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Hard Ol' Spot
Following in the tradition of Edgar Allan Poe and Oscar Wilde, St. John's author Mike Heffernan has created an anthology of uniquely east-coast twisted, macabre, eery and compelling. The fourteen stories include work by such award-winning writers as Michael Crummey, Ramona Dearing, Jo-Anne Soper-Cook and many others. The foreword has been written by another award-winning Newfoundland writer - Kathleen Winter. Hard Ol' Spot is full of visceral imagery. Readers will be confronted by immigrant strangers in lonesome towns, and a suburb where rape is a girl's first romance. These are stories of lost dreams, oceans that can swallow a man whole, and tales where personal sorrow is whipped by the wind until it becomes bitter and bloody. For anyone who likes their literature written with a ragged quill pen, a messy inkpot, and a sinister edge, Hard Ol' Spot brings us the dark beauty of Atlantic-Canadian fiction.
200 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
2 people are currently reading
21 people want to read
About the author
Mike Heffernan
6 books2 followersBorn in the historic harbour city of St. John's, Newfoundland, Mike Heffernan was trained as a historical researcher at Memorial University. He now edits fiction in a variety of genres. Rig: An Oral History of the Ocean Ranger Disaster is his first non-fiction book.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 1, 2020
3.5 stars ⭐️️⭐️️⭐️️💫
HARD OL' SPOT: AN ANTHOLOGY OF ATLANTIC CANADIAN FICTION selected by Mike Heffernan and illustrated by Darren Whalen is comprised of fourteen short stories and an introduction by Kathleen Winter. The stories are dark, twisted, macabre, eery and compelling. Mental illness, drugs, suicide, alcoholism, loneliness, death and rape are a few of the topics visited.
"This is a book where a hard place breeds violence, reckless escape and, perhaps cruelest of all: hope."
- Quote from front inside book flap
The summer of 2016 I read Michael Crummey's novel SWEETLAND and was wowed by its excellence! Nearly four years later I still remember the story. THE NIGHT WATCHMAN the tenth short story in this anthology is another well written unforgettable story by this amazing author! 5 stars ⭐️️⭐️️⭐️️⭐️️⭐️️
The first short story BREAK, BREAK, BREAK by Gerard Collins is about a storm on Valentine's Day in Darwin, Newfoundland in 1982.
Gerard Collins also wrote HOLD OUT about Winnie a recent elderly widow with fond memories of her and Francis and their life in this little town. The government wants to move everyone and close the town, but will only pay the big bucks to the residents if everyone signs the paper and moves. I loved Winnie and her rocking chair and although I would like to know more about her and the stray dog, this was a great story!
4.5 stars ⭐️️⭐️️⭐️️⭐️️💫
HOMECOMING by Keith Collier was not the happy homecoming that Jeremy had envisioned. Jenn his loving and faithful girlfriend wasn't there, but he read the last entry in her diary. Although I knew that something was going to happen on the hunting trip, I was surprised. Great story Mr. Collier! 4.5 stars ⭐️️⭐️️⭐️️⭐️️💫
DRIVE-THRU by Elizabeth Blanchard tells about Penny with webbed feet who works at a drive-thru like Robins or Tim Hortons.
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THE CHAIN AROUND MY NECK by Leslie Veyenhoek is about January older and studious sister of attention-seeking, impulsive Giselle. Her mother and Giselle go to England for the summer, leaving January home in Mount Pearl, Newfoundland. She wants to go to university and then on to Paris to get away from her mother and sister, like her father did by going to Alberta. January wears a chain with the Eiffel Tower to remind her that she is keeping her "EYES ON THE PRIZE" like her father always said.
January works at the mall, happy to have the summer alone. She throws a poorly attended house party, gets drunk and is gang-raped by three guys. She tells the police that she won't press charges. 3.5 stars ⭐️️⭐️️⭐️️💫
EMINENT DOMAIN by Michelle Butler Hallet is about a Russian girl, Serafima Pyotorova Volnokov, who suffered sexual abuse for fourteen years to get information about her brother who was hospitalized and diagnosed with slow progressing schizophrenia like his father. When she learned that her brother had been dead twelve years, she gave evidence to detectives about Yuri's criminal activities. She is hiding in a church basement in Newfoundland to escape deportation from Canada.
