What do you think?
Rate this book
Erratic
This third collection of new Stockholm Archipelago stories centers on the environs of Rindö; the island that lies between that of smaller Vaxön—with its county seat of Vaxholm to the west—and much larger Värmdö to the east. Archaeological evidence has shown that this 5km by 1.2km (3.1 by 0.75 miles) island was first inhabited by farmers, as witnessed by their family cemetery, from around 900 C.E. A heavy military presence was here from the 17th to the early years of the 21st centuries, as the forts in the area were charged with guarding the largest of seven waterways into the capital city of Stockholm.
Whereas three of the stories take place on Rindö itself, the fourth is set in the old military fort sitting on the brow of a cliff on the western edge of Värmdö: just minutes away via a transportation administration-run car ferry across the Oxdjupet strait. It and a later massive fortification raised on the eastern end of Rindö are some of the last major man-made structures seen by those on board the large passenger ferries that are headed out through the Stockholm Archipelago and into the wider Baltic Sea.
As always, these stories are more Gothic and paranormal in nature, steeped in both local color and actual island history, written by someone who has lived there for nearly 30 years. Their themes are such that they might make you go “Hmm…”—perhaps even stop and think about their veracity—as opposed to something that’s laced with the mayhem and gratuitous violence found written elsewhere.
Short excerpt: “The next phase of the Change began during the snow-covered quiet of winter, with its slowly-falling layers of crystallized atmosphere, blinding by daylight with their dazzling refracting of sunlight, and the subsequent muffling of all sounds during the moonless dark of night. Sometime in the beginning of a new year and the spring that followed, both halves of the pair were no longer seen out of doors anymore.
●
Someone going by on the sidewalk just on the other side of the zig-zag picket fence would have occasionally seen his form, silhouetted by the light coming through the picture windows on the back side of the house, moving around in the living room, or standing at the kitchen counter. Nighttime would see lights going on and off in the part of the house where more private spaces, like the bathroom and the bedrooms, could be imagined to be. Oddly, there was once a lampshade on a medium-height light on a windowsill in one of these front-facing rooms that was askew: cocked to one side as if it had been bumped. A day later—or was it two?—it was upright and level again, as if nothing had happened.” -- excerpted from the short story “Life Always Finds a Way”
Whereas three of the stories take place on Rindö itself, the fourth is set in the old military fort sitting on the brow of a cliff on the western edge of Värmdö: just minutes away via a transportation administration-run car ferry across the Oxdjupet strait. It and a later massive fortification raised on the eastern end of Rindö are some of the last major man-made structures seen by those on board the large passenger ferries that are headed out through the Stockholm Archipelago and into the wider Baltic Sea.
As always, these stories are more Gothic and paranormal in nature, steeped in both local color and actual island history, written by someone who has lived there for nearly 30 years. Their themes are such that they might make you go “Hmm…”—perhaps even stop and think about their veracity—as opposed to something that’s laced with the mayhem and gratuitous violence found written elsewhere.
Short excerpt: “The next phase of the Change began during the snow-covered quiet of winter, with its slowly-falling layers of crystallized atmosphere, blinding by daylight with their dazzling refracting of sunlight, and the subsequent muffling of all sounds during the moonless dark of night. Sometime in the beginning of a new year and the spring that followed, both halves of the pair were no longer seen out of doors anymore.
●
Someone going by on the sidewalk just on the other side of the zig-zag picket fence would have occasionally seen his form, silhouetted by the light coming through the picture windows on the back side of the house, moving around in the living room, or standing at the kitchen counter. Nighttime would see lights going on and off in the part of the house where more private spaces, like the bathroom and the bedrooms, could be imagined to be. Oddly, there was once a lampshade on a medium-height light on a windowsill in one of these front-facing rooms that was askew: cocked to one side as if it had been bumped. A day later—or was it two?—it was upright and level again, as if nothing had happened.” -- excerpted from the short story “Life Always Finds a Way”
125 pages, Paperback
Published March 4, 2022
1 person want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
No one has reviewed this book yet.