I’d seen Alectryomancer and Other Weird Tales mentioned multiple times in a short period of time on social media by people whose opinion I respect a lot, so I felt pretty confident I was going to have a good time of it and was not disappointed. Slatsky’s collection of thirteen stories traverse a wide spectrum, each one sewn into its own world on a precipice which may tip a single person or everything over the edge.
His voice in each story is consistently unique, guiding the reader through surreal and disturbing horror that does not allow the reader to take a passive role in the story being told. There is very little closure in these stories in the traditional sense. You will be taken to the point where words can give you a notion of where the bizarre course of events in a particular story, then leaves you there to fend for yourself. There is a lot of beauty there, and absolutely none of it is what you would call pretty.
I would not be putting my neck out to say that Slatsky is one of the strongest, new voices in the Weird, and eagerly look forward to more from him.
Alectryomancer and Other Weird Tales is available through Amazon.
