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Effects Vary
Effects Vary features 22 stories of dark fiction and literary horror that explore the shadow side of love, loss, and family. From an aging TV star’s murderous plan to rekindle her glory days, to a father who returns from war forever changed, from human lab rats who die again and again, to a farmer who obeys the dreadful commands of the sky, these stories, four of them award winners, blur the thin line between reality and the darkest reaches of the imagination.
202 pages, Paperback
First published October 4, 2022
About the author
Michael Harris Cohen
24 books23 followersMichael Harris Cohen’s stories have been published in various magazines and anthologies including F(r)iction, Black Candies, Necessary Fiction, A Punk Rock Future, Catapult’s Tiny Crimes, The Dark, and Conjunctions. His first book, The Eyes, won Mixer’s “Sex, Violence, and Satire” contest judged by Stephen Graham Jones. He’s received a Fulbright grant for literary translation and fellowships from The Djerassi Foundation, OMI International Arts Center, The Atlantic Center for the Arts, Jentel Artists Residency, Blue Mountain Center, and the Künstlerdorf Schöppingen Foundation. He’s a graduate of the MFA program at Brown University where he won the Weston Award for best graduate fiction manuscript. His collection of horror fiction, Effects Vary, is forthcoming from Cemetery Gates Media in October, 2022. He lives with his wife and daughters in Sofia and teaches Creative Writing and Literature at the American University in Bulgaria.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
September 27, 2022
I first became acquainted with the author's style when I read his short story in Horror Library Volume 7 (which I also recommend!) so I was thrilled to be offered a chance to read this collection.
This book contains 22 short stories to unnerve and unsettle all who enjoy dark fiction, weird tales, and horror. There is something for everyone in this sinister collection.
You will meet a daughter who is unsure of how she feels about the return of her father from the war, sisters of a sort, who are part of a freak show exhibit, A boy who meets his mother at long last, and more in these pages that overflow with intriguing characters. Michael Harris Cohen is a gifted storyteller, able to craft tales that not only send shivers up your spine but put you through the whole gamut of emotion.
Effects Vary will be released on October 4 in plenty of time to kick off your spooky season. You can Pre-order a copy now.
My thanks to Michael Harris Cohen for the ARC
This book contains 22 short stories to unnerve and unsettle all who enjoy dark fiction, weird tales, and horror. There is something for everyone in this sinister collection.
You will meet a daughter who is unsure of how she feels about the return of her father from the war, sisters of a sort, who are part of a freak show exhibit, A boy who meets his mother at long last, and more in these pages that overflow with intriguing characters. Michael Harris Cohen is a gifted storyteller, able to craft tales that not only send shivers up your spine but put you through the whole gamut of emotion.
Effects Vary will be released on October 4 in plenty of time to kick off your spooky season. You can Pre-order a copy now.
My thanks to Michael Harris Cohen for the ARC
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September 14, 2022I no longer rate on goodreads, but I'll start by saying this jumped onto my 'Best of 2022' shelf.
Effects Vary by Michael Harris Cohen is, hand on heart, one of the best collections I have ever read. The standard of story-telling is very high caliber, with each and every story earning its place and then some. What Mark Gunnels has to say in the foreword is spot on, when it comes to writing short stories, Cohen really is exceptional at it. There were bits of prose here and there that I had to read twice, it was that good. I loved the psychological horror stories within the collection as well as the folk horror in particular.
I have so many favorites, so I’ll mention a few. However, it was hard to choose as I enjoyed every single story. Those I mention below will be brief as I don’t want to give spoilers. Among my favorites are:
What Happens in the Dark Will Soon Happen in the Light – Cohen captures the sensation of trust between father and child to perfection here.
We is We – such a creepy POV!
Whittling – explore a strange but tender relationship and exemplifies the author’s strong, authentic voice to perfection
The Wishing Box – loved the revenge aspect
Done to Scale – a girl and her hand-made doll’s house. I could write a whole review around this one story, it was that good
Effects Vary – the titular story. What I took most from this was the underlying message about mental illness. The symbolism was profound! Reminded me of the film, A Cure For Wellness.
The Book of Skies – an outstanding example of folk horror
Another Mother – such creepy imagery!
Harvest – another great example of folk horror. This line...”Your other hand followed, grabbing the mouse. You were gentle. Careful not to snap its toothpick ribs, you forgave the teeth sewing a stitch of panic in and out of your callused thumb.” What an image!
And finally, and possibly my absolute favorite is this one...
The Ex-Court Painter, Goya, and the Princess – again, this deserves its own review. It’s the complex tale of an artist who is commissioned to paint the king’s dead daughter...again, and again, and again. You’ll find out why when you read it. This one had a dark fairytale feel which was right up my street! I think the fact that I read it the morning following the death of Queen Elizabeth II made it all the more poignant. This line in particular stood out with regards to making a connection to our current situation... “It wasn’t his fault our country has itself become a nightmare. We Spaniards have a thirst for blood, and Goya couldn’t paint Spain without a considerable amount of red in his pallet.” Food for thought right there. I can honestly say that this was one of the BEST short stories I have ever read.
And there you have it.
My thanks to the author for sending me an ARC copy, but please, don’t miss out when this collection is released to the world.
Effects Vary by Michael Harris Cohen is, hand on heart, one of the best collections I have ever read. The standard of story-telling is very high caliber, with each and every story earning its place and then some. What Mark Gunnels has to say in the foreword is spot on, when it comes to writing short stories, Cohen really is exceptional at it. There were bits of prose here and there that I had to read twice, it was that good. I loved the psychological horror stories within the collection as well as the folk horror in particular.
I have so many favorites, so I’ll mention a few. However, it was hard to choose as I enjoyed every single story. Those I mention below will be brief as I don’t want to give spoilers. Among my favorites are:
What Happens in the Dark Will Soon Happen in the Light – Cohen captures the sensation of trust between father and child to perfection here.
We is We – such a creepy POV!
Whittling – explore a strange but tender relationship and exemplifies the author’s strong, authentic voice to perfection
The Wishing Box – loved the revenge aspect
Done to Scale – a girl and her hand-made doll’s house. I could write a whole review around this one story, it was that good
Effects Vary – the titular story. What I took most from this was the underlying message about mental illness. The symbolism was profound! Reminded me of the film, A Cure For Wellness.
The Book of Skies – an outstanding example of folk horror
Another Mother – such creepy imagery!
Harvest – another great example of folk horror. This line...”Your other hand followed, grabbing the mouse. You were gentle. Careful not to snap its toothpick ribs, you forgave the teeth sewing a stitch of panic in and out of your callused thumb.” What an image!
