Review: Monstrous humanity
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 18, 2011
Few of the stories in Ghosts In A Desert World contain speculative fiction elements, which is neither praise nor criticism, but merely an observation.  Who needs made-up monsters, Matt seems to say, when human beings are more than sufficiently monstrous on their own?  And don't look within these pages for much in the way of quiet horror; although seldom gratuitous, gore and bloodshed features prominently.  Matt is clearly highly familiar and comfortable with many common horror tropes, which he handles with a mixture of respect and originality and the occasional sly fun-poking.Stand-out favourites for me were Broken Highway with its gutsy heroine who discovers the vein of ruthlessness in her soul necessary to save her life (I'm guessing this was inspired by true events) and Doll Steak.  The latter story gives a masculine perspective on pregnancy and parenthood, fertility and loss and how you don't always get to have as much control over your life and fate as you would like.  I also enjoyed the edge-of-your-seat anticipation of Terrica with its oblique Stephen King reference and unexpected yet somehow inevitable outcome.