False Bingo: Stories

by Jac Jemc

"Combines the otherworldliness of Jeff VanderMeer’s “Annihilation,” the menacing irony of Shirley Jackson and the cold feminist fury of Margaret Atwood" --The New York Times Book Review

Named a Fall Read by The Boston Globe and the Chicago Tribune

The mundane becomes sinister in a disquieting story collection from the author of The Grip of It

In Jac Jemc’s dislocating second story collection, False Bingo, we watch as sinister forces—some supernatural, some of this earth, some real and some not—work their ways into the mundanity of everyday life.

In “Strange Loop,” an outcast attempting to escape an unnamed mistake spends his days taxiderming animals, while in “Delivery,” a family watches as their dementia-addled, basement-dwelling father succumbs to an online shopping addiction. “Don’t Let’s” finds a woman, recently freed from an abusive relationship, living in an isolated vacation home in the South that might be haunted by breath-stealing ghosts.

Fueled by paranoia and visceral suspense, and crafted with masterful restraint, these seventeen stories explore what happens when our fears cross over into the real, if only for a fleeting moment. Identities are stolen, alternate universes are revealed, and innocence is lost as the consequences of minor, seemingly harmless decisions erupt to sabotage a false sense of stability. “This is not a morality tale about the goodness of one character triumphing over the bad of another,” the sadistic narrator of “Pastoral” announces. Rather, False Bingo is a collection of realist fables exploring how conflicting moralities can the good, the bad, the indecipherable.

Genres: Short Stories, Horror, Fiction, Queer, Collections, Contemporary, Audiobook

242 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 8, 2019

Reviews

[Jac · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let's start the rating off right. :)

[Sraah · Rating 4 out of 5]

any other 1/5 - i don't understand lmao this girl bethany jus wylin' out playing pretend, huh?

delivery 4/5 - upon finishing i out loud said, "what?" this was such a mind fk and i honestly have no idea what i just read but i enjoyed it and want more, i want to understand what was really going on

strange loop 4/5 - so many creepy undertones. ouroboros.

the principal's ashes 4/5 - this felt haunting in a real world way.

don't let's 4/5 - so far maybe this is my favorite story. some myths mimic real life too much, fears are parallel with reality and nonreality, which is worse, what we know or what we can't see? maybe it's the same thing, a projection. maybe it's easier to paint a narrative than see the actual threat.

get back 3/5 - "How long would I feel this urge to seek justice on those who did me even minor wrongs?" "Death is but a scar." is this a tale of imagination or fact?

pastoral 2/5 - "You have been waiting for the threat. That is where you are wrong." was the best part of this one.

loser 5/5 - this was relatable. being the outcast that will never be accepted even if you do things similar to the elite. they're going to stay stuck on their opinion regardless because that's who they are, and you aren't the issue. they're not the people you need acceptance from anyway. you aren't the loser. you aren't losing. yes, you're winning. yes, you're finding.

the halifax slasher 4/5 - it's terrifying what women face in this world, but something terrifying in a similar way is lying about a real issue women actually face. why would you want to be a part of such a horrible epidemic by falsifying and pretending to be a victim of it instead of reaching out and helping the true victims at the hands of these assaults. this is sick. tragedy isn't something to lie about.

bull's-eye 5/5 - i've gone and played bingo a lot and this described the feeling of a bingo hall entirely. this also had me thinking a lot about what makes a person good or bad. sometimes good people are just more opportune to doing bad actions, have more chances, more openings, and the bad will find a way to do so regardless of the circumstances.

half dollar 5/5 - manipulative friendships. cruelty to others at your own expense. "doubt fell over where it was i should have laid my trust."

manifest 1/5 - obsession. ocd. unhinged.

gladness or joy 5/5 - i loved every second of this, every line, especially that last piece W O W that was amazing and filled me with so many emotions.

default 3/5 - i enjoyed the beginning of this, the string of words. the last half was depressing.