And finally, and possibly my absolute favorite is this one...
The Ex-Court Painter, Goya, and the Princess – again, this deserves its own review. It’s the complex tale of an artist who is commissioned to paint the king’s dead daughter...again, and again, and again. You’ll find out why when you read it. This one had a dark fairytale feel which was right up my street! I think the fact that I read it the morning following the death of Queen Elizabeth II made it all the more poignant. This line in particular stood out with regards to making a connection to our current situation... “It wasn’t his fault our country has itself become a nightmare. We Spaniards have a thirst for blood, and Goya couldn’t paint Spain without a considerable amount of red in his pallet.” Food for thought right there. I can honestly say that this was one of the BEST short stories I have ever read.
And there you have it.
My thanks to the author for sending me an ARC copy, but please, don’t miss out when this collection is released to the world.
September 29, 2022
The nitty-gritty: A garden full of poisonous delights, the stories in Effects Vary will catch you off guard and change the way you think about horror.
You can tell from the disturbing cover art that this isn’t going to be your usual collection of short fiction. Effects Vary contains twenty-two short stories, and it’s one of the strongest collections I’ve read in some time. Michael Harris Cohen’s stories are populated by the oppressed, the damaged and the lost. There’s violence, body horror, pain and disturbing imagery. Each story is perfectly paced, just long enough to upset the reader and leave us wondering how the author thought up such an idea in the first place.
There were a few that didn't work for me, mostly for personal reasons. The opening story (What Happens in the Dark Will Soon Happen in the Light) has animal cruelty, and I don’t care how good your writing is, that’s a hard “no” for me. Another one (He Dies Where I Die) was extremely unsettling, and as a story works great, but it was a big NOPE because, ants. But otherwise I was delighted at the variety of stories, each unique and horrific in its own way.
Here’s a breakdown of my top five favorite stories (in no particular order):
THE EX-COURT PAINTER, GOYA, AND THE PRINCESS
This might be my favorite of the bunch. It’s also the most hopeful, although like the others it still has that macabre touch that all of Cohen's stories have.
Angelo Rios Soto used to be the court painter for Charles IV, King of Spain, but he’s been replaced by Francisco de Goya. So he’s surprised one day when the King summons him to court to paint a portrait of the new Princess—who is dead, it turns out. Despite his horror at this unexpected request, Angelo completes his task, and returns to the palace once a year for the next twenty years to paint a new portrait of the Princess.
A sad, gruesome story, and yet Cohen infuses it with longing and warmth. As the years go by, Angelo imagines what the Princess might look like if she were alive, and with each passing year, he finds himself falling in love with her. The ending was simply brilliant.
THE BOOK OF SKIES
Another story with a hopeful ending, although getting there is heartbreaking. A family is tied to their land by an ancient curse. For generations, the men of the family have been watching the sky and taking careful notes. Each cloud formation is a request for a sacrifice of some kind, and if that sacrifice is met, the land and those who live there will flourish. One day, though, the sky asks for something the man has been dreading his entire life. And now he has a choice to make.
Wow, I absolutely loved this story. When characters have to make terrible choices, it adds so much emotion to the reading experience. Cohen excels at infusing his tales with tension and dread, and this is a perfect example of those elements.
DONE TO SCALE
In this creepy story about a girl and her dollhouse, the author chooses an unusual perspective to tell his story from—that of one of the dolls. The doll is taking the reader on a tour of the house, going through each room and commenting on things that happen there. The story becomes more and more horrifying as we realize things aren’t quite right with the little girl, who seems to be acting out different traumas in her life.
One of the things Cohen does so well is to gradually reveal his hand. At first, we don’t understand what’s happening, but little by little the pieces come together into something quite chilling.
GRADUATING
This very disturbing tale is made even more so because the characters are blithely unaware of their impending fate. When the story begins, a man named Jones 5 has just been resurrected. Jones 5 has one more death to go through and then he’ll receive the Gift. But he’s about to discover that the Gift isn’t what he expected at all.
Graduating takes us inside a terrifying future experimental laboratory, where some entity is studying the effects of various ways to die. The participants joke with each other and compare notes on “which is the most painful way to die,” with the understanding that someday they will get their reward and leave this place. For me there was a strong similarity to parts of the movie Logan’s Run, which has a similar set up. Even the names of the characters (Jones 5, Jones 4) seemed to mimic the movie (the main character is called Logan 5). I loved this one a lot!
WE IS WE
Mary and Millie are a sideshow attraction. It’s the only life they’ve ever known, ever since they were born and their mama tried to get rid of them. But Mary has a plan. She is desperate to escape—all she needs to do is get rid of Cyrus, the man who takes care of them. But her plan goes wrong and Mary’s life takes a much different turn than she expected.
I loved this story because it takes a while to figure out the relationship between Mary and Millie. But once the author reveals the truth about them, that’s when the emotions kick in. This was another powerful, heartbreaking story.
Michael Harris Cohen has impressed me with his pitch perfect prose and his ability to make me feel for his damaged characters. I cannot wait to read more of his work.
Big thanks to the author for providing a review copy.
You can tell from the disturbing cover art that this isn’t going to be your usual collection of short fiction. Effects Vary contains twenty-two short stories, and it’s one of the strongest collections I’ve read in some time. Michael Harris Cohen’s stories are populated by the oppressed, the damaged and the lost. There’s violence, body horror, pain and disturbing imagery. Each story is perfectly paced, just long enough to upset the reader and leave us wondering how the author thought up such an idea in the first place.
There were a few that didn't work for me, mostly for personal reasons. The opening story (What Happens in the Dark Will Soon Happen in the Light) has animal cruelty, and I don’t care how good your writing is, that’s a hard “no” for me. Another one (He Dies Where I Die) was extremely unsettling, and as a story works great, but it was a big NOPE because, ants. But otherwise I was delighted at the variety of stories, each unique and horrific in its own way.
Here’s a breakdown of my top five favorite stories (in no particular order):
THE EX-COURT PAINTER, GOYA, AND THE PRINCESS
This might be my favorite of the bunch. It’s also the most hopeful, although like the others it still has that macabre touch that all of Cohen's stories have.
Angelo Rios Soto used to be the court painter for Charles IV, King of Spain, but he’s been replaced by Francisco de Goya. So he’s surprised one day when the King summons him to court to paint a portrait of the new Princess—who is dead, it turns out. Despite his horror at this unexpected request, Angelo completes his task, and returns to the palace once a year for the next twenty years to paint a new portrait of the Princess.
