After the People Lights Have Gone Off

It's difficult to review this one for some reason. It's compulsively readable, the prose is excellent, and the stories are imaginative, and pull you right in. Another nice thing is the length of the stories, each one is pretty bite-sized and easy to read in a single sitting. Sometimes I even devoured several at a time. For some reason though, despite being well written and haunting, none of the stories packed that visceral "this is a great story" feeling for me. Maybe they were too short to develop enough meat on their bones? Maybe the endings felt rushed, or instead of "open-ended with possibility" they felt... a little "intentionally confusing"? Not sure how to express it, but it forces me into having call this collection good, but show more not great, despite the overall quality of the writing. show less

I already know, writing the first sentence of my discussion for After the People Lights Have Gone Off, that I will be using the delete key quite a bit. I find it difficult to put into words why some stories in this collection were the literary equivalent of throwing a lead weight over the side of a ship and why some stories soared, excellent examples of literary horror at its best. Some of Jones’s stories were so perfect that I felt that familiar pull of envy that comes when I read something so wonderful that I wish I had thought of it first. But some of Jones’s stories were impenetrable for me, leaving me wondering if he missed the mark or if I was just too dense to understand what he was trying to convey. Ultimately I decided I show more just wasn’t the sort of reader to appreciate those stories, that taste was at issue and not talent.

The hell of it is, this has been a pretty dense year for me. Sort of muddy and brackish. I don’t feel as on the ball at the moment as I have in years past. But what made me decide that my divided reactions are righteous was analyzing why I am so divided about the stories in this collection. The answer is that while Jones has a distinct voice, he is also a malleable writer who is moving around within his chosen genre. The stories that have a familiar ring to them are written in a style that makes them seem fresh, but Jones also ventures out into new territory, with strange ideas and storytelling techniques that can be maddening when one is the sort of reader who needs the conclusions to be neater. Jones may luck out and find readers who love every bit of his work, as he twists the horror genre into new shapes, but chances are he’s going to end up with a substantial number of readers who love it when he’s wearing a particular storytelling hat but less so when he puts on another.

One hat that Jones kept on throughout this collection is the “weird” hat. Much of this collection could be considered weird fiction, which may be one of the reasons why some of the stories didn’t work for me. I like weird fiction, as a rule, but this horror subset lends itself well to muffled storytelling, mushy conclusions, entire story lines that can be up for interpretation. I’ve been clear in the past how I feel about such writing. That sort of remote remove in writing irritates me because it is too often a cop-out, a lazy attempt to force the burden of storytelling onto the reader. Jones, when his writing is up for interpretation doesn’t echo the laziness of others who write this way, and this entire collection is refreshingly devoid of irony, but even purposeful, earnest writing that employs this sort of post-modernist equivocation will likely always ring false to me.

You can read my entire discussion here: http://www.oddthingsconsidered.com/after-the-people-lights-have-gone-off-by-step... show less

In my effort to read almost all horror this month, I've learned a lot about my reading preferences, and reading horror short stories was like a microcosm of the process. I enjoyed this collection overall, with my three favorite stories being "The Spindly Man," "The Dead Are Not," and "After the People Lights Have Gone Off." The final story ("Solve for X") was the most difficult for me--I just can't handle kidnap/torture stories involving women--but it did have an interesting ending.

But man. After finishing this and Bird Box, I don't know how much more intensity I can take...

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Read Harder: Horror book

There are hundreds of reviews and ratings for AFTER THE PEOPLE LIGHTS HAVE GONE OFF and there's not much I can add to what's already been said.

I love how this man writes and his powers of description. It takes concentration to properly read his prose and during this time of near constant distraction, (there's a pandemic going on), the fact that he captured my attention and held it, really says something.

There's a ton of variety here, my favorites being DOC'S STORY, SECOND CHANCES, THE SPINDLY MAN, UNCLE and THE SPIDERBOX. There's also an excellent introduction from Joe R. Lansdale, wherein he talks about some of his favorite stories.

I enjoyed the hell out of this collection and maybe it's just the thing to distract you during this show more uncertain time?

Highly recommended!

Get your copy here: https://amzn.to/39WIPHP

*I bought this paperback with my hard-earned cash.* show less

Truly creepy, disturbing, & anxiety inducing collection of stories. Highly recommend!

This writer has some serious chops.

Nope just nope. Second time I gave this author a chance and was disappointed again. Couldn't finish it. Stories made no sense at all.

For the rest of the review, visit my Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/Pk9YSaBeNFU

Enjoy!