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I am glad that I read all the stories in this book, as there were some stories too good to miss. 3.5 stars ⭐️️⭐️️⭐️️💫
HARD OL' SPOT: AN ANTHOLOGY OF ATLANTIC CANADIAN FICTION selected by Mike Heffernan and illustrated by Darren Whalen is comprised of fourteen short stories and an introduction by Kathleen Winter. The stories are dark, twisted, macabre, eery and compelling. Mental illness, drugs, suicide, alcoholism, loneliness, death and rape are a few of the topics visited.
"This is a book where a hard place breeds violence, reckless escape and, perhaps cruelest of all: hope."
- Quote from front inside book flap
The summer of 2016 I read Michael Crummey's novel SWEETLAND and was wowed by its excellence! Nearly four years later I still remember the story. THE NIGHT WATCHMAN the tenth short story in this anthology is another well written unforgettable story by this amazing author! 5 stars ⭐️️⭐️️⭐️️⭐️️⭐️️
The first short story BREAK, BREAK, BREAK by Gerard Collins is about a storm on Valentine's Day in Darwin, Newfoundland in 1982.
Gerard Collins also wrote HOLD OUT about Winnie a recent elderly widow with fond memories of her and Francis and their life in this little town. The government wants to move everyone and close the town, but will only pay the big bucks to the residents if everyone signs the paper and moves. I loved Winnie and her rocking chair and although I would like to know more about her and the stray dog, this was a great story!
4.5 stars ⭐️️⭐️️⭐️️⭐️️💫
HOMECOMING by Keith Collier was not the happy homecoming that Jeremy had envisioned. Jenn his loving and faithful girlfriend wasn't there, but he read the last entry in her diary. Although I knew that something was going to happen on the hunting trip, I was surprised. Great story Mr. Collier! 4.5 stars ⭐️️⭐️️⭐️️⭐️️💫
DRIVE-THRU by Elizabeth Blanchard tells about Penny with webbed feet who works at a drive-thru like Robins or Tim Hortons.
################################
########SPOILER ALERT##########
################################
THE CHAIN AROUND MY NECK by Leslie Veyenhoek is about January older and studious sister of attention-seeking, impulsive Giselle. Her mother and Giselle go to England for the summer, leaving January home in Mount Pearl, Newfoundland. She wants to go to university and then on to Paris to get away from her mother and sister, like her father did by going to Alberta. January wears a chain with the Eiffel Tower to remind her that she is keeping her "EYES ON THE PRIZE" like her father always said.
January works at the mall, happy to have the summer alone. She throws a poorly attended house party, gets drunk and is gang-raped by three guys. She tells the police that she won't press charges. 3.5 stars ⭐️️⭐️️⭐️️💫
EMINENT DOMAIN by Michelle Butler Hallet is about a Russian girl, Serafima Pyotorova Volnokov, who suffered sexual abuse for fourteen years to get information about her brother who was hospitalized and diagnosed with slow progressing schizophrenia like his father. When she learned that her brother had been dead twelve years, she gave evidence to detectives about Yuri's criminal activities. She is hiding in a church basement in Newfoundland to escape deportation from Canada.
################################
################################
I am glad that I read all the stories in this book, as there were some stories too good to miss. 3.5 stars ⭐️️⭐️️⭐️️💫
September 8, 2017
Largely forgettable. The best selections, unsurprisingly, are from Michael Crummey ("The Night Watchman"), Ramona Dearing ("An Apology"), and Sara Tilley ("Her Adolescence").
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December 22, 2009This is a recently published collection of "dark Maritime writing" - not especially horror but more on the side of dark mainstream regional fiction. I've got a short story in here entitled "A Hole Full of Nothing".
And here is a review from the Sunday December 22, 2009 Chronicle Herald.