A sad, gruesome story, and yet Cohen infuses it with longing and warmth. As the years go by, Angelo imagines what the Princess might look like if she were alive, and with each passing year, he finds himself falling in love with her. The ending was simply brilliant.
THE BOOK OF SKIES
Another story with a hopeful ending, although getting there is heartbreaking. A family is tied to their land by an ancient curse. For generations, the men of the family have been watching the sky and taking careful notes. Each cloud formation is a request for a sacrifice of some kind, and if that sacrifice is met, the land and those who live there will flourish. One day, though, the sky asks for something the man has been dreading his entire life. And now he has a choice to make.
Wow, I absolutely loved this story. When characters have to make terrible choices, it adds so much emotion to the reading experience. Cohen excels at infusing his tales with tension and dread, and this is a perfect example of those elements.
DONE TO SCALE
In this creepy story about a girl and her dollhouse, the author chooses an unusual perspective to tell his story from—that of one of the dolls. The doll is taking the reader on a tour of the house, going through each room and commenting on things that happen there. The story becomes more and more horrifying as we realize things aren’t quite right with the little girl, who seems to be acting out different traumas in her life.
One of the things Cohen does so well is to gradually reveal his hand. At first, we don’t understand what’s happening, but little by little the pieces come together into something quite chilling.
GRADUATING
This very disturbing tale is made even more so because the characters are blithely unaware of their impending fate. When the story begins, a man named Jones 5 has just been resurrected. Jones 5 has one more death to go through and then he’ll receive the Gift. But he’s about to discover that the Gift isn’t what he expected at all.
Graduating takes us inside a terrifying future experimental laboratory, where some entity is studying the effects of various ways to die. The participants joke with each other and compare notes on “which is the most painful way to die,” with the understanding that someday they will get their reward and leave this place. For me there was a strong similarity to parts of the movie Logan’s Run, which has a similar set up. Even the names of the characters (Jones 5, Jones 4) seemed to mimic the movie (the main character is called Logan 5). I loved this one a lot!
WE IS WE
Mary and Millie are a sideshow attraction. It’s the only life they’ve ever known, ever since they were born and their mama tried to get rid of them. But Mary has a plan. She is desperate to escape—all she needs to do is get rid of Cyrus, the man who takes care of them. But her plan goes wrong and Mary’s life takes a much different turn than she expected.
I loved this story because it takes a while to figure out the relationship between Mary and Millie. But once the author reveals the truth about them, that’s when the emotions kick in. This was another powerful, heartbreaking story.
Michael Harris Cohen has impressed me with his pitch perfect prose and his ability to make me feel for his damaged characters. I cannot wait to read more of his work.
Big thanks to the author for providing a review copy.
December 16, 2022
A Stunning Collection.
This one is shockingly good. I enjoyed all the stories, but some of my favorites were "We is We," "The Book of Skies," "Another Mother," "Erasing Tony," and "Pain is Your Teacher." There's also a story in here called "Graduating" that's one of the most harrowing things I have ever read. I'm looking forward to more of Cohen's work. Highly recommended!
This one is shockingly good. I enjoyed all the stories, but some of my favorites were "We is We," "The Book of Skies," "Another Mother," "Erasing Tony," and "Pain is Your Teacher." There's also a story in here called "Graduating" that's one of the most harrowing things I have ever read. I'm looking forward to more of Cohen's work. Highly recommended!
November 27, 2022
This collection by Michael Harris Cohen is brilliant. The writing is remarkable and the stories, all of them, are excellent. I get so excited when I read something this good, by an author previously unknown to me. Damn.
These are the standouts...
~Whittling ⭐
~Better Than Healed
~Pain Is Your Teacher
~Done To Scale ⭐
~Makes Three
~The Ex-Court Painter, Goya, and the
Princess ⭐
~The Price Of Gold
These are the standouts...
~Whittling ⭐
~Better Than Healed
~Pain Is Your Teacher
~Done To Scale ⭐
~Makes Three
~The Ex-Court Painter, Goya, and the
Princess ⭐
~The Price Of Gold
September 25, 2022
I want to thank the author and Cemetery Gates Media for allowing me the pleasure of reading this amazing short story collection! Terrifying, odd, other worldly and down right fantastic! There wasn’t a story that I didn’t like and all of them are my favorites! I’ll Pay You (short story ) was downright creepy and I am hard pressed to say it’s my special favorite but let’s say I’ll read this one over again soon. Heck, I’ll be reading the whole collection again soon!
Release date 10/4/22. Save the date! You’ll want to curl up with this book as the start of your Halloween reads. Enjoy!
Release date 10/4/22. Save the date! You’ll want to curl up with this book as the start of your Halloween reads. Enjoy!
August 23, 2022
Effects Vary by Michael Harris Cohen is a collection of stories that are darkly disturbing in the best of ways. The eloquence of the written word features descriptiveness that is akin to the finest brush strokes of an artist. The visuals that will dance inside your mind as you travel through the pages are quite frightful but also have a quiet beauty.
I have several favorite stories in this tome of treasures - the first is about a father returning from war call 'What Happens In The Dark Will Soon Happen In The Light', another is about a girl and her dollhouse called 'Done to Scale' which is sad and telling and makes your heart hurt, and then a story of those who watch and study the clouds and what the clouds and skies speak to them in return called 'The Book of Skies.' Each story has its own unique tale to tell and I'm sure each reader will be drawn to different ones that will be their favorites.
A collection of brilliant darkness, because only through darkness can we truly learn to appreciate the light.
I have several favorite stories in this tome of treasures - the first is about a father returning from war call 'What Happens In The Dark Will Soon Happen In The Light', another is about a girl and her dollhouse called 'Done to Scale' which is sad and telling and makes your heart hurt, and then a story of those who watch and study the clouds and what the clouds and skies speak to them in return called 'The Book of Skies.' Each story has its own unique tale to tell and I'm sure each reader will be drawn to different ones that will be their favorites.
A collection of brilliant darkness, because only through darkness can we truly learn to appreciate the light.
August 25, 2023
I accepted a digital copy of this collection from the author in consideration of an honest review. All opinions are my own and are subjective to myself as a reader.
Post apocalyptic settings. Revenge. Isolation. Abuse. Farming. Motherhood. Quite the range, huh?
EFFECTS VARY is a collection of 22 short stories that explore many relatable aspects and elements of what it is to be human. Pain, loss, love, murder, betrayal...madness. The darkness of our thoughts when we're at our lowest due to the latest curveball life has thrown at us.
