Synopsis:
In these collected tales of terror, you will visit worlds familiar and foreign, witness frights credible and extraordinary … encounter villains human and otherworldly. If the stories have one common attribute, it is that they deliver suspense like a burning fuse while putting forward a distinguishable and consistent literary voice, a kind of rope handrail in a dark cave that keeps spelunkers just assured enough to continue moving from one unknown to the next. It may not be the magnitude of the darkness explored here that is of greatest interest, however, but the fact that unexpected moments of humanity, courage, and thoughtfulness are allowed to gain a foothold from time to time, often against seemingly impossible odds.
Jagged Edges & Moving Parts may be an exploration of the darkest corners of our shared existence, but it is also rooted in a belief that if people can be as ruthless as monsters, they can also be every bit as astonishing.
Edition:
Paperback
Disclaimer:
I received a copy of Jagged Edges and Moving Parts from the author in exchange for review consideration. This does not in any way impact my review.
Trigger Warning:
- implied violence against an animal
My Thoughts:
The Stories:
The Things We Teach Our Young
An ill-fated ride down a mountain road leads a bigoted man to have a change of heart. But is it too late to fix the damage his bigotry has done to his teen son?
Holy is as Holy Does
A religious zealot intent on starting his own Christian cult bites off more than he can chew, and comes to regret it.
Barbicide
A man confronts the person who is sleeping with his wife.
The Tree Mumblers
All over Seattle, hooded figures begin to appear – each standing in front of a tree and mumbling incoherently. Who are they? What do they want?
A Pound of Flesh
A cruel man is forced to pay for what he has done.
Day of Rage
A very angry man wakes up one day determined to prove that free will doesn’t exist.
The Worst is Yet to Come
A killer learns what fate awaits him.
The Interview
A grieving man gets back at the man who murdered his wife.
The Occultist’s Dilemma
A doctor wrecks his yacht and winds up on a not quite deserted island.
In the Chillest Land
Two climbers on Mt Denali encounter a bizarre and terrifying creature.
On the Strangest Sea
A lone whaler gets what’s coming to him after an encounter with an unfathomable sea creature.
Slipknot
A sheriff and his deputy, both lacking in kindness, compassion, or morality in an old-timey Colorado town reap what they have sown.
Homing
A man finds a strange mark on his wall.
Not For All to See
A woman comes head-to-head with her family’s curse.
Fulfillment
A man gives into the fate his grandfather laid out for him.
Ridley Bickett’s Traveling Panopoly
A drunken beggar meets a young boy looking to join the carnival that’s come to town. They are brought in and get a very interesting look at the denizens of the freak show’s large tent.
Breech Baby
A miserable dinner party goes completely batshit.
The Patience of Adam
An elderly couple have a secret regarding the baby in their care.
Sacrificial Lambs
Strange, wonderous things are afoot at the Cedar Trail Lodge.
Crossing Lake Serene on a Dare
A 12 year old boy crosses Lake Serene to steal a souvenir from local legend Farley Clarris’ place. He soon learns he doesn’t know near as much about the world, and people as he thought.
And a Little Child Shall Lead Them
An elderly widower encounters a small child, her caretaker, and a sinister man on the bus.
Desperate Measures
Two paragraph horror. I feel that given how short this one is, there is no real way to say what it’s about without giving it all away.
Voices in the Crawlspace
Dagmar hears voices in the crawlspace. Kinda speaks for itself.
Father Dog
A repugnant dare gone wrong. This one warranted the above mentioned trigger warning.
Wish Me Luck
A deeply troubled man has a potentially dangerous plan.
Microphasia
A collection of enormous, tiny stories. That’ll make sense when you read the story, I promise.
Damned if you Do
A tale based around Dante’s Inferno.
About the Author:
From the author’s Goodreads page
Pete Mesling’s silhouette can, on rare occasions, be glimpsed prowling the watery byways of Seattle, Washington, where he lives with his wife and daughter, whose nickname is taken from a character in a Boris Karloff film.
Publishing highlights include his debut short-story collection (None So Deaf—which garnered praise from such luminaries as Kealan Patrick Burke, Jay Bonansinga, Nancy Kilpatrick, John Everson, John R. Little, and Paul Kane—as well as his new collection Jagged Edges & Moving Parts.
Mesling has also had the pleasure of working directly with the late Richard Matheson on an online retrospective of his career in film and television. He has sold fiction and poetry to such publications as All-American Horror of the 21st Century, the First Decade: 2000 – 2010 (sharing a table of contents with David Morrell, Bentley Little, Paul Tremblay, Jack Ketchum, Steve Rasnic Tem, Thomas F. Monteleone, Sam Weller, Norman Prentiss, Tim Pratt, Sarah Langan, Nick Mamatas, Livia Llewellyn, Weston Ochse, Wayne Allen Sallee, Cody Goodfellow, F. Paul Wilson, et al.); Best New Zombie Tales, Vol. 2 (Books of the Dead Press); Black Ink Horror (volumes 6 and 7); Night Terrors (Blood Bound Books); The Literary Hatchet (issues 15 and 22); Dig Two Graves, Vol. 2 (Death’s Head Press); several anthologies from April Moon Books; and the Poetry Showcase series from the Horror Writers Association.
Pete Mesling is also the official Clive Barker proofreader for Gauntlet Press, from Everville onward.
Rating:
Jagged Edges and Moving Parts is a hell of a collection of stories. Some of my favorites were, in no particular order:
- Breech Baby
- Sacrificial Lambs
- Ridley Bickett’s Traveling Panopoly
- On the Strangest Sea
Jagged Edges and Moving Parts By Pete Mesling Other Kingdoms Publishing Published: June 3, 2020 ISBN: 9780578677385 Format: Paperback, e-book 204 Pages Author's Website
