Review: The Lake and 16 Other Stories
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 6, 2010
Horror fiction almost always benefits from a minimalist approach to story-telling.  Alfred Hitchcock understood very well that an audience can generate far more terrifying and disturbing imagery using their own imaginations, than anything he could film.  Edgar Alan Poe, too, understood the reader's ability to fill in the gaps in the graphics of the story.  This collection of shorts by David McAfee takes the concept to a logical extreme by invoking a writing exercise known as "microfiction"--stories of extremely short length, in this case exactly 100 words.  It is a revelation in just how disturbed one can feel after reading the horror equivalent of a breathy greeting card.14 of the 17 stories by McAfee are the 100-word micros.  Some are more memorable than others, and range in tone from tongue-in-cheek to earnestly gory.  A surprising number of them seem to deal with cannibalism (if David ever invites you to a barbecue, be politely wary of the ribs).  The best are those that easily lend themselves to back-story--there are several that allowed me, as I finished them, to fill out the surrounding circumstances and expand the story to feature length, as it were.  Good ones include "Scott and Mary", "Mario", "Bobby and The Mayor", and the winking "Writers Wanted."The other stories, including the titular "Lake", are more traditional short stories, and fine in their own right, but are generally overshadowed by the popcorn fun of the micro-stories.  The bonus story by David Dalglish, "One Last Dinner Party", is an examination of the last day on Earth for a small group of Middle Americans.  It's sad, but oddly comforting, and quite a bit more honest than most armageddon stories.  I'll need to read more by him in the future.The collection is a quick and stimulating read, perfect for a short afternoon on the beach or read aloud around the campfire.