cardulelia carduelis’s Reviews > The 2020 Short Story Advent Calendar > Status Update

Day 24 was A Portrait of an Unnamed Man by Edward Carey. This was suitably grimey and dystopian to appear in a christmas eve collection.

Only 2 stories to go! Day 23 was Bone to his Bone by E.G. swain. A fantastic little ghost story in a vicaridge library at midnight.

Day 22 - the ones we carry with us by Sara O'Leary. That last bit got me, where she takes the photo of the old lady's son :(

Day 21 is Our Day of Grace by Jim Shepherd, reminding us that the civil war was terrible and that war is terrible I guess? Pretty bleak story..

Day 20 - only 5 books left! - yielded a modern 3.2 page story, The Decade I Kept Getting Stabbed by John Jodzio. I really enjoyed this absurd little tale. Honestly who wouldn't want a super knife to cut the salami with?

Day 19! The Snowstorm by Alexander Pushkin - at first a dull tale that ends with a nice little surprise.

Day 18: Happy Anniversary by Adam Sterbergh. An evening from the perspective of two different people at the same point in their marriage. Too real. Very depressing. Good story.

Dy 17 was Ersatz Panda by Lucy Ives. This starts off with an intriguing story about a cat that gets stolen but then becomes very referential and dull. Not for me.

Day 16! In the MIST of everything by Hilary Leichter. In 6 pages this book introduced; 12 characters, 4 intersecting plotlines, and an apocalypse. That is very impressive. Jeez SSAC is so good this year, I'm really going to miss it in 2021

The Game by Kris Bertin. Wow, that was intense and fascinating. This has academia and mysticisms and curses and self-destruction. Wow.