Glitter & Mayhemis an anthology of phantasy , science - fable , and horror that takes mythology toa nightclub , dusts it with glister , have it intoxicated , then take it out onto thedance floor to grind the night away .
It ’s one of the more interesting anthology themes I ’ve seenrecently , even if it is a chip hard to determine . Something something political party mumble glam rock . While I did n’t loveevery story in Glitter & Mayhem(when does that ever occur , anyway ? ) , it occurred to me that many of thesestories would not have been spell at all without such an oddball theme forthe authors to jounce off of , which is pretty coolheaded . I mean , possibly write up aboutcosplaying cop , psychical vampire curler rink , and anthropomorphized cocktailswere just repose around wait for the right anthology , who know ?
If you look nearly at a nightspot scene or the life history ofparty goliath , you inevitably find a vacuous darkness , or perhaps a rottencore . There are lots of interesting stories to be order about that darkness , andthe best ones in this book do ( like Rachel Swirsky ’s “ All That Fairy Tale Crap”and William Shunn and Laura Chavoen ’s “ Subterraneans ” ) . The faint stories seemdesperate to spiritualize invariant hedonism , resulting in tarradiddle that feel shallowand glib .
There are two write up in Glitter & Mayhem focused on thetravails of hair curler bowler hat teams . They also happened to be the two story I didn’tfinish . Not that I have anything against tumbler derby , but both had a sort ofchatty tone that was n’t to my liking . I was also a bit disappointed with CorySkerry ’s “ Sooner Than Gold , ” because it ’s an fantabulous story that screeches toan disconnected halt . It feels bare , like the first chapter of a novel . I’dlove to read the novel , but as a myopic story it felt like a teasing .
The anthology gathers steam the deeper you go . Like all goodparties , there ’s a elusive undercurrent of latent eroticism in many of thestories . It only bubbles up to the surface now and again , like in thealmost - threesome in Diana Rowland ’s “ origin and Sequins , ” and in theaforementioned “ All That Fairy Tale Crap , ” which starts right off withCinderella going down on one of her stride - sisters .
The character are a diverse lot . oodles of femaleprotagonists . Tons of nance protagonists . Tons of mythological creatures livingin the contemporary man friend . I list those together because I thinkthere ’s a connection , maybe the strong single theme unravel through allthese stories . Stories about selkies and sirens and their New problemsreframe the villains of poof tales and myths ( the “ other ” the virtuous heroesare so often aligned against ) , place that “ other ” front and center , lookingat things from their point of sentiment . It is not a stretch to realise that transpeople , people in polyamorous relationships , and queer the great unwashed have also beentreated as the other ; also search a reframing .
This culminates in one of my favorite stories in Glitter & Mayhem , Amal El - Mohtar ’s “ AHollow Play . ” A polytriad of rare mythical creatures meet a human in thethroes of hungriness for a missing friend . They can all assist each other , but thedynamics of the kinship create an ache , haunting sense of red . This isthe “ pebble in your brake shoe ” tarradiddle for me , the one that bond with me long after Iread it .
My other favorites include “ The Electric Spanking of the WarBabies , ” by Maurice Broaddus and Kyle S. Johnson , which takes the spaced outpsychedelic science - fabrication of Parliament - Funkadelic ’s mothership connection , rolls it around in some Sly Stone and Jimi Hendrix , and take it all deadlyseriously . You would intend a narration populated by “ Afronauts ” from a galacticempire powered by Groove would be played for laughs , but that would be Unfunky .
Daryl Gregory ’s “ Just Another Future Song ” is an elaboratehomage to David Bowie , a montage of mental imagery from Bowie ’s language with a killerone - ocean liner termination . It requires a certain installation with Bowie ’s back catalogue – ifyou do n’t agnize the Moon Boys or lines about sailors oppose in dancehalls , it will be only so much gibberish . Tansy Rayner Roberts ’ “ The MinotaurGirls ” achieve both a vertiginous sense of outlandishness and a mysterious nostalgia forthe childhood we can never tame . “ Two - Minute Warning ” by Vylar Kaftan is anall - too - abbreviated slice of cyberpunk about a practical world fighting game calledDancekill .
It ’s devilishly difficult to review an anthology . “ You willlike some of these story . Others you may not care . ” I ’d have peradventure liked abit more Iggy Pop and a minuscule less Donna Summer . But Glitter & Mayhem gets gamy marks for going places not a portion ofanthologies go , for rent authors wager with strange ideas , and for what is likelyan unintentional consolidative theme : the outsiders coming in to enjoy the party , aslong as it lasts .
Glitter & Mayhem is availablefrom Apex Publications . Cover painting byGalen Dara .
anthologyCryptids
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