Did I enjoy some stories more than others? Sure, I did. I loved how different the stories were from one another and how they ranged in length. It felt like Michael Harris Cohen took the time needed to tell the story to its fullest, whether that meant 8 pages or 23. They were succinct, entertaining and rich in theme. I felt connected to so many of the characters - I cheered on the ex wife in "Pain Is Your Teacher", I felt my heart drop to my toes with Jones 7 in "Graduating", the bittersweet memory of Christmas with the kids in "No Bones Were Human", I felt smug at the end of "The Wishing Box", (I might be a little touched in the head over that one, lol.)
Some stories are everyday stories, some are tinged in horror and the supernatural - but they all have very important themes explored, which I enjoyed most of all as a lover of literary fiction. While a few of the stories shared themes or settings, they were still unique unto themselves, which made them all stand apart from one another.
A collection of stories by the same author can run the risk of several (or all) of the stories blending in to one another or sounding the same, but Michael Harris Cohen never fell into that trap. I still can't quite believe the range of storytelling this author has!
I've already checked for more works by this author and found another published one called THE EYES that I'll be diving into soon!
Post apocalyptic settings. Revenge. Isolation. Abuse. Farming. Motherhood. Quite the range, huh?
EFFECTS VARY is a collection of 22 short stories that explore many relatable aspects and elements of what it is to be human. Pain, loss, love, murder, betrayal...madness. The darkness of our thoughts when we're at our lowest due to the latest curveball life has thrown at us.
Did I enjoy some stories more than others? Sure, I did. I loved how different the stories were from one another and how they ranged in length. It felt like Michael Harris Cohen took the time needed to tell the story to its fullest, whether that meant 8 pages or 23. They were succinct, entertaining and rich in theme. I felt connected to so many of the characters - I cheered on the ex wife in "Pain Is Your Teacher", I felt my heart drop to my toes with Jones 7 in "Graduating", the bittersweet memory of Christmas with the kids in "No Bones Were Human", I felt smug at the end of "The Wishing Box", (I might be a little touched in the head over that one, lol.)
Some stories are everyday stories, some are tinged in horror and the supernatural - but they all have very important themes explored, which I enjoyed most of all as a lover of literary fiction. While a few of the stories shared themes or settings, they were still unique unto themselves, which made them all stand apart from one another.
A collection of stories by the same author can run the risk of several (or all) of the stories blending in to one another or sounding the same, but Michael Harris Cohen never fell into that trap. I still can't quite believe the range of storytelling this author has!
I've already checked for more works by this author and found another published one called THE EYES that I'll be diving into soon!
October 1, 2022
Those were some excellent short stories. These are the short stories that wiggle in your brain and leave you thinking about them for months to come.
The first short story grabs you and you think on yeah I have seen this before and if you guess like me you will definitely be WRONG!
What was your favorite story? Tell us! OK, I will. Done to scale was fantastic and just so well done! I also loved Graduating. I just don't want to be them.
Some of the stories were sad and some of the stories people get what they deserve.
Y'all definitely check it out! I'm glad they weren't based on true stories..or I hope anyway.
The first short story grabs you and you think on yeah I have seen this before and if you guess like me you will definitely be WRONG!
What was your favorite story? Tell us! OK, I will. Done to scale was fantastic and just so well done! I also loved Graduating. I just don't want to be them.
Some of the stories were sad and some of the stories people get what they deserve.
Y'all definitely check it out! I'm glad they weren't based on true stories..or I hope anyway.
October 9, 2022
Full Review:
https://www.papercutslive.com/post/bo...
Michael Harris Cohen brings us a short-story collection titled “Effects Vary.” This is a very fitting name for the collection. It’s packed full of all the emotions and feels anyone can handle.
Dark, dirty, grimy, but with little rays of light shining in at times, just not strong enough to gain control.
This is my first time reading anything from Michael Harris Cohen, and he did the favor of putting all of these stories together so I don’t have to hunt all over for them.
So what is going on with the stories in this collection? I will tell you up front, Cohen knows how to write true characters. What I mean by true characters is that they are “normal” human beings, but they are damaged. Things have happened to them. Their flaws are highlighted. Just like the real world, where all of our flaws tend to take the spotlight in other people’s eyes.
Combine these “normal” people with the relaxed conversational style presentation, and you have the makings of some really intense dark and heartbreaking stories. I enjoy this kind of presentation. It reads to me like a conversation between buddies. Or someone telling a story to friends. Cohen is not afraid to use everyday language to get his point across, without adding extra fluff.
As always with collections, people will find their favorites and avoid the ones that don’t click for them. So I won’t go through all of them for you. But there are a handful I just want to mention that popped with me.
See rest of written and video review:
https://www.papercutslive.com/post/bo...
https://www.papercutslive.com/post/bo...
Michael Harris Cohen brings us a short-story collection titled “Effects Vary.” This is a very fitting name for the collection. It’s packed full of all the emotions and feels anyone can handle.
Dark, dirty, grimy, but with little rays of light shining in at times, just not strong enough to gain control.
This is my first time reading anything from Michael Harris Cohen, and he did the favor of putting all of these stories together so I don’t have to hunt all over for them.
So what is going on with the stories in this collection? I will tell you up front, Cohen knows how to write true characters. What I mean by true characters is that they are “normal” human beings, but they are damaged. Things have happened to them. Their flaws are highlighted. Just like the real world, where all of our flaws tend to take the spotlight in other people’s eyes.
Combine these “normal” people with the relaxed conversational style presentation, and you have the makings of some really intense dark and heartbreaking stories. I enjoy this kind of presentation. It reads to me like a conversation between buddies. Or someone telling a story to friends. Cohen is not afraid to use everyday language to get his point across, without adding extra fluff.
As always with collections, people will find their favorites and avoid the ones that don’t click for them. So I won’t go through all of them for you. But there are a handful I just want to mention that popped with me.
See rest of written and video review:
https://www.papercutslive.com/post/bo...
October 11, 2022
I love short fiction. I love it, and therefore am pretty discerning when it comes to the form. I sometimes think writing novels and writing short stories requires two different skill sets, and not every writer has the ability to do both well. So when I find a writer who really excels at the short story, it excites me.
Michael Harris Cohen excels at the short story!
We could talk about many things: his stylish and engaging prose, his deft characterization, his excellent pacing. All of that is impressive, but what makes this work particularly brilliant is the breadth of his imagination. The ideas and concepts in this book left me in awe, to be honest. The kind of thing where you read a story and think, "How does a person even come up with this idea?" Yet as wild as some of the ideas are, he makes them all so plausible and compelling.
Some of my favorite stories in the collection are "What Happens in the Dark Will Soon Happen in the Light," "We is We," "Erasing Tony," "Graduation," "The Wishing Box," "Done to Scale," "Book of Skies," "I Die Where He Dies," and "The Ex-Court Painter, Goya, and the Princess."
