Review: Otherworldly tales stir imagination
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 26, 2012
K. W. McCabe's collection of short stories, "Dreams Both Real and Strange"  definitely lives up to the title.  Five stories, written with a gothic imagination and icy cold fingers, leave a trail down the reader's spine that will keep you shivering long after reading the last word.The first story, Choices, examines the consequences of negotiating with Death.  Now, seriously, who do you think will win? You won't find out, even at the end of the story, since it is "to be continued. . . "The second story, Rebirthed, is just that - an imagining of what being born, or re-born, would feel like.  Yes, there is a twist at the end.  At least, it was a twist to me.The third story, The Lake, really crawled up the back of my neck, raising every hair.  A man reminisces about the lake where he and his friends played every summer, until one child dies and the town fences off the lake.  As an adult, the man returns to the lake and finds it still a very dangerous place."Mourning" is just what it says, a reflection on who mourns us when we die.  And if we get the mourning we deserve.The final story was my favorite, but again, those dreaded words "to be continued!"  A young woman allows her vanity and pride to interfere with her safety, leading her into the hands of a beast.  Anne knew there was something evil lurking in her young life, as she and her mother, a witch, had fled from town to town, always following a report of a young girl's disappearance.  Now her innocent negligence has put her in the hands of the beast, once a man, who her mother had cursed years before.  He may kill Anne, he may ravage her, or maybe her mother will save her.  Evidently, we must stay tuned for the next installment!Overall, a great selection of eerie tales.