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Shadowselves: Stories
Speculative and darkly surreal, the stories in Shadowselves examine characters who have stepped dangerously close to an edge they cannot see. A snow plow driver stranded on the roadside during a blizzard finds himself trapped in a riddled memory. A middle-aged man wakes up one morning to find he’s gained four hundred pounds overnight, along with the unbearable regrets of countless strangers. A lonely child sets off to prove the existence of a mythic bird, but uncovers an ugly secret on the other side of town. A comatose teenage outcast traverses the liminal space between life and death. With a sometimes-tenuous grip on reality, and often haunted by mistakes, repressions, and alternate versions of who they might have been, the characters in Shadowselves struggle to find meaningful human connections in a world where the most important things always seem just out of their reach.
192 pages, Paperback
Published February 22, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 16, 2023
Strange, brilliant, and haunting stories.
April 30, 2022
After reading Ockert's earlier collection, Rabbit Punches, I was hopeful that I had discovered my new favorite short story writer. Now, having completed Shadowselves, I can determine, yes, Jason Ockert is numero uno. Thick, heady vibes. Perfect blend of raw and real and sad and funny. It ticks all the boxes for my particular tastes. Absolutely love it.
June 29, 2022
The ten stories that make up Shadowselves are peppered with fantastical elements, unreliable narrators, and the illusiveness of memory. This is a terrific collection exploring the strange, hidden places within ourselves, and I highly recommend it!
Lara Fisher, the protagonist of Jason Ockert’s short story, “Your Nearest Exit May Be Behind You,” clutches her infant Sam on flight 1745 as he screeches and cries. Like many overwhelmed, new moms on airplanes, Lara suspects “she’s a terrible mother” as she desperately tries to sooth her son, who eventually settles peacefully in seat 9D. Relieved, the exhausted mother falls asleep herself.
There’s only one problem–– When Lara Fisher jolts awake from a disturbing dream, she discovers her infant Sam is missing from seat 9D only to be replaced by a Baby Forever doll.
“Your Nearest Exit May Be Behind You,” like all of the stories in Ockert’s brilliant short story collection, Shadowselves, explores dark, uncharted territories of loss, loneliness, and the surreal nature of this modern life. Here, Ockert explores how “the human mind is just as capable of hiding a physical object as it is of sublimating repressed trauma.”
His stories in the collection are unpredictable, launching the reader into unchartered territories and imaginative realms, where characters are grounded and believable, yet there is a sense of the up-side-down worlds of Black Mirror or Twilight Zone.
Ockert’s stories are masterfully crafted showcasing the author’s sly humor. He probes the fine lines between Americana and the outlandish norms of the modern world. In more than one story, there are cryptic scenes of missing babies. In the deeply unsettling tale “The Salt Life,” an unobserved baby on a beach “begins to burn” and “ambles toward the sea.” Ockert ventures to propose the baby is beckoned by “the murmuring surf, the tug of the tide, the tempting lure of distant gulls, or the primordial blood-hum drum-drumming from the saline in the veins.” Wow, creepy as hell and beautifully written–-two of my favorite combinations!
Lara Fisher, the protagonist of Jason Ockert’s short story, “Your Nearest Exit May Be Behind You,” clutches her infant Sam on flight 1745 as he screeches and cries. Like many overwhelmed, new moms on airplanes, Lara suspects “she’s a terrible mother” as she desperately tries to sooth her son, who eventually settles peacefully in seat 9D. Relieved, the exhausted mother falls asleep herself.
There’s only one problem–– When Lara Fisher jolts awake from a disturbing dream, she discovers her infant Sam is missing from seat 9D only to be replaced by a Baby Forever doll.
“Your Nearest Exit May Be Behind You,” like all of the stories in Ockert’s brilliant short story collection, Shadowselves, explores dark, uncharted territories of loss, loneliness, and the surreal nature of this modern life. Here, Ockert explores how “the human mind is just as capable of hiding a physical object as it is of sublimating repressed trauma.”
His stories in the collection are unpredictable, launching the reader into unchartered territories and imaginative realms, where characters are grounded and believable, yet there is a sense of the up-side-down worlds of Black Mirror or Twilight Zone.
Ockert’s stories are masterfully crafted showcasing the author’s sly humor. He probes the fine lines between Americana and the outlandish norms of the modern world. In more than one story, there are cryptic scenes of missing babies. In the deeply unsettling tale “The Salt Life,” an unobserved baby on a beach “begins to burn” and “ambles toward the sea.” Ockert ventures to propose the baby is beckoned by “the murmuring surf, the tug of the tide, the tempting lure of distant gulls, or the primordial blood-hum drum-drumming from the saline in the veins.” Wow, creepy as hell and beautifully written–-two of my favorite combinations!
December 26, 2022
Ockert’s new collection features the usual (and delicious) Ockert brand of magic: boys learning something about life a little too early; animals that may or may not harness special powers; a triggering carcass; a surreal exploration of what we carry.
It all makes for a good beer of a read. The perfect caloric intake to leave you buzzed and emotionally moved without warning.
Read the rest here: https://www.bridgeeight.com/review-sh...
It all makes for a good beer of a read. The perfect caloric intake to leave you buzzed and emotionally moved without warning.
Read the rest here: https://www.bridgeeight.com/review-sh...
January 4, 2023
Jason Ockert is such an interesting author, impossible to codify and with an electrifying verbal energy. He has an exceedingly lurid imagination, with a strong streak of both horror and the fantastic in it. It's like Shirley Jackson, Robert Coover, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and J. Alfred Prufrock created an author love child. These stories are both breathtaking and reality-shaking.
December 8, 2025
Cool surreal stories and that last one was a great anchor to the anthology
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews