceral psychological tale with the real transcending with a surreal weird tale mutation.
In the Tall Grass
Woman out with sweat and toil on the field befriending another.
Evoking scene and feeling with earth and soul, loss and loneliness.
There be greatness of friendship and love in smaller dimensions of our realm in the hardest times.
An originally told hypnotically warm terrible beauty of a poetic read.
“Baum emerges from the grass while Heike works on her truck, shirtsleeves folded to above her elbows. She hears the snap of a thousand twigs and turns her grease-smeared face to find Baum crying, crooked arms spread wide. The smell of new green wafts from him while light diffuses through his foliage, dappling shadows over her face.”
“The jagged cityscape rises from the horizon as the forest had, but with concrete taller than trees and lights brighter than fireflies. It looks grand and endless, but Baum finds little excitement in seeing such a vast monstrosity.”
“Death robs so much from everyone, stopping only when there is nothing left worth taking.”
review also @ https://www.more2read.com/review/nothing-is-everything-by-simon-strantzas/
Stories that worked for me:
In This Twilight
There is a view of the darkness and one’s philosophy of it, man on floor of bus sleeping wakes up with new occupant and expounds Nothing is Everything.
Embracing a darkness.
“I bet you’re like everybody else; you only see the dark one way. You see it as a negative. Like it’s subtraction, the end of something. The light dies and fades to darkness. And it doesn’t matter if it’s light, or if it’s life. The dark equals decay. A transition from something that is to something that isn’t. Like a corruption of an ideal toward chaos and absence.
“I get it. Life teaches you to think that way. Everything you’ve seen in your textbooks and from your parents and teachers and institutions tells you to run away from the dark, from the void. The dark is nothingness, and nothingness means the end.
“But they’ve got it all wrong. Like, it’s actually the opposite. In nothing is everything. Darkness is actually perfection, the most perfect state there is. It’s not the decay of light or life. It’s when there is so much light, too much life, all the life, that it transcends what we know and understand and becomes something more than we can sense. It becomes nothing because we can’t possibly grasp it all. So much is summed up that it travels past the understandable and becomes darkness, becomes nothing. When you grasp the truth of the dark, it’s like grasping at an understanding you can’t really have—of what exists beyond everything. But it doesn’t just go beyond it; it kind of makes it irrelevant at the same time.”
These Last Embers
Memories of kin, one loved and parted, with a sister trying to reconcile her brother, returning home, a once burning brightness and darkness.
“The house remained unchanged in her mind’s eye. There, it was framed with her memories, both sturdy and bright. The paint on the porch looked as it always had, peeled away in the corners by a series of children’s nails. The windows stayed large and bright, with wooden frames flanked by a pair of nailed-down shutters. And yet, when the car pulled closer to the destination, creeping up the stone drive, she saw the house in the light of reality and wondered if she’d made a wrong turn somewhere. But it was impossible. There stood the mailbox with her parents’ name stencilled across the side; there grew the large tree in the front yard, shorn of those lowest branches from which she and Lemule had once swung so freely; there remained the swing set her father had installed where the grass was once thickest and coolest on her summer-warmed skin. Yet the shapes of the windows looked different, the colour of the roof altered, the front door frame replaced. And, changed most of all, the dark stain of fire that had turned the rear of the house black.”
The Fifth Stone
Youth, stones and seizures.
Age, loss and loneliness.
Visions and dreams.
A crucible life needing escape with Simon Strantzas crafting before you.
The Flower Unfolds
Lovely Candice in her workplace, at the office, in the city, her heart at battle with things, complexities and anxieties within working with colleagues and people, she is low on self-confidence and needing some love and may just get some aid via the botanical garden on the roof floor of the skyscraper.
Through a small box, an elevator, she explores new terrain and they stir her in good and bad ways.
A intriguing visceral psychological tale with the real transcending with a surreal weird tale mutation.
In the Tall Grass
Woman out with sweat and toil on the field befriending another.
Evoking scene and feeling with earth and soul, loss and loneliness.
There be greatness of friendship and love in smaller dimensions of our realm in the hardest times.
An originally told hypnotically warm terrible beauty of a poetic read.
“Baum emerges from the grass while Heike works on her truck, shirtsleeves folded to above her elbows. She hears the snap of a thousand twigs and turns her grease-smeared face to find Baum crying, crooked arms spread wide. The smell of new green wafts from him while light diffuses through his foliage, dappling shadows over her face.”