Some of my favorite short story writers living today are Clive Barker and Brian Hodge, and because they have both talent to craft prose but also imaginations that conjure the most bold and original ideas. I am now adding Michael Harris Cohen to that list because it's where he belongs.
The man has Talent with a capital T.
Michael Harris Cohen excels at the short story!
We could talk about many things: his stylish and engaging prose, his deft characterization, his excellent pacing. All of that is impressive, but what makes this work particularly brilliant is the breadth of his imagination. The ideas and concepts in this book left me in awe, to be honest. The kind of thing where you read a story and think, "How does a person even come up with this idea?" Yet as wild as some of the ideas are, he makes them all so plausible and compelling.
Some of my favorite stories in the collection are "What Happens in the Dark Will Soon Happen in the Light," "We is We," "Erasing Tony," "Graduation," "The Wishing Box," "Done to Scale," "Book of Skies," "I Die Where He Dies," and "The Ex-Court Painter, Goya, and the Princess."
Some of my favorite short story writers living today are Clive Barker and Brian Hodge, and because they have both talent to craft prose but also imaginations that conjure the most bold and original ideas. I am now adding Michael Harris Cohen to that list because it's where he belongs.
The man has Talent with a capital T.
March 21, 2025
Very entertaining collection with some real gems. By turns dark, surreal, melancholic, these stories pretty much hit all my sweet spots. I feel the longer stories were the better ones. Cohen does some real magic when he has enough space. The plot of the title story reminded me of the movie A Cure For Wellness in its weirdness. "Better than Healed" also ties into this theme. "Done to Scale" is a story that slowly twists the garrote until you reach its inevitable outcome. "Graduating" is a very cool sci-fi/horror mash-up where the horror is more of the psychological variety, but no less effective. See how I almost got the book's title in that sentence?
"I Pay You" is weird as hell, and gets even weirder towards the end. Can't get how the story's title is cackled by the antagonist (if that's what it was) out of my mind. Finally, the penultimate story about the court painter and Goya is hauntingly beautiful. Some of the shorter stories may have benefitted from developing their concepts further, but all in all this is a strong collection and very worthwhile.
"I Pay You" is weird as hell, and gets even weirder towards the end. Can't get how the story's title is cackled by the antagonist (if that's what it was) out of my mind. Finally, the penultimate story about the court painter and Goya is hauntingly beautiful. Some of the shorter stories may have benefitted from developing their concepts further, but all in all this is a strong collection and very worthwhile.
September 27, 2022
Reviewing short story collections is pretty hard, especially when there are so many included, so I apologize in advance.
"Graduating" is probably my favorite out of this collection. It is a sort of dystopian mixed with science fiction, where these kids are basically killed and brought back so many times. When they reach a certain point, they get 'the Gift', which supposedly makes them never die again. The ending is harsh and a big blow to read, which is why I like it so much.
"Effects Vary", the story that the title is named after, was good too. It revolves around a man with medical problems going to what people might call a witch doctor against the recommendation of his current doctor, hoping it will help more than what a regular doctor can do. His hopes are too high.
My only issue with this story collection is that some stories were TOO short. Some were only one or two pages, and often completely forgettable and the ideas barely explored.
That being said, I did enjoy Cohen's writing style and several of the stories.
"Graduating" is probably my favorite out of this collection. It is a sort of dystopian mixed with science fiction, where these kids are basically killed and brought back so many times. When they reach a certain point, they get 'the Gift', which supposedly makes them never die again. The ending is harsh and a big blow to read, which is why I like it so much.
"Effects Vary", the story that the title is named after, was good too. It revolves around a man with medical problems going to what people might call a witch doctor against the recommendation of his current doctor, hoping it will help more than what a regular doctor can do. His hopes are too high.
My only issue with this story collection is that some stories were TOO short. Some were only one or two pages, and often completely forgettable and the ideas barely explored.
That being said, I did enjoy Cohen's writing style and several of the stories.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 20, 2023
This book is 22 stories of pure brilliance. First time reading anything by Michael Harris Cohen and I can't wait to read more.
Some standouts were
•We Is We
•Graduating
•A Bead To String
•No Bones Were Human
•The Wishing Box
Some standouts were
•We Is We
•Graduating
•A Bead To String
•No Bones Were Human
•The Wishing Box
April 19, 2023
I am mature enough to admit to my mistakes, and not being familiar with Cohen’s work sooner is a mistake. His short stories have been published in The Dark, Crystal Lake Publishing’s Shallow Waters, and in audio with Pseudopod and the NoSleep Podcast, to name only a few. With numerous award wins under his belt, and fans including Brian Evenson, Stephen Graham Jones, and A.C. Wise, I am at a loss for why I haven’t read anything of his before now. Sure, it has been a rich couple of years for horror fiction, and there seems to be more new writers worthy of our attention with each passing month, but I used to consider myself widely read. There are only so many hours in a day, but I clearly have more work to do. I am grateful that I was finally able to introduce myself to Cohen’s work through reviewing his latest collection for Ginger Nuts of Horror.
The collection consists of 22 short stories, varying in length and subject, but connected via a confident voice and a pitch black tone. There are stories set in the present, near future, past. Post-apocalyptic, science fiction grounded in reality, real-life horrors we visit upon each other and ourselves. Through each incredible setting and the living, breathing characters to whom he gives life, we experience tragic tales of pain and loss.
For example, take opening story “What Happens in the Dark Will Soon Happen in the Light”. What begins as a close look at the effect of combat on a returning soldier and his wife and daughter quickly becomes something much more sinister and horrific. While the mother tries to relate to the young child that soldiers often come home missing some of their humanity, it cannot prepare them for what the soldier has seen in the desert, what he has brought back. The speculative elements are subtle, but Cohen does an excellent job of building tension and making the reader uneasy. A great story to open with.
“Erasing Tony” is another story set in the real world that we may recognise, if we’re at all familiar with the cult of celebrity, the obsession with remaining relevant, and American sitcoms. Told from the point of view of a down-on-her-luck former sitcom actress, Cohen intersperses the action with her rose-tinted memories of working on the show, and especially her intense relationship with the actor who played her son, the eponymous Tony. It is a tale of lurid obsession and one woman’s descent into madness, and Cohen takes us along for the ride. He captures the voice of loneliness and desperation, and the format with the included audience responses from her days on-screen were a great touch.