maulawiyah 5/5 - very human. toxic. no effort. in order to truly change you have to look within yourself, even at the parts you don't want to face. it's too easy to pretend certain things about yourself don't exist, but they're there and others will see them and be affected by them. you're in control of you and should work toward being better for yourself and others. don't lay your burdens on them continuously while simultaneously not even trying to fix it.

hunt and catch 4/5 - paranoia. this had a heavy unease to it

under/over 4/5 - expectations. selfishness. refusing to understand. annoyance at being reminded factual details. belittlement. self praise. entitlement. ungrateful.

kudzu 5/5 - i'd read an entire novel about this. i want to live in the woods and have skills society doesn't have or understand.

trivial pursuit 3/5 - a board game is a board game is a board game

loitering 5/5 - this story fked me up. i feel shellshocked right now.

[Justin Chen · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

Having enjoyed the novel The Grip of It by the same author a couple years back, I decided to pick up False Bingo on a whim. Typical with short stories collection, there are bound to be ones that resonant more than the others, but overall I'm happy to say the writing is extremely consistent: observational, frank, and razor-sharp at picking up unsettling details. While The Grip of It was unmistakably a horror story, False Bingo is less constraint by genre, ranging from thriller-esque scenario, character study, slice-of-life, to familiar drama, but all contain traces of eeriness and looming melancholy.

- - -

Any Other: 3.5 stars
More of a mood piece. Really liked the setup, but its super short length didn't allow the story to build before the 'twist' came fast and furious—kind of wished there's more substance to it. Still a decent book opener though!

Delivery: 4 stars
Eerie imagery, a melancholic perspective on one's parent succumbing to dementia.

Strange Loop: 4 stars
Another mood-oriented piece, but I love the intentional pacing, very hypnotic.

The Principal's Ashes: 3.5 stars
Filled with dark humor and some quirky detail.. but I don't get the ending...

Don't Let's: 4.25 stars
Was loving this one! By far the most fleshed-out story thus far with amazing detail/character. The ending came way too abruptly when there was still so much room for development.

Get Back: 3 stars
I *get* what it was going for, but it became repetitive quickly. (amazing writing though!)

Pastoral: 3 stars
Interesting concept and execution, but not quite a story I connected with.

Loser: 4 stars
A complete narrative about an outsider attempting to fit in.

The Halifax Slasher: 4.5 stars
An instant favorite; took me two read-throughs to fully grasp it, but I like the twists and turns as well as an ending that's open for interpretation.

Bull's Eye: 4 stars
An immersive slice-of-life about aging and loneliness.

Half Dollar: 4.25 stars
Quietly sinister, feels like it could be an excellent prologue to a full-length novel!

Manifest: 4.25 stars
Outlandish and grotesque, packed with a lot of WTF moments—really liked this one!

Gladness or Joy: 3 stars
A series of scattered vignettes, while they were semi-interesting independently, as a whole I failed to detect a larger thematic connection. Felt like a filler.

Default: 3.5 stars
A mic-drop of an ending, but the mad lib beginning dragged on for far too long.

Maulawiyah: 4.5 stars
Quirky characters on a yoga retreat trying to find peace, featuring some great eye-roll moments.

Hunt and Catch: 5 stars
A perfect, effortlessly effective little story about a paranoid woman traveling home from work.

Under/Over: 5 stars
A very in-depth look at a dysfunctional sibling dynamic after a traumatic accident.

Kudzu: 5 stars
A bittersweet mother-daughter story with an unusual setting. I also learned so much facts about the plant kudzu, which I had absolutely no knowledge prior.

Trivia Pursuit: 4.5 stars
A couple trying to seek compatible people to hang out with, really enjoyed the dark humor with its conclusion.

Loitering: 5 stars
Honestly this collection really ended on a series of top-rated stories; this one was incredibly immersive and the ending was a pleasant shock to the system, it had an allegorical undertone to it.

[Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jac Jemc is my favorite. This is a fact. She has such an incredible knack for supernaturalizing the mundane and expanding the everyday. This short story collection is darkly funny, critically honest, and wide open for interpretation. My favorite stories were Maulawiyah, wherein a woman on a technology-free retreat observed the absolutely annoying behavior of people around her, and Under/Over, in which a girl takes the fall for her brother's DUI. Both stories totally nailed the deeply unsettling relationships between people and the enormous weight of minute social dynamics. I know not everyone enjoys reading about unlikable situations, but I loved seeing Jemc nail the fraught relationships and infuriating occurrences of everyday life.


Story Summaries:
Any Other: A woman entertains a man desperately seeking to buy a precious heirloom off of her.

Delivery: A dad perplexes his family by continuously ordering multiple video game consoles, printers, televisions, and more in a downward spiral of dementia.

Strange Loop: A taxidermist weaves a reptilian ouroboros.

The Principle’s Ashes: A teacher uses the displayed urn of their principal’s ashes as a disciplinary technique.

Don’t Let’s: A woman retreats to the swamp to clear her mind, where she discovers the creepy myth of the boo hag and the ghostly man that haunts her past.

Get Back: A person catalogues all the destructive ways they get back at their exes.

Pastoral: Two actors work out a porn scene.

Loser: A high school girl seeks and loses acceptance from the popular girls.

The Halifax Slasher: The unseen specter of a neighborhood predator terrorizes women and haunts a small town.

Bull’s-Eye: An old woman attends Bingo Night.

Half Dollar: Two young friends prank a grieving widow for a half dollar.

Manifest: A woman gets plastic surgery to remove a mole and questions the implications of artificial beauty.

Gladness or Joy: A collection of people ponder the elusiveness of joy.

Default: A family reluctantly memorialize the loss of a poor father figure.

Maulawiyah: A woman on a technology-free retreat observes the nuances of the people around her.

Hunt and Catch: A woman portends her own doom as she is stalked by the figure of a garbage man.

Under/Over: An artist takes the fall for her brother’s DUI.

Kudzu: A mother prepares her daughter to enter the real world after a lifetime of happy seclusion.

Trivial Pursuit: A couple seek out a replacement for their disappointing nights at Board Game Couple’s house.

Loitering: A woman down on her luck seeks out the silver lining and gains new perspective from a bar conversation.

[Samantha Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

False Bingo is a short story collection written by one of my favorite indie authors. Jemc’s haunted house novel Grip Of It was a spine-tingling descent into the vulnerability of relationships. I loved every single thoughtfully placed syllable in that novel. If you haven’t read it yet, do yourself that favor.

In False Bingo, Jemc’s deceptively simple stories transcend. In my favorite short, “Half Dollar,” two young girls play a terrible prank on a devastated widow by pretending they saw her husband’s ghost on the subway. Though one of the girl’s learns a valuable lesson about navigating trust, it’s the way Jemc describes the sorrowful widow that gives this story its elegance: “Before us stood a woman, not thin so much as empty of herself. She had been fuller at some point, and in the once-filled spaces, a lack coaxed our attention.” The writing is just peak art.

And the hits just keep on coming. A false account of a violent break-in awards one woman her freedom, but incites multiple false copycats throughout the neighborhood. A murderer details her methods of torturing males who waste her time. A daughter makes peace with her father’s death while learning he’s not really her father. And many more revelations of falsehoods, deceits, and as the title suggests, false bingos.

Life is incidental and accidental. And tragically revelatory when viewing the world through Jac Jemc’s lens. Visit her books soon, and visit them often.

Big thanks to Net Galley for the pre-pub copy in exchange for an honest review. I would have hassled them so hard if they denied me this, so really it was for their own good.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

My review for the Chicago Tribune: https://www.chicagotribune.com/entert...

The critically acclaimed Chicago-based writer Jac Jemc teaches, among other places, at Story Studio Chicago, where she leads the Novel in a Year: Speculative Fiction class, guiding students to produce manuscripts that draw upon strange and sinister elements. According to the course description, this includes “fantasy, science fiction, horror, magical realism, transgressive, new weird, and various related sub-genres (for example, alternative history, or steampunk).”

