I will read pretty much anything Ballingrud writes. He has a way of creeping into the crevices of my imagination and sticking there. This book has some really great stories, and we all know the scariest monsters are of the human variety.

Watched Monsterland on Hulu first which I think actually helped me enjoy these stories more since I went in knowing it was more about the writing and ideas than satisfying conclusions or neatly tied up ends. With that in mind I really did enjoy Ballingrud's style and most if not all the stories drew me in, they're very exemplary of what I class as 'modern fiction' and that works well here.

Mysterious and strange short stories.

Totally jealous of this collection of quiet horror stories--even the stories that didn't hit for me were superlative. The stories all have a particular type of ending, though, so if you don't like the first story because of the (mysterious and strange) ending, then you're probably not going to like the rest. "What happened after" is usually hidden inside the rest of the story somewhere, with the ending itself arranged to be as unfinished and disconcerting as possible. You can discover the ending, if you like--but you have to work at it, because that was never the point. So consider yourself warned.

EXCELLENT! Some of the most imaginative stories I've ever read!

Solid three stars. Billingrud did an excellent job capturing the essence of a short story and conveying the bleak, cold outlook and environment.

guys bein dudes (played in minor key)

It seems like all the real monsters in these stories are the people, and when they're the first person perspective, it's hard to read.