“Better Than Healed” has an interesting point of view, as it is one side of a conversation as a manager at some kind of spa shows the widow of a man who recently died around the remote complex. It becomes apparent through reading that the widow had some doubts about the nature of the spa, and the circumstances of her husband’s death. It also becomes apparent that, despite the friendly nature and lilting voice of the manager, these suspicions may be legitimate. He utilises repeated phrases and a calm demeanour to lull the widow into a false sense of security, while Cohen weaves a tale of deception and coercion in the most subtle of ways. A great, quick read.
Adopting a more science-fiction setting, “Graduating” tells us the story of near identical clones Jones 1 to 7. Each of the seven have slightly different personalities and responses to their roles; they are each subjected to horrific deaths and asked to rate them on a scale of pain, before they are revived. Hopefully this isn’t too spoilery as the real story is about the relationship between them all as they work toward the ultimate goal; a normal life beyond the walls of their laboratory, one which eventually ends. A retirement of sorts. But not all Jones’s look forward to the day they are allowed to leave, and this causes friction amongst the group. It is a fantastical scenario, but one which Cohen uses to explore death and duty and our connections to them as humans.
“No Bones Were Human” takes place in an Earth that has endured some terrible, cataclysmic event known as the Great Fire. Jem is a survivor who cares for his nephews and niece and the story is told from the oldest, one of the boys. He is forced to look after the two younger children when Jem decides he has to go out and scavenge, and promises to bring back a tree; something the three kids have never seen. Rather than exploring the larger story of the Great Fire, Cohen opts to focus on the relationships between the characters and how they survive in the harsh environment. Through reading the oldest boy’s thoughts, we gain some back story to how they came to be here, and the strength it takes to hold onto hope when all is lost. A hopeful yet sad story.
Cohen adopts an interesting narrative style for “Done to Scale”, which explores a dysfunctional family and their tribulations through a girl playing with a dollhouse, replaying traumatic experiences from her own home with the dolls, trying to come to terms with the hurt and confusion she has experienced as a result. It is a tale of familial everyday horror, the kind of thing a child might experience in a so-called “unhappy home”, and Cohen demonstrates an exceptional ability to convey all of this through the eyes of a child using great language and complex ideas.
“The Book of Skies” tells the story of a hardworking farming family, the Towners. Father Laird instructs Cole in the nature of the family business, but he hides a dark secret, one that has been in his farming family for generations, passed from father to son. He believes that, in order to secure a good crop, sacrifices must be made, and the guide he follows to achieve this is his book of skies. The sky tells him what must be done to appease an angry god, and the only way he can ensure the survival of his family, possibly the world, is to follow the instructions to the very last detail. Even when the instructions insist he do something truly terrible. A fantastic exploration of inherited horror and the father-son dynamic, while also hinting at something cosmic in scale.
To close the collection, “The Price of Gold” follows an unnamed protagonist as they visit the grave of a beloved. It seems that the lost loved one died a while ago, and the protagonist’s visits have become less frequent. Then they discover a small gold ring left by the grave and inscribed with a message of undying love. The horror in this story lies in the implications of the ring, and what it meant to the deceased. And what this now means to the protagonist. It is the horror of betrayal, of years spent in mourning only to discover, on some distant day, that perhaps it meant nothing at all. A powerful end to the collection.
These are only a small number of the stories featured in Effects Vary, a tiny example of the range and ability of an excellent storyteller. No matter the setting of the story, the time period, each is crafted with care and precision. Not one word is wasted and often there is as much horror to be found in what Cohen doesn’t explicitly say, that to which he only implies. There is an art to such effective, efficient, economical writing. And, with Effects Vary, Cohen has demonstrated his exceptional ability. If, like me, this one somehow slipped beneath your radar, pick up a copy and find out for yourself.
The collection consists of 22 short stories, varying in length and subject, but connected via a confident voice and a pitch black tone. There are stories set in the present, near future, past. Post-apocalyptic, science fiction grounded in reality, real-life horrors we visit upon each other and ourselves. Through each incredible setting and the living, breathing characters to whom he gives life, we experience tragic tales of pain and loss.
For example, take opening story “What Happens in the Dark Will Soon Happen in the Light”. What begins as a close look at the effect of combat on a returning soldier and his wife and daughter quickly becomes something much more sinister and horrific. While the mother tries to relate to the young child that soldiers often come home missing some of their humanity, it cannot prepare them for what the soldier has seen in the desert, what he has brought back. The speculative elements are subtle, but Cohen does an excellent job of building tension and making the reader uneasy. A great story to open with.
“Erasing Tony” is another story set in the real world that we may recognise, if we’re at all familiar with the cult of celebrity, the obsession with remaining relevant, and American sitcoms. Told from the point of view of a down-on-her-luck former sitcom actress, Cohen intersperses the action with her rose-tinted memories of working on the show, and especially her intense relationship with the actor who played her son, the eponymous Tony. It is a tale of lurid obsession and one woman’s descent into madness, and Cohen takes us along for the ride. He captures the voice of loneliness and desperation, and the format with the included audience responses from her days on-screen were a great touch.
“Better Than Healed” has an interesting point of view, as it is one side of a conversation as a manager at some kind of spa shows the widow of a man who recently died around the remote complex. It becomes apparent through reading that the widow had some doubts about the nature of the spa, and the circumstances of her husband’s death. It also becomes apparent that, despite the friendly nature and lilting voice of the manager, these suspicions may be legitimate. He utilises repeated phrases and a calm demeanour to lull the widow into a false sense of security, while Cohen weaves a tale of deception and coercion in the most subtle of ways. A great, quick read.
Adopting a more science-fiction setting, “Graduating” tells us the story of near identical clones Jones 1 to 7. Each of the seven have slightly different personalities and responses to their roles; they are each subjected to horrific deaths and asked to rate them on a scale of pain, before they are revived. Hopefully this isn’t too spoilery as the real story is about the relationship between them all as they work toward the ultimate goal; a normal life beyond the walls of their laboratory, one which eventually ends. A retirement of sorts. But not all Jones’s look forward to the day they are allowed to leave, and this causes friction amongst the group. It is a fantastical scenario, but one which Cohen uses to explore death and duty and our connections to them as humans.
“No Bones Were Human” takes place in an Earth that has endured some terrible, cataclysmic event known as the Great Fire. Jem is a survivor who cares for his nephews and niece and the story is told from the oldest, one of the boys. He is forced to look after the two younger children when Jem decides he has to go out and scavenge, and promises to bring back a tree; something the three kids have never seen. Rather than exploring the larger story of the Great Fire, Cohen opts to focus on the relationships between the characters and how they survive in the harsh environment. Through reading the oldest boy’s thoughts, we gain some back story to how they came to be here, and the strength it takes to hold onto hope when all is lost. A hopeful yet sad story.
