Michael Bailey (5) (1979–)

This anthology was a Down Syndrome charity effort, as was [b:Chiral Mad|16122965|Chiral Mad|Michael Bailey|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1351810889s/16122965.jpg|21944474] its predecessor. These charity things can be somewhat dodgy in that there is a lot of "emerging talent" in the new stories and many of the A-list talents supply reruns. This collection however exceeded my expectations and actually got better as the book went on.

Fortunately for me I had only previously read one of the show more retreads, but there were only four out of 28 stories.

Advertised as psychological horror I would characterize this as plain contemporary horror, contemporary weird, a pretty wide array of stories, from the grim to the just bizarre. There are even a few ghosts thrown in but these too are of a decidedly modern ilk. There are no happy endings. I only thought two stories (out of 28) were weak, in being somewhat naive in plot and execution. Everything else was three or four star material, a few I would call five star. The book starts off with a bang and you never really get a letdown stretch.

My copy is a print on demand trade paperback and it has a few issues, an above average number of typos, missing words, etc. The usual reliance on machine proofreading errors. Not horrible, just noticeable. Somewhere along the line the ink jet printer got a little thirsty and left a number of pages with fuzzy gray instead of black letters. The entire font and layout left the book looking like something you printed out on you laser printer. Still, I'm a content kind of guy with this sort of thing so I didn't take down the rating for this kind of thing.

The cover art is fabulous but it still comes out looking like a textbook when you put it on the shelf.

After all this, I loved it. show less

While I truly enjoyed a few of these stories, the truth is that most of this collection is just fine, but not great, and there are some few of the stories which really needed some more work--either because they ran on for far too long and could/should have been a lot tighter or because there were clarity/plot issues. Most of the time, I was reading along without feeling any strong impulse to continue on to the next stories or even finish the one I was on, and that hasn't happened with an show more anthology in a long, long time. A few of these authors are ones I now know to keep an eye on or who I already enjoyed, but I doubt I'll pick up another anthology from this editor, and I can't see myself recommending this work. show less

Monsters, in so many diverse forms! This is a fantastic collection. The stories and poems have enormous variety within the theme and all are engaging and intriguing. I highly recommend this anthology.

Review copy

Inkblots and Blood Spots is a beautiful blend of poetry and storytelling from the darker side of fiction.

This is my first time reading Michael Bailey's work and, although I've never been a big fan of poetry, I found this collection to be a nice mix of prose and poetry where the story would often complement the poem or vice versa.

The first story featured in this collection is a good example of what is to come in the rest of the book. "Hiatus," is a somewhat familiar tale of a world show more that has suddenly stopped moving, except for Seth. The story reads like a good episode of the Twilight Zone, but the ending is chillingly original.

Many of Michael Bailey's stories make use of the classic, "what if" premise and the results are quite successful. "The Binds of Lasolastica"merges cloning with the idea of being able to upload one's mind and later download it into a new body/brain. What could possibly go wrong?

There are also, tales of a boogeyman, whether to pull the plug or not, severe weight loss, fairies, annoying people on cell phones, and so many more imaginative stories taking the reader to a multitude of destinations.

I, personally, found Bailey to be an amazing word sculptor and Inkblots and Blood Spots is one of the most interesting books I've read this year. Even when writing prose, the author does so with the heart of a poet and the result is truly something special.

Inkblots and Blood Spots is currently available in paperback from Villipede Publications and can be purchased through Amazon.com.

Recommended. show less