“The jagged cityscape rises from the horizon as the forest had, but with concrete taller than trees and lights brighter than fireflies. It looks grand and endless, but Baum finds little excitement in seeing such a vast monstrosity.”
“Death robs so much from everyone, stopping only when there is nothing left worth taking.”
review also @ https://www.more2read.com/review/nothing-is-everything-by-simon-strantzas/
July 15, 2024
La ficción extraña suele aportar grandes momentos de reflexión a aquellos que amamos esta manera de enfocar el género. Quizás por esa capacidad que tienen sus historias para desconcertar al lector con propuestas cuyo enorme potencial radica en inquietar al lector, al que con facilidad se le suele pillar con la guardia baja. Aprovechándose de elementos contidianos, situaciones del día a día , conversaciones ordinarias o de simples rutinas que consideramos automatizadas en una vida monótona y gris, este tipo de ficciones destacan por incluir la presencia de un elemento a sus narraciones que no debería estar presente y que contamina la atmósfera de los relatos hasta hacerla irrespirable.
Desconocía la narrativa Simon Stranzas pero con un título tan sugerente como el que presenta su recopilación de relatos tenía esa sensación que me iba a adentrar en terreno seguro. Y eso a pesar de la densidad que embriagan las historias que componen este libro, con esa capacidad de agotar al lector perdido entre las premisas que amanecen en cada uno de sus relatos. Estos cuentos están llenos de imágenes que tan solo se insinúan a través de las palabras del autor, distorsionándose entre las lentes de los espejos que cada uno de nosotros estabilizamos en nuestra cabeza. La nada lo es todo, como leitmotiv de una colección que ronda esa idea en donde el existencialismo impregna unas crónicas en donde la muerte, el amor, la trascendencia, el arte o la nostalgia se cobijan en el día a día de personajes que se enfrentan a ellos mismos para cambiar para siempre.
Relatos densos, profundos, confusos en ocasiones, cargados de elementos metafóricos y llenos de aristas cuyos cortes van escociendo al lector. Historias sencillas en donde una simple visita a una actuación escolar provoca cambios en aquellos que las contemplan, donde magos patosos son capaces de crear de la nada aquella magia que un día tuviste entre tus dedos y no supiste acariciar. Cuentos en donde un trabajo rutinario de oficina muestra vías de escape naturales que te acompañan de lleno a la serenidad u otros en donde bosques escondidos tras una puerta al pasado esperan para susurrar el horror bajo las cenizas de la incomprensión. Los relatos de Stranzas están llenos de esa placentera sensación de desconcierto que convierte el nacimiento de un hijo tanto tiempo deseado en un monstruo de Frankenstein odiado desde su propia concepción, o en donde un viaje hacia el mar se transforma en una letanía de desesperación y muerte con la sutileza que impregna los terrenos del horror cósmico. Por no hablar de esa declaración de intenciones que cierra la antología en donde la belleza de una obra de arte se muestra encarcelada entre los límites de la ambición humana, culminado de manera magistral una idea que ya desde el inicio, con su mirada limpia hacia el cosmos, se intuía entre las hojas de esta fascinante recopilación.
Entiendo que el horror que se desprende de estas páginas no es placentero y que la extrañeza no es del agrado de todos. Y que este tipo de historias se han de consumir con moderación para no perderse en la propia propuesta que el autor nos presenta. Pero es un libro de ideas, de conceptos, de puertas, una compilación de susurros que retumban en tu cabeza conforme más te alejas de ellos. Cuando sintonizas con esa Nada que Stranzas te sugiere, ves el mundo sin necesidad de tener mirar con recelo, abarcándolo todo tras aceptar que somos parte de algo mucho más grande que jamás lograremos entender.
February 22, 2019
May be his best collection yet. This is essential reading for fans of weird fiction, horror, dark fantasy (or whatever you wish to call it). I was mesmerized from beginning to end.
October 1, 2025
3.5 stars, rounded up. The nine short stories were all quite good and overall great examples of Canadian weird fiction and horror. My lowered rating is due to the novella "All Reality Blossoms in Flames," which was about fifty pages too long and barely explored its very interesting premise (how art is the source of the barrier between fantasy and reality) until the very end. Also, the protagonist was poorly written - she was so naive and mousy I thought she was in her early twenties, but she was actually mid-forties?
May 9, 2019
The stories in this collection are incredibly varied, but all feature an amazing display of imagination by the author, Simon Strantzas. He has a unique and recognizable authorial voice, but the stories could not be more different. I read this on the recommendation of a person whose reading tastes I really trust, and I was not disappointed. I look forward to trying more work by this author.