Hard Ol’ Spot short fiction at its best
JUDITH MEYRICK BOOKS & BITS
Sun. Dec 20 - 4:46 AM
Hard Ol’ Spot — An Anthology of Atlantic Canadian Fiction selected by Mike Heffernan (Killick Press, $19.95)
Selecting short stories for an anthology is a challenge. The content, the varying styles of the authors, it all must somehow "hang together" — make a whole. Mike Heffernan has walked this fine line well, and his new anthology, Hard Ol’ Spot, brings together a collection of stories that represents the best of Atlantic authors. Darren Whalen gives each story "a visual signature," his illustrations heading each story, sketching their essence.
These are stories about growing up and learning the hard way, about taking stands, and the Ocean Ranger. There is a quality to these stories that is uniquely Atlantic Canadian. They tell of the harshness of living in outport Newfoundland. They talk of resilience, and joy and dying, and throughout them, the Atlantic Ocean roars and simmers.
In six short pages, At Sea tells of a sailor suffering the deep misery of seasickness in raging seas. Don Roy somehow holds out hope, that a lifetime of poor choices and missed opportunities may still be redeemed.
Michael Crummey’s ability to place his readers inside his stories is remarkable. The Night Watchman tells of a company man, hired to walk the streets of Black Rock, to keep his employers informed of happenings in the night. And of Ellen, "although it’s only in (his) head that she’s part of the story at all."
But it is Winnie in Gerard Collin’s Hold Out who speaks loudest by saying very little at all. The town is beyond dying, and residents are being offered $50,000 to leave. Only trouble is, it’s all or nothing. And Winnie won’t leave her home and her memories behind.
A good anthology is a cause for excitement among lovers of short stories and Hard Ol’ Spot — An Anthology of Atlantic Canadian Fiction is no exception. Heffernan’s collection showcases Atlantic short fiction at its best.
Mike Heffernan is the author of Rig: An Oral History of the Ocean Ranger Disaster. He lives in St. John’s.
Darren Whalen is a visual artist from Newfoundland. He lives in St. John’s.
And here is a review from the Sunday December 22, 2009 Chronicle Herald.
Hard Ol’ Spot short fiction at its best
JUDITH MEYRICK BOOKS & BITS
Sun. Dec 20 - 4:46 AM
Hard Ol’ Spot — An Anthology of Atlantic Canadian Fiction selected by Mike Heffernan (Killick Press, $19.95)
Selecting short stories for an anthology is a challenge. The content, the varying styles of the authors, it all must somehow "hang together" — make a whole. Mike Heffernan has walked this fine line well, and his new anthology, Hard Ol’ Spot, brings together a collection of stories that represents the best of Atlantic authors. Darren Whalen gives each story "a visual signature," his illustrations heading each story, sketching their essence.
These are stories about growing up and learning the hard way, about taking stands, and the Ocean Ranger. There is a quality to these stories that is uniquely Atlantic Canadian. They tell of the harshness of living in outport Newfoundland. They talk of resilience, and joy and dying, and throughout them, the Atlantic Ocean roars and simmers.
In six short pages, At Sea tells of a sailor suffering the deep misery of seasickness in raging seas. Don Roy somehow holds out hope, that a lifetime of poor choices and missed opportunities may still be redeemed.
Michael Crummey’s ability to place his readers inside his stories is remarkable. The Night Watchman tells of a company man, hired to walk the streets of Black Rock, to keep his employers informed of happenings in the night. And of Ellen, "although it’s only in (his) head that she’s part of the story at all."
But it is Winnie in Gerard Collin’s Hold Out who speaks loudest by saying very little at all. The town is beyond dying, and residents are being offered $50,000 to leave. Only trouble is, it’s all or nothing. And Winnie won’t leave her home and her memories behind.
A good anthology is a cause for excitement among lovers of short stories and Hard Ol’ Spot — An Anthology of Atlantic Canadian Fiction is no exception. Heffernan’s collection showcases Atlantic short fiction at its best.
Mike Heffernan is the author of Rig: An Oral History of the Ocean Ranger Disaster. He lives in St. John’s.
Darren Whalen is a visual artist from Newfoundland. He lives in St. John’s.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews