Chapbook of very short fiction, available from Alternating Current Press (8/31/21).
Because monsters need love, too.
Seven short stories of 1,000 words or less.
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In the brilliant, twisted world of “Loving Monsters,” the supernatural constantly bumps shoulders with the mundane. A 50-foot woman describes her unexpected growth spurt in a series of Twitter threads. A perfectionist housewife takes a night off and transforms into a raging beast. Somewhere in the swamps of Jersey, a devil cruises conspiracy theory web sites. These flash fictions blend magical realism and social satire as they bring traditional monsters into the world of contemporary technology. Freed of their gothic castles, these are the monsters next door: a murderous vegan, a vampire with body issues, a ghost haunting a house furnished by IKEA. Each brief story is its own world, filled with unexpected detail and, often, touches of dark humor: “What did it have against humus?”, a forlorn husband wonders as a ravening beast attacks the plastic compost rotator in the back yard. As always, the monsters most to be feared are those that live in our own human hearts.
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Kathryn Kulpa, author of Girls on Film and flash fiction editor of Cleaver magazine
Laura Eppinger 