December 21, 2020
Nothing is Everything is Simon Strantzas’s fifth collection, and though this is his first full publication by Undertow Publication he’s appeared in their anthologies Aickman’s Heirs (2015) and Year’s Best Weird Fiction, Vol. 3 (2016). It contains ten stories, five originals, one being a novella, illustrating that Strantzas is a master at telling strange, beautiful stories and also that his writing is weird with purpose.
“Weird with purpose,” is something that came to mind each time I read a story in Nothing is Everything. It was not only that the stories were strange, sometimes unsettling, eerie, atmospheric, but emotionally layered, as though the meaning of each tale hide in the undercurrent of Strantzas’ words. It was not what was said, but what wasn’t. These stories are the kind that you actually read or the meaning’s easily lost, leaving you wondering what the hell you just read.
It seemed every word and detail were perfectly chosen for each tale, leaving anything extra on the cutting room floor. They reminded me of other authors and works I love: Brain Evenson’s A Collapse of Horses and Song For the Unravelling of the World, Sue Rainsford’s Follow Me to Ground, Michael Griffin’s The Lure of Devouring Light and The Human Alchemy, Gwendolyn Kiste’s And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe, Mary Rickert’s You Have Never Been Here, Michael Wehunt’s Greener Pastures, Robert Aickman’s Dark Entries, and so on… This niche of quiet, soft-spoken weird fiction that isn’t quite horror but inspires real, grounded fear.
Honestly, I don’t know what else to say about Nothing is Everything except that I loved it from start to finish. It’s my first book by Strantzas, but it’s definitely not going to my last. It’s exactly what I want out of weird fiction, exactly what I want to read when I pick up a book, exactly the depth and meaning I want to portray in my own writing.
“Weird with purpose,” is something that came to mind each time I read a story in Nothing is Everything. It was not only that the stories were strange, sometimes unsettling, eerie, atmospheric, but emotionally layered, as though the meaning of each tale hide in the undercurrent of Strantzas’ words. It was not what was said, but what wasn’t. These stories are the kind that you actually read or the meaning’s easily lost, leaving you wondering what the hell you just read.
It seemed every word and detail were perfectly chosen for each tale, leaving anything extra on the cutting room floor. They reminded me of other authors and works I love: Brain Evenson’s A Collapse of Horses and Song For the Unravelling of the World, Sue Rainsford’s Follow Me to Ground, Michael Griffin’s The Lure of Devouring Light and The Human Alchemy, Gwendolyn Kiste’s And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe, Mary Rickert’s You Have Never Been Here, Michael Wehunt’s Greener Pastures, Robert Aickman’s Dark Entries, and so on… This niche of quiet, soft-spoken weird fiction that isn’t quite horror but inspires real, grounded fear.
Honestly, I don’t know what else to say about Nothing is Everything except that I loved it from start to finish. It’s my first book by Strantzas, but it’s definitely not going to my last. It’s exactly what I want out of weird fiction, exactly what I want to read when I pick up a book, exactly the depth and meaning I want to portray in my own writing.
January 18, 2019
An excellent collection.
March 17, 2019
Very good collection of stories. Some resonated with me more than others. My ratings are below. I never give 10s on first reading so 9 is top tier. Also the stories fit well together and form a collection that feels like a cohesive whole rather than random stories just thrown in there.
In This Twilight and Terrific Mr Toucan are stratospherically good and the rest are definitely worth the read as well.
These Last Embers (7/10)
Alexandra Lost (4/10)
The Flower Unfolds (3/10)
In the Tall Grass (8/10)
The Fifth Stone (5/10)
In This Twilight (9/10)
Our Towns Talent (7/10)
Ghost Dogs (6/10)
The Terrific Mr Toucan (9/10)
All Reality Blossoms in Flames (6/10)
In This Twilight and Terrific Mr Toucan are stratospherically good and the rest are definitely worth the read as well.
These Last Embers (7/10)
Alexandra Lost (4/10)
The Flower Unfolds (3/10)
In the Tall Grass (8/10)
The Fifth Stone (5/10)
In This Twilight (9/10)
Our Towns Talent (7/10)
Ghost Dogs (6/10)
The Terrific Mr Toucan (9/10)
All Reality Blossoms in Flames (6/10)
January 14, 2022
4.5/5. This is a beautiful collection of stories. They all have Strange elements about them, yet they all deal with too-real emotions: isolation, alienation, discomfort; feeling like an exile in your own reality and looking for a light. And I love that the stories had that - light; light in unexpected places. The idea these stories revolve around is in the title, that nothing is everything.
All the main characters are women, and I really liked this. The writing is incredible - the word choice, the wisdom, the flow. Some stories I enjoyed more than others, but every single one shared the same high quality writing. This is the kind of strange fiction that isn't actually that strange under the surface, at the core; they're stories that anyone can love, but ones that will impact those who've fallen through the cracks more.
I think the stories are best if spaced out, not read all over a few days, like I did. These are really meant to be savored and let resonate.
Favorites: Our Town's Talent, Ghost Dogs.
Really Liked: In the Tall Grass, The Fifth Stone, The Terrific Mr. Toucan.
Liked: In This Twilight, These Last Embers, The Flower Unfolds.
Kinda Liked: Alexandra Lost, All Reality Blossoms in Flames.
I will be reading Burnt Black Suns next. I don't expect it to be at all like this collection, and I don't expect it to be as good, yet even so, I'm excited for something else, something different from this author, because Nothing is Everything was such a bittersweet, well written collection.
All the main characters are women, and I really liked this. The writing is incredible - the word choice, the wisdom, the flow. Some stories I enjoyed more than others, but every single one shared the same high quality writing. This is the kind of strange fiction that isn't actually that strange under the surface, at the core; they're stories that anyone can love, but ones that will impact those who've fallen through the cracks more.
I think the stories are best if spaced out, not read all over a few days, like I did. These are really meant to be savored and let resonate.
Favorites: Our Town's Talent, Ghost Dogs.
Really Liked: In the Tall Grass, The Fifth Stone, The Terrific Mr. Toucan.
Liked: In This Twilight, These Last Embers, The Flower Unfolds.
Kinda Liked: Alexandra Lost, All Reality Blossoms in Flames.
I will be reading Burnt Black Suns next. I don't expect it to be at all like this collection, and I don't expect it to be as good, yet even so, I'm excited for something else, something different from this author, because Nothing is Everything was such a bittersweet, well written collection.
February 10, 2024
Lite som med Richard Gavin vill jag gilla Strantzas mer än vad jag faktiskt gör, det finns absolut talang bakom novellerna i Nothing is Everything. Men det når liksom aldrig över mer än habilt hantverk. Toppen är nog novellerna, In this Twilight och These Last Embers, som lyckas förena karaktärspatos med bra stämning och fantasi. Jag hade inte förväntat mig att den skulle sluta som den gjorde. Men sedan så når han aldrig riktigt upp dit igen förutom avslutet på All Reality Blossoms in Flames som brakar löst på ett fantastiskt sett, när den väl gör det efter en allt för lång startsträcka. Eller, ja, det finns en till höjdpunkt i och för sig; den neurotiska Alexandra Lost. Men det kan vara min egen talassofobi som spökar.
January 7, 2021
You might have a different take on it. I have long been advocating the triangulation of coordinates by several readers of a fiction work by means of Gestalt real-time Reviewing, towards a final core that we can all share together as some ultimate truth, but that, of course, may spoil it. I think it may be worth the communal journey, though, for its own sake. This story, and perhaps this whole book, is the prime candidate for at least considering such an approach. If so, I can give it no greater compliment.
The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long to post here.
Above is one of its observations.
The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long to post here.
Above is one of its observations.
October 13, 2024
I was at first turned off at the novel due to it not being the grisly type of horror that I'm used to. As I read, my opinion changed. Stranzas writes about what lies for us in those unknown places we don't wish to tread, out of fear or a multitude of other reasons. According to Stranzas, the beautiful and the horrific lie just beyond, if we would only be brave enough to accept the painful growth.
May 28, 2019
Read this book because it was part of Undertow’s catalog. It was okay, slightly better than most short story collections I’ve read. There were a couple of quite good gems in there. The over arching problem as I imagine I see it, is a focus on idea and point over story. The story is there, but it serves the idea. I prefer when a story is first and ideas or points formed around the story.
June 2, 2019
Full review incoming...
December 3, 2020
Author of sheer brilliance, with rounded up and clever stories. We will meet again, Simon!
November 22, 2023
The stories start falling apart about 2/3 through, but otherwise, a decent collection. The final long short story doesn’t hold up.
September 10, 2024
Strange worlds, exciting and interesting
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