Review: Tales from the Rain: Early Weird Fiction by Mark Howard Jones (published by Macabre Ink)
Before I delve into reviewing the contents of this collection, I will say a few words about the author and his fiction in general.
Mark Howard Jones is an author who may have slipped under the radar of many speculative fiction readers, but he has established himself as one of the best and most original writers of weird fiction. He is probably best known to those who love the darker side of literary speculative fiction, because his fiction has appeared in many magazines and anthologies that feature dark fiction and literary speculative fiction.
I personally consider Mark Howard Jones to be one of the most talented authors of weird fiction and literary strange fiction, because he writes excellent prose that touches you on a deep level and seduces you with its darkness. His fiction is imaginative, intelligent, bizarre, captivating, unsettling and original. Unlike many other authors, he is not constrained by genres, but writes in various genres. He also blends speculative fiction genres in some of his stories in a fresh and highly compelling way.
Tales from the Rain: Early Weird Fiction is a rewarding yet a bit uneven reading experience. Some of the stories featured in this collection are not as good or effective as others, because there is noticeable fluctuation in quality between the stories, but this flaw is easy to overlook and it did not bother me much. I think that readers will enjoy all of the stories, because they showcase the author's early fiction and his creativity in a splendid way.
It was interesting for me to read this collection, because I could see how much the author has developed as a writer and how his literary voice has matured over the years. Despite having some roughness around the edges and lacking that special touch of finesse found in the recent stories, I found many of these stories to be highly captivating. I was especially taken by the longer stories, because they are very much to my liking in terms of storytelling and depth.
I think it is good to mention that the stories in this collection may not be for everyone's taste, but if you love dark and compelling literary stories, you will be rewarded by a memorable reading experience.
This collection contains two short story collections that have long been out of print and a few other stories:
SONGS FROM SPIDER STREET
- Songs from Spider Street
- The Ice Horse
- Change Here
- '... Runs Out Like Sand'
- A Hell of a Place
- Backseat Ballet
- Burning Sian
- Cloud Harvest
- Darkness on the Edge of Clown
- Heart Is Where the Home Is
- Hunter/ed
- In the Greyness of Time
- Interior Design
- Love Box
- Mirrorcle
- Mistaken Memory
- Muse
- Nocturnal Tide
- Rise
- Shards from the House of Glass
- The Condition
- The Path
- The Singing Horses
- Token Blonde
- Trackside
- Window
- Songs from Spider Street (Reprise)
BRIGHTEST BLACK
- Valhalla Station
- Old Slaughden
- The Man Who Killed Halloween
- She and Sleep Were Lovers
- The Engineer
- Craquelure
- In the Shadow of Perseus
- The Strongest Branch
- Ice Cold in Aspic
- Wazonkey!
- Auto Da Fe
- Remnants
- The Queen of Winter's Heart
- The New Moon
- Gone Away
THE MONOCHROME MANDARIN
- At the Top of the Tower
- Sticky Jack Black
- Cicatrice Mistress
- Coin of the Realm
- Soulstone Shoals
- Crossing the Sea of Night
- Wunderkind
FUGITIVE FICTION
- Sticky Weather
- Crumple Zone
- Wishful Thinking
- Owlrain
- Broken Stars
Here is more information about the stories and my thoughts about them:
Songs from Spider Street
Songs from Spider Street:
- In this opening story, a young man, Michel, is making a delivery by boat to an old woman who lives in a ghost town that is inhabited by many spiders.
- I find this story highly compelling, because the atmosphere is sufficiently strange and alluring, and the ending is brilliant.
- This is one of the best weird stories I have ever read.
The Ice Horse
- A story about a man who is imprisoned inside an enormous sculpted ice horse.
- This story has an epic and mythic feel to it that intrigues me a lot.
Change Here
- In this story, Nick catches the last train home, but soon he finds himself travelling towards an uknown destination.
- A short, but entertaining and well written story.
- There is something slightly Joel Lane-esque about this story that I find captivating.
'... Runs Out Like Sand'
- This is an interesting science fiction tale with erotic elements about a man called Eber and a woman called Eleann who find a strange machine.
- This story has a dark and erotic ending that is something different.
A Hell of a Place
- An intriguing story about a man who travels by car, but always finds himself in a certain place.
- The author writes well and unflinchingly about what has happened to the man and what he has done.
Backseat Ballet
- In this story, a woman driver finds herself in a strange and menacing situation.
- There's something about this story that vaguely reminds me of the stories in Clive Barker's Books of Blood series.
Burning Sian
- A story about a woman who is convinced that her head is constantly enveloped in flames.
- This is a wonderfully bizarre short story.
Cloud Harvest
- A strange yet compelling story in which the protagonist falls in love with a woman whose husband has been imprisoned.
- I likes this story very much, because it differs from the other stories and something unsettling is revelead just before the end.
- The magical realism elements of the story are handled well.
Darkness on the Edge of Clown
- An intriguing short story about a clown who tries live a new life, but dark memories of a fiery destruction won't leave him alone.
Heart Is Where the Home Is
- A story about Framehr who lives in a wondrous clockwork house designed long ago by a renowned Belgian architect. The house is in dire need of maintenance and repair, but nobody knows how to fix things until Paterson, an engineer student, comes to visit the house and offers his help to Framehr and his daughter, Eve.
- The story arc between Paterson and Framehr's daughter is fascinating, because Paterson becomes increasingly captivated by Eve and has lustful dreams of her.
- I find this story compellingly original, because it blends steampunkish elements with literary strange fiction and has an excellent ending.
- This is one of the strongest stories in this collection.
Hunter/ed
- This is a flash fiction story about a man who has to do something even though he doesn't want to do it.
In the Greyness of Time
- A well written story about a man who is losing his eye sight.
Interior Design
- A story about a man who marries a woman who comes from a rich family. The woman is interested in design and art and begins to decorate the house with various objects, one of which causes a bit of disturbance.
- The ending is intriguingly weird and compelling.
- I enjoyed this story very much, because it is something different.
Love Box
- A fascinatingly erotic story about a married couple who have sex in a small capsule hotel.
- I find the ending of this story sufficiently strange and morbidly humorous.
Mirrorcle
- A strange story about a woman who has lost her face and her husband.
- This short story is fascinating and a bit different, because it tells of how the woman will get back her face.
- This is one of the most captivating stories in this collection.
Mistaken Memory
- This is a short yet intriguing tale about a person who is alone on the street after a day at a new job.
Muse
- A story about Toshio and Ayame who has become Toshio's prisoner due to her inspiring him to write creatively.
- This is a surprisingly brutal story, because the author does not shy away from describing what Toshio does to his captive and how he .
- This story has an interesting ending.
Nocturnal Tide
- A story about a sheriff of a small town, his life and the night tide.
- The author writes excellently about the man and the things that cause him distress.
- This story has intriguing and unsettlingly dark undertones that I find strangely compelling.
Rise
- A story about a man who is restrained with tubes in his mouth.
- I won't go into details about what happens in this story, but I can reveal that it is a slice of hard-hitting fiction that is compellingly bizarre and brutal.
Shards from the House of Glass
- In this story, Joseph works at a mortuary and is fascinated by the paintings of Louis John Willets, who is a small town celebrity.
- I find this story highly compelling due to the author's way of writing about the protagonist and his almost obsessive fascination with the paintings.
- This story is an excellent example of interesting and well written strange fiction.
The Condition
- A story about a man who is bandaged from head to toe and doesn't remember what has happened to him.
- This is a fascinating short story with excellent depictions of what it is like to be covered in bandages with no memory.
- There is an atmosphere of unsettling uncertainty and need to remember things to this story that fascinates me a lot.
The Path
- A story about a man who is captivated by a short path that lies between an industrial estate and a patch of overgrown land near the river. The man tells made-up stories about the path to his daughter.
- There is something about this story that reminds me of the stories written by Robert Aickman and M.R. James.
- This is one of the best stories in this book.
The Singing Horses
- This is an interesting short story that is something slightly different.
Token Blonde
- A science fiction story about Tomos and a blonde woman called Lise. Lise gives Tomos Musel, which is an illegal drug, but does not reveal where it comes from.
- The brutally honest depictions about sex spice up this story in an atmospheric way.
- This is an entertaining story with an ending that splendidly combines horror and science fiction elements.
Trackside
- A story about Owen and Steve who wait for the train to arrive at the station. They witness a man hiding something and decide to take a look at what he dumped and find something unsettling.
- In this story, the author writes well about how the men feel about what they find and what they should do.
- This is an interesting exploration of curiosity and morality.
Window
- An interesting story that is speckled with desperation and a need to find a way out.
Songs from Spider Street (Reprise)
- This excellent tale continues Michel's story which started in "Songs from Spider Street".
- I enjoyed this story very much, because it is satisfyingly weird and well written.
- I find the ending of this story strangely beautiful and haunting.
I enjoyed all of the above mentioned stories, because they are intriguingly fresh and exciting. There were a couple of stories that were less impressive, but although not all of the stories are of high quality, I can honestly say that "Songs from Spider Street" is something unique and deserves to be read.
The author's cunning way of writing stories that are either based on reality or are wholly fictional with fantastical elements impressed me in "Songs from Spider Street". Some of the stories have an incredible depth of emotion and underlying darkness to them that will captivate and haunt the reader.
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To be continued... (soon)