Beginning with a descent into uncanny horror, the collection invades other genres, reaching tentacles into Realism, science fiction, and magic realism with aplomb, grasping at philosophy, abstraction, and startling dream-logic, but maintaining a steady undercurrent of tension while germinating unsettling horror elements.
Ever think, when you’re adjusting the stats on your video game character, you may be creating fissures in reality, mutating living beings into haphazardly designated monstrosities?
Did you ever open a package of turducken and let out a long, resounding scream as the meat-wad flexed wing stubs, stood up and started headlessly oozing toward you?
What about that time you were haunting the highways with your pal, and a car skidded into a ditch and then kidnapped you? Yes, the car itself abducted you.
The author’s unfettered creativity expostulates in real time, swerving into surreality without warning, jarring the reader awake like a reindeer in the headlights as a sudden downpour of gore and titillating existential dread descends with the percussive force of a thermobaric bomb.
Her lovely and approachable writing style lulls you, ushers you into a kosher world of frolicking friends and gawping chums, before bludgeoning you with a nail bat about the sensitive areas of your psyche.
Several times, during my casual reading of this collection, I was overcome with wonderment. “Slug Slick” was a story worthy of J. G. Ballard. Yet Gransden’s grasp of relatable characters exceeds Ballard’s cold approach. Scintillating sentences abound and gobs of description provide ample fodder for your delectation, but always and foremost, the characters shine through, carrying the story as they stroll or limp through terror-inducing scenarios.
Expect no happy endings. Enjoy the ominous humor, at times flowing from the most vicious wounds. Bravely embarking on a task of reading her other works fills me with anticipation. A singular talent worth following.
L. S. Popovich 
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