Tribulations
Richard Thomas
Crystal Lake Publishing
March, 2016
Reviewed by Josh Black
Richard Thomas, Editor-in-Chief at Dark House Press, is fast becoming a household name in genre circles, and with good reason. Between writing his own stories, editing and co-editing anthologies (The New Black, Burnt Tongues, and The Lineup), and recently launching a Kickstarter campaign for a new dark fiction webzine, he’s been keeping busy.
Tribulations, his third collection, contains 25 succinct and affecting tales that once again prove Thomas to be as fine a writer as he is an editor. As with most collections, common threads run through the stories, sometimes deep between the lines and other times screaming their way to the surface. The title is a perfectly fitting one. At his best Thomas writes like his life depends on it, while his restraint and careful use of language ensure that these stories hit in all the right places.
Highlights include:
“Chrysalis,” in which a family man prepares his home for a brutal and possibly perpetual winter.
“Bringing in the Sheaves,” a disturbing yarn which delves into the childhood emergence of psychopathology.
“Flowers for Jessica,” a grotesque yet romantic tale where grief and passion meet and reconcile in a most unusual way.
“Balance Sheet,” in which a father proves his love for his daughter is unconditional through an increasingly harrowing series of sacrifices.
Although there are arguably some literal monsters here, most of what you’ll find between the covers of Tribulations is a distinctly human brand of horror. Desperation, helplessness, addiction and regret all have their time to shine. Whether it’s with a dash of stream-of-consciousness here, a bit of prose poem there, or a starkly minimalist passage, these stories speak to the things that haunt the darkest corners of the mind. If you’re the kind of person who likes to visit those places (and come on, if you’re reading this, you know you are,) be sure to pick up Tribulations.
