Review of Tales From the Hereafter by Ted Myers

I am a fan of short stories taking place in the afterlife.

 I recently read a book called Snuggly Tales of the Afterlife, which I would not necessarily recommend. They were less out-there than I imagined they would be. I want my alternate worlds to be unexpected. That is why I enjoyed A Short Stay in Hell, which is a book I would recommend to most people. When I read a story about what supposedly comes after death I look forward to an imaginative setting with striking and thought-provoking constraints. It is not enough to imagine that anything is possible after death,
only by adding constraints can there be a story. But I think I could read stories about it endlessly, and ceaselessly ponder what might lay beyond the veil.

Without taking religious beliefs into it, you can just have fun imagining alternate realities and scenarios. It is a great jumping off point for any author, and is an experimental method this authors uses to amusing effect. Myers introduces us to interesting characters right off the bat, each
with their own unique past lives. Their past lives often dictate how they spend the afterlife. Some of them are in between, in a bardo, and others have arrived, so to speak. Some of them know kung fu, others fight crime, or have to choose which moment of their past they are going to relive.
There is a lot of variety in the tales and a good mix of perspectives. Even if you don’t adore every single one of the stories, you will likely get something out of them. And they will tickle your imaginative fancy, allowing you to posit any number of personal heavens and hells in those lonely moments when thinking about death is just too much to tolerate.

As the stories continue, we are introduced to alien creatures and devils. The author infuses each short tale with subtext and personality. They are not overly esoteric, nor overly descriptive, but short enough to allow you to experience the action of the tale, packaged in a memorable way, while quickly moving on to the next episode. They are short enough that I did not grow tired of any scenarios and they were all satisfying in their own ways.

Eternal damnation or eternal bliss. What does eternity mean for the human psyche, which can barely go ten minutes without experiencing that phenomenon known as boredom? The concept of heavenly administrators has always amused me. The arbitrariness of other versions of the afterlife is not meant to cast doubt on anyone’s belief system in my opinion. Dream worlds can help us reflect on our own world and draw conclusions about human character. Humans have the unique capacity to envision unrealities. This is a faculty designed to allow us to interpret the actions of others and to enrich our minds through storytelling.

Myers is a great storyteller. IN the final novella he takes us to a noir setting, unusual for its framing devise, that definitely felt like a nostalgic homage to old films.

If you’re a fan of the Twilight Zone, give these stories a try.