Looking over her career to date, it’s easy to see why Jemc would be ideally positioned to head such a class. Her own atmospheric and hard-to-categorize work — including 2017’s haunted house novel “The Grip of It” — is expertly unsettled and unsettling. Her latest book, “False Bingo,” a collection of 20 stylish and psychologically tense stories, continues this trajectory, leading the reader into realms full of dread and suspense, weirdness and wonder, paranoia and pain.

In “Don’t Lets,” a woman recovering from an abusive relationship holes up at a lonely vacation rental in the South that turns out to have been a plantation, now possibly visited by the Gullah ghost the boo hag, a creature “like a bogeyman” or “a vampire, but they don’t take your blood. They take your breath.” In “Half Dollar,” an homage to Shirley Jackson, two girls play a cruel practical joke on a grieving widow. And in “Hunt and Catch,” a woman commuting home from work by bus believes she’s being followed by a garbage truck driver.

Although ghosts occasionally populate her tales, Jemc is less M.R. James and more Robert Aickman. Rarely relying on obvious chills or violence, her stories — as surreal as they are scary — dwell magnificently in the realm of the upsetting yet pleasingly confounding. Ultimately, it’s the details of reality — the things that can and do happen all the time — that make the stories shine, for Jemc knows how to use mundanity to throw the truly bizarre into sharp relief. In “Delivery” for instance, narrated in the first-person plural by a set of siblings, the father of a family becomes addicted to ordering electronics off QVC. By the end, the reader is left with a parable that comments — obliquely, disturbingly — on both materialism and dementia.

Jemc’s erudite, offbeat sense of humor contributes brilliantly to the collection’s pervasive unease as often as does anything overtly supernatural. In “The Principal’s Ashes,” the central premise is that Mrs. Sayer, an unorthodox teacher, plans to cap the school year by having her class of second-graders perform Allen Ginsberg’s transgressive poem “Howl.” Yet eerily, this pedagogically suspect proposition fails to draw a peep of protest as “even Rara’s mother won’t complain about how her daughter walks around the house repeating a couplet that contains the word ‘ass.’ ”

A highly literary writer who takes delight in the smallest elements of language, Jemc masterfully uses personification in apt but jittery ways, as when a character with a broken leg says, “I felt ache rummage through my bones and I reached for my crutches.” The same goes for metaphor, as when she writes of the protagonist of the story “Strange Loop,” “John was a frame of madly hung trouble.” Or when the narrator of “Under/Over,” serving out her punishment for an unjustly earned DUI, says that “in the hours after volunteering, class, therapy, I felt like a cymbal clang of myself.” Even Jemc’s syntax itself can become agitated and agitating, as in the list story “Get Back,” a menacing litany of men who harmed the narrator and what she did in retaliation out of the belief that “the turning, trawling winds of mortality should be turned upon the unworthy.”

Jemc’s environments feel ominous even when no apparent threat is present or named, as in the story “Pastoral,” which simultaneously exploits the reader’s anxiety while refusing to admit that anxiety’s cause.

Twenty stories might sound like a lot, but the book flies by, because Jemc knows how to deploy both brevity and irresolution. Story after story exhibits the understanding that it’s usually creepier to wonder than to know. Yet she never makes the reader feel like she’s simply messing around or doesn’t know what’s going on herself. Perhaps most effective is her awareness that scariness gets even scarier when it’s intercut with, as the title of one story puts it, “Gladness or Joy.” That story ends with “‘Listen to this,’ your friend says. You wait,” and in this collection, Jemc feels like the friend you listen to with nervous anticipation.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jac Jemc blew me away with her debut My Only Wife, quickly securing my fandom for her.

The worlds in which Jemc's characters reside are slightly off kilter, her stories throb with the sensation that something just isn't right - they produce an itching under the skin, a tingling of the scalp, a raising of the hairs on the back of the neck. No, something is definitely not right here and yet... it remains always just out reach.

She is queen of the strange and eerie, fabulously messing with us as she teases out the tension, allowing our imaginations to begin to run away with us...

While this works effortlessly within her novels, I felt the short story platform did not always lend her the time or space to fully pull it off... in some cases it felt rushed, in others I felt we were only just scratching the surface of what could have made for an amazing novel.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

False Bingo is a remarkable and haunting collection of stories. While reading it, various stories reminded me of some of my other favorite authors- Shirley Jackson, Kelly Link, and Flannery O'Connor, all who in varying degrees were masters of making readers feel unsettled. There's something truly magical about the ability to feel unsettled. Straight horror is one thing, but making the reader feel like something is slightly off (that person is a little *too* friendly, did I really leave that door open?) is something that requires a lot of skill. I prefer feeling unsettled as opposed to being straight up terrified. I love stories without easy answers, ones that fill my imagination for weeks, imagining the details not provided by the author. All of the stories in False Bingo are left open for further pondering, which I absolutely loved.


If I had to chose a favorite story, it would probably be "Don't Let's," but there was not a story in this collection that I didn't enjoy. False Bingo is easily joining the ranks as one of my favorite short story collections, and I can't wait to shove this into the hands of all my friends, making everyone I know feel a little bit more uneasy.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

[Steve T · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the book's description: "The mundane becomes sinister in a disquieting story collection from the author of The Grip of It. In Jac Jemc's dislocating second story collection, False Bingo, we watch as sinister forces--some supernatural, some of this earth, some real and some not--work their ways into the mundanity of everyday life."

This was my biggest concern with Jac Jemc's collection. False Bingo? More like False Advertising. There's really only one straight-on horror story ("Don't Let's") and it's a very good one. The rest are about everyday people (mostly), facing unusual or difficult circumstances. Sure there are creepy moments and stories filled with dread and suspense, but this isn't horror — and that's OK.

The stories are well-written and the collection is quite good. I'm in the marketing business and I understand how her previous novel, The Grip of It, was a ghostly horror story and the publisher wanted to tie this book to that one. But False Bingo stands on its own as a compelling read that displays the range of this author's talent.

[Kerry Pickens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jac Jemc's collection of short stories are sometimes brilliant enough that you wished they weren't short stories. Even the worst ones are like fever dreams, the mood stays the same but the characters change.

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jemc presents a medley of flash exercises in the uncanny with this, her latest short story collection. A whole slate of female writers writing short fiction today are being compared to Shirley Jackson, even when their chosen genre isn't horror. I'm thinking of Kelly Link, Kristen Roupenian, maybe even Carmen Maria Machado. Jemc even designates one story in False Bingo, "Half Dollar," as an homage to Jackson. Sometimes the comparison is apt and earned, sometimes it isn't. Is Shirley Jackson cool for the first time, so now reviewers and writers want to see her everywhere? And why is she cool now? This is the question that interests me most.

If you're looking for something along the thematic or mood lines of Jemc's debut novel, The Grip of It, you won't find it here. There are very few stories in here that could be deemed horror stories. "Don't Let's," one of my favorites in here, comes very close. As in The Grip of It, the house is presented as a hostile and unknown territory, perhaps even sentient, but definitely presenting hidden threats to the protagonist. I also enjoyed "Delivery," which again played with the theme of the house as a force that enables sinister, destructive behavior.

My least favorite stories in this collection were "Get Back" and "Strange Loop." Both stories have protagonists with psychotic tendencies, which again, seems to be a trendy subject among writers recently. The reason behind this interest is interesting, but the subject itself does not interest me. Psychotics are by nature creatures of habit, so things get repetitive real fast, which doesn't make for the most absorbing read. Time and effort spent developing psychotic characters is an exercise in futility, because only a psychotic could hope to understand a psychotic, and also, who really cares? Who would even want to be inside their head? There are many other places to choose to take a reader, far more redeeming and rewarding places. Thankfully, these two stories are mercifully short.

I need to read Jemc's two previous story collections, after having read this one and her novel. I admire the breadth of subject matter in these stories, but overall, was underwhelmed by the writing. Jemc's style is sparse and blunt, but with a few exceptions, these stories lack the force that they promise.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

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

Jemc is solidified in my mind as one of the strange and unusual, and I’m always looking out for the authors willing to take a risk on something entirely different. Her take on a haunted house story with The Grip of It is definitely worth a read for the sheer uniqueness and creepiness of the places it goes, even though I felt that overall it wasn’t as successful a story as I wanted it to be.

With this short story collection, Jemc proves she has a lot more up her sleeve. While I wouldn’t call this collection overtly horror, the weirdness and uncomfortable places it goes puts it in the horror-adjacent category for me.

Basicially all the stories in the collection were reminiscent of Shirley Jackson in both style and substance. This was especially the case with “Any Other,” “The Delivery,” “Bulls-Eye,” “Half Dollar,” “Maulahwiyah,” in which an ordinary seeming situation turns dark or darkly comedic with a twist at the end. These stories are about small moments, sometimes not even all that much happens in them. But they each offer a glimpse into someone else’s mind, and isn’t that why we read? To escape ourselves for a moment?

Stories like “Strange Loop,” “Don’t Lets,” “Get Back,” “The Halifax Slasher,” and “Manifest” lean more into the horror angle. “Don’t Lets” is one of my favorites of the collection. “The Halifax Slasher” gives an interesting angle on the idea of the serial killer, even if it isn’t an overtly scary story.

Some of the stories have a coming-of-age vibe, like “Loser” and “Kudzu,” both of which have younger characters just trying to find their way in the world and coming up against the small but still difficult moments of becoming an adult.

Most of the stories are truly short, flash fiction pieces of just a few pages. Jemc isn’t afraid of giving the reader just a taste of the worlds swirling in her mind, just a small peek behind the curtain, and it really left me wanting more. This is a very different style of writing, and if you are more of a reader who wants that Freytag Pyramid type of tale with clear elements like a beginning, climax, and end, these might not be your cup of tea. But they were just the poison for me.

My thanks to FSG x MCD for my copy of this one to read and review.

[Dea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love reading short story collections but I always struggle to write reviews for them. It’s like when I look at works of art: I can tell you that I like or dislike something but I can’t necessarily explain why. As I am neither an art critic nor a short story critic, please enjoy this brief, floundering review of a short story collection that I neither liked nor disliked. And hey, lucky for you, I also haven’t figured out how to review books I feel lukewarm about!

The longer stories in False Bingo were the most enjoyable—Jemc infused them effortlessly with moody atmosphere and impressive character depth, though these stories inevitably ended abruptly. (Again, do not ask me what makes a satisfying short story ending—I do not know. I just feel it when I see it!)

I didn’t care for many of the shorter stories, especially compared to the quality of the lengthier offerings. They felt shallow, and too methodical, in a way. But I think we all know that I’m picky and short stories read different to everyone and at different times etc. so of course, take this with a grain of salt.

I’m sure a lot of readers will really enjoy this collection. If you’re a fan of Jemc’s previous work, or of stories like those by Samanta Schweblin, Mariana Enríquez, and Ottessa Moshfegh, give False Bingo a go!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-galley.

[William Lavasque · Rating 5 out of 5]

So Kudzu was by far my favorite story in this collection. Some of them were delightfully uncomfortable. Many times I found my self reading faster in suspense of trying to figure out some twist at the ends.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars
Some true (quiet) gems in here, from an author from whom I always eagerly await the next story.

[Raven · Rating 4 out of 5]

“‘But I’m already so far behind,’ she said.
I’d never heard her express a feeling like this. It had crept in so quickly, like the vines after a storm. ‘It’s not a race,’ I said. ‘Or if it is, it’s a thousand races at once, and they all measure different things and you’re ahead, baby. You’re placing first in categories where other people haven’t even stepped across the start line.’
‘I’m not sure what you’re talking about,’ she said.
I laughed. She was a teenager after all.”, — from “Kudzu”

Jac Jemc writes smarty-pants literature. And since, I’d like to think I’m smarty-pants adjacent, I dig it. As I came closer to finishing this collection, I came to think of Jemc as the post-modern, secular, (and probably kinder) Joel Osteen of literary spaces. These stories do function as parables, zany parables, but parables nonetheless. I am mesmerized by all that Jemc is doing in the collection. I am particularly fond of her work because she seems to lean into the idea of writing as craft, writing as artistry. Jemc can seemingly effortlessly create atmospheres of paranoia and unease and then on a dime, tap into something more absurdly humorous (“The Principal’s Ashes,” which is giving so many Donald Barthelme vibes) or shift to something tender and sorrowful.