Cohen adopts an interesting narrative style for “Done to Scale”, which explores a dysfunctional family and their tribulations through a girl playing with a dollhouse, replaying traumatic experiences from her own home with the dolls, trying to come to terms with the hurt and confusion she has experienced as a result. It is a tale of familial everyday horror, the kind of thing a child might experience in a so-called “unhappy home”, and Cohen demonstrates an exceptional ability to convey all of this through the eyes of a child using great language and complex ideas.
“The Book of Skies” tells the story of a hardworking farming family, the Towners. Father Laird instructs Cole in the nature of the family business, but he hides a dark secret, one that has been in his farming family for generations, passed from father to son. He believes that, in order to secure a good crop, sacrifices must be made, and the guide he follows to achieve this is his book of skies. The sky tells him what must be done to appease an angry god, and the only way he can ensure the survival of his family, possibly the world, is to follow the instructions to the very last detail. Even when the instructions insist he do something truly terrible. A fantastic exploration of inherited horror and the father-son dynamic, while also hinting at something cosmic in scale.
To close the collection, “The Price of Gold” follows an unnamed protagonist as they visit the grave of a beloved. It seems that the lost loved one died a while ago, and the protagonist’s visits have become less frequent. Then they discover a small gold ring left by the grave and inscribed with a message of undying love. The horror in this story lies in the implications of the ring, and what it meant to the deceased. And what this now means to the protagonist. It is the horror of betrayal, of years spent in mourning only to discover, on some distant day, that perhaps it meant nothing at all. A powerful end to the collection.
These are only a small number of the stories featured in Effects Vary, a tiny example of the range and ability of an excellent storyteller. No matter the setting of the story, the time period, each is crafted with care and precision. Not one word is wasted and often there is as much horror to be found in what Cohen doesn’t explicitly say, that to which he only implies. There is an art to such effective, efficient, economical writing. And, with Effects Vary, Cohen has demonstrated his exceptional ability. If, like me, this one somehow slipped beneath your radar, pick up a copy and find out for yourself.
October 24, 2023
(originally reviewed at
thelibraryladies.com
)
Thank you to Michael Harris Cohen for reaching out an sending me an eARC of this novel!
Halloween season may be over (ugh, it always goes way too fast), but you know me and you know how much I love scary stories. So we aren’t staying away from horror for too long, as today I am taking on “Effects Vary” by Michael Harris Cohen. When this ended up in our inbox, I thought that it was probably about time that I pick up a horror short stories anthology. It has been awhile, after all. And the info I found about it piqued my interest, even though I tend to be a little gun shy about short story collections in general. But the good news is that “Effects Vary” was another positive experience with this format!
The stories in this collection run a real gamut! From different sub genres to different perspective construction to different lengths, the twenty two stories fit together well but all stand on their own in different ways. As always when it comes to short stories, I’ll talk about my favorite three, and then about the collection as a whole.
“Pain Is Your Teacher” : This is one of the shorter stories in the bunch, which is about the length of a drabble (for people who aren’t familiar with fan fiction, that’s a few hundred words at most). A woman writes a farewell letter to her husband as they are settling up their divorce, and as the letter winds down she reveals a last laugh she got upon him after years of abuse. Again, this is a short story, one of the shortest in the collection, but it gets right to the point and goes for the throat almost immediately. I felt like I learned everything I needed to know about Alexander and his nameless soon to be ex wife, and I thought that it was vicious and satisfying in all the right ways.
“Everything Is Forever”: A self proclaimed psychic and mostly charlatan is making an appearance on a TV show and having to explain how one of her recent predictions got things so wrong. As someone who has vivid memories of my nanny watching Sylvia Browne on “Montel”, and as someone who loves a medium story (legitimate or otherwise), I really liked the trajectory this one took. It’s another shorter story in this collection, but even in the limited pages Cohen manages to create a broad narrative and backstory for Joyce the psychic, and creates a tragic circumstance that cuts right to the emotional quick and is absolutely haunting.
“The Ex-Court Painter, Goya, and The Princess”: This one was almost certainly my favorite story in the collection, as it’s unsettling as hell but also has a certain bittersweetness to it. An ex-court painter for Spanish King Charles IV is called back to the palace to paint for the King, even though Goya has taken over. He finds out that the King wants him to paint a portrait of the princess, who as a baby has died tragically shortly after being born. As the painter comes back every year to create a new portrait that imagines how she would have aged, his obsession with the dead princess he has created starts to grow. This one is very creepy, as our ex-court painter becomes more and more fixated on a girl who has been long dead (and who died as an infant no less!), but it also captures grief, regret, and madness in ways that treat more towards melancholy rather than flat out shock or distaste.
The rest of the stories were kind of hit or miss for me, though I do think that there were more hits than misses. Cohen can easily jump from setting to setting and has so many characters and circumstances that all feel well thought out and envisioned, and I thought that all of them did a good job of setting a scene and going on a journey in ways that were quick but satisfying.
If you, reader, are wondering why this has a 7 rating instead of a higher one when I have been generally pretty positive, I will say that there were some ongoing themes in the collection that were really hard for me to deal with, specifically child death. I felt like there was more child death in this collection than I was able to really handle at the time of reading it, as it’s a difficult theme even once in a story. So in a collection of multiple stories that have multiple moments of children dying, it’s probably no surprise that I had a hard time with this. What can I say, I’m unfortunately one of those people that, now that she has a child, is far more sensitive to such things (for examples, I can’t watch Alex Kintner’s death in “Jaws”, and I have to stop watching the opening scene of “Scream” when Casey’s parents come home). This is obviously VERY subjective from reader to reader, so while I had a difficult time dealing with it, another reader may be totally okay with it as a theme in their horror fiction. But it still did have an effect on my reading experience. One could say that effects vary.
Overall, “Effects Vary” is an effective and varied collection of dark fantasy and horror tales. I’m sure that most horror fans will find a lot to like here!
Thank you to Michael Harris Cohen for reaching out an sending me an eARC of this novel!
Halloween season may be over (ugh, it always goes way too fast), but you know me and you know how much I love scary stories. So we aren’t staying away from horror for too long, as today I am taking on “Effects Vary” by Michael Harris Cohen. When this ended up in our inbox, I thought that it was probably about time that I pick up a horror short stories anthology. It has been awhile, after all. And the info I found about it piqued my interest, even though I tend to be a little gun shy about short story collections in general. But the good news is that “Effects Vary” was another positive experience with this format!
