This is Jeff Ford’s most recent collection of short stories, which gathers together 13 stories published in various venues between 2011 - 2015. Ford is hard to categorize, although his work most often is generally called dark fantasy. Such an inadequate couple of words for stories that also can include touches of magical realism, horror and the absurd; a bit of fairy and folk tale, and stories perhaps you could call historical fantasy and alternate reality. I like Joyce Carol Oates’ blurb: Jeffrey Ford is a beautifully disorienting writer, a poet in an unclassifiable genre—his own.”

This collection is a entertaining, eclectic mix of a bit of everything. And like all short story collections, there are some stories one likes more than others. Although it will not likely represent truthfully the variety of stories in this collection, let me tell you about a few of my favorites...

*Death—driving a elegant black brougham and calling her ‘Miss Dickinson’—quite literally stops for Emily Dickinson in the story "A Terror." While the two get to know each other, Death (a.k.a. Quill) needs some help with something, and the two make a deal….

*In the first story of the collection, “The Blameless”, a suburban couple get an invitation from neighbors for a social event with refreshments to witness their daughter’s exorcism. "Apparently it’s quite trendy these days and “people are getting their kids exorcised for whatever ails them.” They decide to go.

*In a strangely amusing and funny story, "Rocket Ship to Hell," Jeffrey Ford (a character in his own story), takes refuge from a SF convention for a drink in a local bar. But, the guy sitting next to him turns out to be another fan/writer who claims to have written just one science fiction novel ages ago, but claims it was not fiction at all ….

*My favorite story, "Blood Drive," is an absurd, rather creepy, and strangely thoughtful tale of high school culture, recognizable to all of us—but with a twist. It’s told by a young woman entering her senior year. Here’s the first paragraph:

For Christmas our junior year of high school, all of our parents got us guns. That way you had a half of year to learn to shoot and get down all the safety garbage before you started senior year. Depending on how well off your parents were, that pretty much dictated the amount of firepower you had. Darcy Krantz’s family lived in a trailer and so she had a pea-shooter, .22 Double Eagle derringer and Baron Hanes’s father, who was in the security business and richer than God, got him a .44 Magnum that was so heavy it made his nutty kid lean to the side when he wore the gun belt. I packed a pearl-handled .38 revolver, Smith & Wesson, which had originally been my grandfather’s. It was old as dirt, but all polished up, the way my father kept it, it was still a fine-looking gun, I was really my father’s gun, and my mother told him not to give it to me, but he said, “Look, when she goes to high school, she’s gotta carry, everybody does in their senior year.

Note: the teachers who teach the senior class also "carry".
(There’s not been a story before this, that made me feel so guilty for chuckling).

There are other stories set historically in different eras where the supernatural invades our world in different ways. These were not my favorites but interesting nonetheless. From this collection, readers may gain a sense of what living in Jeffrey Ford’s brain must be like…. ( )

The stories and characters were so well developed it was disappointing whenever one ended. There were only a handful that I didn't enjoy. ( )

This book is an excellent collection of thirteen short stories by Jeffrey Ford. There is a lot of variety among the stories, with a few actually having to do with "hell" or "the devil." A couple are science fiction. There are two in which Ford represents himself as a narrating character, so that they recount stories supposedly told to him. Most could be classed as supernatural horror, although none are exactly typical of the genre. All are memorable and worth reading.

Out of the thirteen, "The Angel Seems" was the one that most reminded me of Ford's Well-Built City trilogy, and it almost seemed as if it could have been placed in that unusual fantasy world. "Blood Drive" is a story about high school, set in the near future when first published in 2013, and now looking disturbingly prescient. There is a tale of fairies ("The Fairy Enterprise"), a ghost story ("The Thyme Fiend"), and a piece of sword and sorcery ("Spirits of Salt"). The longest story in the collection features Emily Dickinson as its protagonist.

The cover of the paperback edition boasts a blurb from Joyce Carol Oates in which she praises Ford as "beautifully disorienting." His fantasy constantly raises epistemological questions, but in the most matter-of-fact ways. Although I had read a number of his short stories before (including one of these), this was the first time I've read a full volume of them, and the experience was very satisfying.

There are few authors of the fantastic who can write as exceptionally well and imaginatively as Jeffrey Ford. This—his latest collection—won both the World Fantasy Award and the Shirley Jackson Award, and was a finalist for other awards. This collection contains thirteen stories (twelve reprints, one original), each brilliant in its own way, whether horror, magic, adventure, or noir, but all smart and invigorating. ( )

Like him or no, the Devil definitely sparks up some liveliness! A smokin' collection of vibrant, fast-paced tales in widely varied period settings. I especially enjoyed reading "The Thyme Fiend" whilst listening to Arvo Pärt him or no, the Devil definitely sparks up some liveliness! A smokin' collection of vibrant, fast-paced tales in widely varied period settings. I especially enjoyed reading "The Thyme Fiend" whilst listening to Arvo Pärt! Makes me want to revisit some Ray Bradbury and, of course, read more of this guy!rt! Makes me want to revisit some Ray Bradbury and, of course, read more of this guy! ( )