These stories are very slice-of-life and about everyday horrors and anxieties. "Kudzu” (!!!) is about a mother and a child who live a life that is somewhat from removed from mainstream society, but deeper than that it is about the nervousness surrounding one’s child growing up and stepping into the world as an independent being. It’s about love as respecting another person's freedom. It’s beautiful and everything from the title to the character development is stunning. “Under/Over” deals with a relationship between siblings, one of whom struggles with alcoholism. It’s about the lengths one will go for someone that they love, it’s about the fine line between helping and enabling. Again, stunning.

There are morals but there is much ambiguity as well. There is much room for discussion, much room for interpretation. Because at the church of Jac Jemc, the ideas aren’t neatly packaged to aid with consumption and critical engagement is key. Mostly, I’m making these silly Joel Osteen and church comparisons because gospel is supposed to both warm your heart and set your spirit aflame, to move you towards some sort of action, even if that action is simply reconsidering your viewpoint. And I think Jac Jemc is doing both here. For example, in “Loitering” (which is maybe the most parable-y story in the collection) one of the characters gives us this gem: “What I’m saying is: Everything worked out. Sure, they had problems from time to time, but don’t question the bad, don’t question the good. Take what you get and move forward.” I rest my case. Court adjourned. Amen.

Notable Quotable:
“It is a rustic fantasy we live out here in the suburbs. The days morph to nights and back into days. The calendar appears to exist only for those who refuse to live in the silver ideal of the instant. In our little locus amoenus, we revel in the undemanding abandon of passion and tradition and harmony. We hear the falling melodies and remind ourselves they are just an imitation. If those feelings of happiness pass, then so, too, will this sorrow. We speak with an elated eloquence: accidental fables, prestigious madness, worthy joy, happy detachment. We compose our mirth. We trespass the shadows. We bind simplicity to our pleasures. It is a human emphasis we place on the gods we construct … You have been waiting for the threat. That is where you are wrong.” — from “Pastoral”

[Misha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well done. Intentional, not heavy-handed, and starkly real. Each story kept my attention but a handful really hit the mark for me. I love that Jac didn't shove a neat, corny through-line down our throats... making each story about love or loneliness or how the world has wronged us. How we're always the victims... or always the villains. This was a collection. I found myself both reflecting on how my mother has wronged me and also how I've been the one in the wrong. This was just really well done. No judgement and no artifice— just relatable, validating, connecting stories. Understandable and commiserative. Penetrating.

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Jemc’s writing style. Her characters feel very Shirley Jackson-esque to me, which is high praise. However, this falls under the curse many collections have where the stories are unevenly developed. I found myself trying to push through many and savor in some. Glad I read it but her novel, The Grip of It, still rings superior to me.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

My opinion really fluctuated on this from story to story, but over all I love the author’s ability to write about so much while saying very little. There are some real gems in here, especially enjoyed Gladness or Joy, Default, Maulawiyah, and Trivial Pursuit.

[Joshua Bohnsack · Rating 5 out of 5]

The details and intricacies of each of these stories are amazing and will stick with you.

[Kara]

I got about halfway through this before abandoning it. I really liked some of the stories, but overall I just couldn't get into it. I may pick up again later.

[Audrey (Warped Shelves) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Average rating of all stories: 3.4

This review is based on an ARC of False Bingo which I received courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher (Farrar, Straus and Giroux).

