David Fingermanâs Edging Past Reality: A Collection of Short Stories is a compilation of some previously published works and some new works, cleverly arranged into the stages of maturity: childhood, adulthood, middle age, and later in life.
The first story, the excellent âMartyâs Toy,â focuses on a typical family with a ten-year-old boy, Marty. Heâs overjoyed with the creepy, monstrous action figure his mom presents him for his birthday, but less happy when odd (and very violent) things begin to happenâand soon heâs fighting for his life. (The entire section focusing on childhood is strong, each story providing a unique scare.) Moving into adulthood and then middle age, âThe Witnessâ has a classic Hitchcock feel, where one manâs carelessness seems like it will lead to his death, until fate intervenes; âThe Blue Lightâ features a twisted sexual fetish that is not for the faint of heart or stomach. The scariest of all, hands down, is âSnow Crabsââit evokes the short Stephen King story âThe Mistâ in the best way. The couple in the story assumes they will weather out this snow storm like they have any otherâuntil they realize there are hungry little creatures in the snow with razor sharp claws, and thereâs really no way out. Many of the stories in âEdging Past Realityâ are ingenious, spanning the gamut of horror: the supernatural, the gory, the suspenseful, the fantastic. The grouping of the stories lends itself not only to a read that really flows, but also makes you think about horror as it pertains to each stage of life, and how those stages of life might not really be so different when it comes to blind fear.
Edging Past Reality is recommended to readers who enjoy well-written and engaging horror stories with creative plots that range from the creepy to the downright disturbing. The Kindle version is available here.
