'The Oblivion Room' is a generally excellent collection of stories, located at the intersection point between horror and (very) dark realism. The other two pieces aren't exactly weak, and 'Grace' in particular contains some powerfully visceral moments contrasted with a brief, beautiful epiphany at the end, but they somehow lack the 'oomph' factor that would put them on par with the others.ĭon't mind me, though, I'm just being picky.

If this book consisted solely of the concluding novella, 'Welcome Jean Krupa, World's Greatest Girl Drummer!', and the first three stories, it would be a likely 4.5 (rounded up to 5) stars for me. And they all contain well fleshed out characters, whose situations, thoughts and memories are conveyed with brilliant, shocking or tragic immediacy. The stories are of various lengths a few are quite short, but the final one could qualify as a novella, I think. Conlon is very good at conveying the trauma and the disconnect from reality that go along with this violation.

People commit violent acts, or have violent acts committed upon them, in such a way that their dignity and even their status as human beings is threatened. All the stories have a sense of transgression. And sometimes confronting one's memories is what causes the sense of horror. While some of the stories are narrated in the present tense, many are primarily flashbacks telling what has brought the protagonist to the tragic or horrific situation in which he or she is now trapped. Memories, as I have said, are often painful, but many times, they are the hinge on which the story turns. And often there is a sense of claustrophobia too: in the title story as well as some of the others, the protagonists are made to inhabit close and confining spaces. However, in some of the other stories, forgetfulness is sought because memories are too painful.

The woman in the title story, for example, is so terrified of it that she goes to great lengths to escape it. Oblivion is something that is sought by some and feared by others.

Some of these themes are indicated by the key words in the title. But there are some common themes which serve to link the stories despite the differences in genre, point of view, setting and tone. They range from science fiction to horror to fiction that is quite realistic and tragic. This collection of stories offers us a variety of scenarios and characters. Thanks to author and GR friend Christopher Conlon for kindly providing an advance review copy.

The Oblivion Room by Christopher Conlon