If you enjoy fabulism, surrealism, magical realism, or speculative fiction that is as horrifying and strange as it is lyrical, you should pick up a copy of Suburban Death Project by Aimee Parkison.
“Dr. Rasch is Noah’s Ark. He put a bit of every animal into his tattoos, to save them from leaving the earth.” (from “Locked In”)
The thrill of this collection comes at you in the very first story, when you realize you are going to be completely unable to predict what will happen next or where Parkison’s imagination is going to take you. (And that feeling lasts through to the end of the book!)
These 12 short stories are deeply weird, full of dark humor, and so perceptive. They prompt us to reflect on our relationships with the natural world and one another, and remind us that profound beauty and absolute horror can inhabit the same space.