Okay okay okay so if you've never read Jac Jemc (I hadn't prior to False Bingo) then I highly recommend checking her out, and this anthology is a fantastic place to start! What makes her prose so wonderful is that she as an author is hidden beneath strong characters and powerful storytelling, but her voice remains nonetheless. False Bingo hosts an array of characters from so many walks of life, different personalities, struggles, and goals, and yet Jemc's stories all have an air of cohesion to them. You know they were penned by the same person, despite how drastically different the plots and point-of-views.

Lately I've been in this slump where I'd rather watch YouTube before bed than read, but with False Bingo I found myself fighting to keep my eyes open well past my bed time, going, "I can read one more story! I can fit another in!" These stories brought back my love of books from that gray area and I am endlessly thankful for that.

If you've ever enjoyed a Daniel Woodrell novel or if you liked Stephen King's Night Shift I encourage you to give Jac Jemc's short stories a read. (My favorite was Loser!)

[Horror DNA · Rating 4 out of 5]

All a reader has to do to understand that Jac Jemc’s work is special is open her latest collection, False Bingo, and read the first story, “Any Other”. Coming in at three-and-a-half-pages, “Any Other” is too short for me to offer you a synopsis without giving too much away. That said, I can tell you things about it that will explain why this collection is a must read: there is more dark humor in those three-and-a-half-pages than in the 300 pages of the last novel I read, there is a twist that’s better than anything M. Night Shyamalan has ever pulled, and it creates a sense of tension that gets readers immediately hooked. Oh, and it’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

You can read Gabino's full review at Horror DNA by clicking here.

[Wesley Pasheco · Rating 2 out of 5]

São contos de terror protagonizado por mulheres, cada uma vivendo uma trama diferente, desde a garota que sofre Bullying na escola por usar um perfume diferente a uma mulher que escolhe passar por uma cirurgia pra mudar a aparência e ter um olhar mais “confortável” da sociedade.
Além do terror as histórias nos dão alguns tópicos pra pensar se algum dia poderíamos passar por aquilo, ou como poderíamos sobreviver perante tal situação. Como o conto tema do livro, sobre uma senhora idosa que perdeu o marido e sempre recebe a visita fantasma dele e lembra os bons tempos em que eles ordenavam os números pra ganhar algo.
O único ponto chato, é que eles não se fecham, tudo termina com gancho pra algo que não continua, e tem conto que tá mais pra chic lit do que pra suspense e corta totalmente o clima.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I discovered Jac Jemc this summer when I read her story "Any Other" in Tiny Crimes and fell in love with her writing style. I've been anticipating this collection since then and wow. Completely worth the wait. I loved every single story. Most were dark - which I loved - but there were a few that snuck up on you and were really sweet with a small, lurking feeling of something ominous between the lines. This is definitely one of my most favorite short story collections I've read this year/ever.

[Jessica T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

False Bingo is a short story collection by Jac Jemc. It's a great anthology where Jac flexes her literary muscles. She uses the ordinary (similar to Steven Millhauser) to create a strange and curious narrative. I loved this collection.

[Jan Stinchcomb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Typical Jac Jemc: edgy, weird, heavy on atmosphere and nuance. Smart. A great collection that includes both flash fiction and longer stories.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great mix of humor and horror. Well, maybe not quite "horror", but there is a wicked bit of darkness throughout. A great follow up to "The Grip of It".

[E · Rating 3 out of 5]

it's hard to star short story collections tbh. this one had 3 stories that were 5/5 for me though.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I happy-flagged two moments in this collection and they both had to do with frogs. Here are those moments:

As the year progressed, Baldur the frog (only Saint Rosa of the Gardens herself knew where these children learned the the things they did) endured, unharmed.

By the time the family arrives home from the store, the frog is dead. Why would I think it was a good idea to buy an animal at Walmart? the mother asks herself. Her child is bereft. He had already named the frog Puddincup.

The stories that were told more directly--less lyrical and poesy--appealed to me more, but a younger, grad school me would've lapped this up entirely. Astonishing range, but I found myself struggling to remember the plots as I flipped back through. Huge fan of Jemc's novel, EMPTY THEATRE and definitely interested in whatever she does next.