Review: Do Yourselves a Favor and Read This Book
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 8, 2014
THE POT:  AN HOMAGE TO CLASSIC CAUTIONARY TALES OF THE 1950sThese are two short stories that use color as visible manifestations of dread and unbearable fright.Green used to be my favorite color. All shades of green. Like growing plants in spring. But sometimes we can have too much of a good thing.  Like the green color of Jimmy Hannigan's eyes.Jimmy is the local pot dealer.  Ray Waltz is a senior who can barely wait to get out of high school and wants to get a great big buzz on to celebrate. His friend Terry wants to celebrate with him. Jimmy of the green eyes warns them to wait another day for the regular stuff, but the two tough guys want the "good" stuff.Greed and impatience give these two more than they bargained for.  A terrifying lot more.  And I don't think I'll ever look at growing things the way I used to.BLUEOur narrator has no name. But he knows that he's almost paralyzed in the middle of a room of undulating blueness. The room, the furniture, even a black and white poster are all swirling shades of blue.  Our narrator is fairly sure that his cocaine plus muscle relaxant cocktail might have had something to do with this perception. He's not quite sure if his girlfriend has overdosed on nitrous or coke or heroin, so inch by agonizing inch he slithers his body to her side so that he can check on her.What did happen to her? Is he really seeing things crawling out of the walls, monsters that are themselves fleeing something even more monstrous or is he way past the edge of drug overload?The stories are reminiscent of the old horror stories on TV when television broadcast in black and white.  They start with people who are just average, not too good and not too bad. But a wrong decision can dump them into situations that are way beyond anything their lives have prepared them for.The tales are told in two unique voices.  Matt Molgaard is a helluva good  storyteller who has a great way with words. They flow so easily that we forget how hard it is to write a great story.  Do yourselves a favor, whether or not you're into drugs yourself or know someone who is, and read this book.Ghost of the Lagoon Part IIBy Aolani MolgaardThe desert to this smorgasbord of creepy tales is a flash story (one paragraph) by Matt's daughter, Aolani.  Even one paragraph made me want to know more.  I'm sorry I missed Part I and I don't even know if there is a Part I.  Well done, Aolani.