The stories in this collection run a real gamut! From different sub genres to different perspective construction to different lengths, the twenty two stories fit together well but all stand on their own in different ways. As always when it comes to short stories, I’ll talk about my favorite three, and then about the collection as a whole.
“Pain Is Your Teacher” : This is one of the shorter stories in the bunch, which is about the length of a drabble (for people who aren’t familiar with fan fiction, that’s a few hundred words at most). A woman writes a farewell letter to her husband as they are settling up their divorce, and as the letter winds down she reveals a last laugh she got upon him after years of abuse. Again, this is a short story, one of the shortest in the collection, but it gets right to the point and goes for the throat almost immediately. I felt like I learned everything I needed to know about Alexander and his nameless soon to be ex wife, and I thought that it was vicious and satisfying in all the right ways.
“Everything Is Forever”: A self proclaimed psychic and mostly charlatan is making an appearance on a TV show and having to explain how one of her recent predictions got things so wrong. As someone who has vivid memories of my nanny watching Sylvia Browne on “Montel”, and as someone who loves a medium story (legitimate or otherwise), I really liked the trajectory this one took. It’s another shorter story in this collection, but even in the limited pages Cohen manages to create a broad narrative and backstory for Joyce the psychic, and creates a tragic circumstance that cuts right to the emotional quick and is absolutely haunting.
“The Ex-Court Painter, Goya, and The Princess”: This one was almost certainly my favorite story in the collection, as it’s unsettling as hell but also has a certain bittersweetness to it. An ex-court painter for Spanish King Charles IV is called back to the palace to paint for the King, even though Goya has taken over. He finds out that the King wants him to paint a portrait of the princess, who as a baby has died tragically shortly after being born. As the painter comes back every year to create a new portrait that imagines how she would have aged, his obsession with the dead princess he has created starts to grow. This one is very creepy, as our ex-court painter becomes more and more fixated on a girl who has been long dead (and who died as an infant no less!), but it also captures grief, regret, and madness in ways that treat more towards melancholy rather than flat out shock or distaste.
The rest of the stories were kind of hit or miss for me, though I do think that there were more hits than misses. Cohen can easily jump from setting to setting and has so many characters and circumstances that all feel well thought out and envisioned, and I thought that all of them did a good job of setting a scene and going on a journey in ways that were quick but satisfying.
If you, reader, are wondering why this has a 7 rating instead of a higher one when I have been generally pretty positive, I will say that there were some ongoing themes in the collection that were really hard for me to deal with, specifically child death. I felt like there was more child death in this collection than I was able to really handle at the time of reading it, as it’s a difficult theme even once in a story. So in a collection of multiple stories that have multiple moments of children dying, it’s probably no surprise that I had a hard time with this. What can I say, I’m unfortunately one of those people that, now that she has a child, is far more sensitive to such things (for examples, I can’t watch Alex Kintner’s death in “Jaws”, and I have to stop watching the opening scene of “Scream” when Casey’s parents come home). This is obviously VERY subjective from reader to reader, so while I had a difficult time dealing with it, another reader may be totally okay with it as a theme in their horror fiction. But it still did have an effect on my reading experience. One could say that effects vary.
Overall, “Effects Vary” is an effective and varied collection of dark fantasy and horror tales. I’m sure that most horror fans will find a lot to like here!
December 28, 2022
Each story is incredibly different, right down to style. It feels like reading an anthology of crazy stories from a group of fantastic authors! There's an eerie post-apocalyptic tale about trying to decorate for Christmas when the world isn't the same, an interrogation from a killer's point of view (absolutely my favorite story, for the psychological impact/observations), a psychic's worst nightmare, the things we do for the sake of science, and a horrifying description of a little girl's life through her dollhouse.
The psychological horror absolutely hits hard, and makes you question the way you currently view the world. Supernatural horror stories give you pause when considering what might be buried under the desert, or what really happens when someone passes away. Or of course the eco horror - what do you do when the world has been devastated, and you just want to have a Christmas tree for the children who have never even seen a tree?
This collection makes you think. While the horror may not all be blatantly obvious right from the start, by the end of each story, you'll be reeling. This is one you don't want to miss out on!
The psychological horror absolutely hits hard, and makes you question the way you currently view the world. Supernatural horror stories give you pause when considering what might be buried under the desert, or what really happens when someone passes away. Or of course the eco horror - what do you do when the world has been devastated, and you just want to have a Christmas tree for the children who have never even seen a tree?
This collection makes you think. While the horror may not all be blatantly obvious right from the start, by the end of each story, you'll be reeling. This is one you don't want to miss out on!
October 16, 2022
Approached from a fairy tale perspective, these stories reveal themselves as distinctly protagonist-driven: even when in third person narration, every piece is told from inside the psyche of the main character, leaving no doubt as to whose voice we’re listening to. And because of that, we’re following not only the action in any given piece, but also intimately experiencing the main character’s internal reactions to the events, making every tale not only the development or rather the unraveling of a plot line, but also an interior journey of psychological transformation. In a broader sense, breaking down the metaphor of these stories boils down to dissecting the protagonists’ psychopathologies as they experience and react to various traumas in dystopian settings. The effects of these experiences on the characters… well, they vary.
January 14, 2023
I really enjoyed this collection of dark fiction from a new to me author. From the very first story, What Happens in the Dark Will Certainly Happen in the Light, I was hooked.
There’s a wide assortment of topics explored in these tales and I think each reader would be drawn to different ones as their favorites. Some of mine were We is We, Graduating, The Wishing Box, Done to Scale and The Price of Gold. Some of these stories left me wondering what the hell did I just read and I love that!
I’m looking forward to reading more of Cohen’s work. Highly recommend for lovers of dark fiction.
There’s a wide assortment of topics explored in these tales and I think each reader would be drawn to different ones as their favorites. Some of mine were We is We, Graduating, The Wishing Box, Done to Scale and The Price of Gold. Some of these stories left me wondering what the hell did I just read and I love that!
I’m looking forward to reading more of Cohen’s work. Highly recommend for lovers of dark fiction.
December 18, 2022
Strange, affecting, bleakly beautiful, and unforgettable, EFFECTS VARY by Michael Harris Cohen disturbs in the most delicious ways. The prose is sharp, the imagination wicked, and the stories are fantastic dark fables to get lost in. It's equally impressive and unsettling- I loved this book.
October 17, 2024
Cannot recommend the short story “Book of Skies” from this collection enough! A great collection of unsettling and often skin-crawling-to-degloving horror. “Book of Skies” specifically tugs a thread of cosmic horror and midwestern agoraphobia with a sort of stand-out resonance.
December 28, 2025
Review to come.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews