By Nathan Crazybear
If you’re a regular reader of HorrorNovelReviews.com, then you’ve definitely recognized Mark Allan Gunnells. A winner of one of our micro-fiction contests and featured in several anthologies we’ve published, Gunnells has appeared at several HNR parties, always with a creepy tale or two to contribute (you can read his short story “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden” here). His collection, Flowers in the Dumpster, is out now from Crystal Lake Publishing.
Flowers in the Dumpster is a collection of 17 of Gunnells’ short stories. Gunnells is a brilliant book that takes readers through the barren wasteland of post-apocalyptic America; he takes us along highways frequented by hitchhiking serial killers, lets us see it all from the shoulders of horror writers who are about to become greats, and keeps us grounded when our own gods crucify us.
One of Gunnells’ most brilliant storytelling techniques is to push his characters to the brink of breaking point. What happens to this sweet family of three as they watch the world around them die? What becomes of us when we can’t reconcile our spiritual and sexual desires? What happens when our passions take over and become who we are? Gunnells’ believable characters are brutally treated, which keeps the book suspenseful.
Perhaps one of the best aspects of Gunnells’ stories is his consistent sense of humor. While some of his works are full of comedy and dark humor (Walking Talking Jesus, Possessed), he deftly interweaves laughter with horror, darkness, and cruelty in others (The Adventures of Bonar, The Metamorphosis). His love of fun is a great reminder of the complementary role comedy plays in the horror genre.
While some of the stories in Flowers in the Dumpster fall short (entries like The Locked Tower or The Last Man on Earth are not only predictable but also easily forgettable), overall Gunnells gives us what he presents time and again in HNR: horror stories that are both creepy and entertaining.
Order yours here.
3/5
