An unexpected presence disrupts a beauty pageant, a teddy bear comes to realize (and hate) that his boy has grown up and apart, the dead walk several times (first to march against a clerk and his store, then again to take over the West, and once more to shamble into a modern representation of a classic love story), a faerie assassin takes on the job that just might kill him, and the four fuzzy hosts of a children's television show prove to be truly nightmarish... These and more await readers in the pages of Adam P. Knave's first collection of short fiction, Crazy Little Things.

The preface (from Laszlo Xalieri) starts the collection off with the tongue planted firmly in cheek, and this is continued through the Travis Ingram Introduction (which wittily ventures from a manufactured 'Nam recollection to The A-Team on acid). This double dose of edgy humor should prove no surprise to those familiar with this author's writing, which works best when it evokes a sense of playful lunacy.

Adam P. Knave has made regular appearances in the small press, including such anthologies as Bad Ass Faeries, Dark Furies (also from Die Monster Die), and Cthulhu Sex magazine (unfortunately, now deceased). Here readers will discover some of his highlights from his many appearances as well as a trio of previously unpublished pieces. Essentially, this collection offers is a sort of photo album of the "young" writer in development, with all the ambitions, successes and shortcomings on display.

Reading straight through reveals quite a few of the author's literary obsessions as the fiction continually returns to themes of objectification, sanity, the sin of selfishness, and the virtue of loyalty, without sacrificing an entertaining story.  For example, while "Pretty Little Dead Girls" is, ostensibly a ghost story set in the cutthroat world of young girl beauty pageants, the real horror comes not from the supernatural presence (which is presented, to the contrary, as something quite poignant and beautiful), but through the activities of the parental figures and the adults involved. Every decision made by the figures of authority are as damning as the best of Tales From the Crypt.   Events build to a truly savage climax and disturbing denouement, which are made palatable through the author's use of understatement. This theme of the mishandling of authority by adults is then revisited in "After These Messages..."  While certainly effective as a satiric jab at children's entertainment, this tale also presents a different side to the view of children as tools/victims of our consumer culture, this time in the form of both corporate interests and the monstrous beings serving those interests (and their own depraved appetites).

This reader found himself responding quite positively to the levels of ambition in this collection. Even the tales revolving around (that inescapable horror staple) the living dead ("Meat," "High Noon of the Living Dead," "Flesh Wounds" and "Dead Side Story") are not content to tell simple gut chomping anecdotes. They pose questions about friendship, identity, love, and other topics. Two of these combine the classic form of the horror tale with another genre altogether (western/tall tales for one, and tragic romance/Shakespearian drama for the other). Reading the stories, one cannot help but notice the author attempting to shove his literary elbows out of the "traditional horror yarn" box. While this is accomplished with varying degrees of success, the ambition is nice to behold in a genre that suffers from the criticism of relative stasis over the last ninety years.

This is not to suggest that each of these stories is a gem for the ages. The author is developing his craft, and that improvement can be witnessed over the course of these stories. However, the literary warts (so the speak) are still on display. Dialogue sometimes suffers from either a clunky quality or from an overuse of vulgarity. Not to suggest that this reader is somehow beyond profanity in either life or writing. However, the short story needs to make every word count. Therefore, should an author use (in one story) levels of profanity comparable to about half a season of Deadwood, then that author should do so in a way that contributes to character, theme, story, etc. This seemed not always to be the case. In fact, that observation leads to the most often recurring mistake perpetrated in this collection: there is an overabundance of fat amongst these tales. A few of the tales start early, offering unnecessary exposition, while others seem overly burdened in the middle stretches. A more judicious use of word sanding would serve to tighten this prose.

That said, the stories in Crazy Little Things find budding author Adam P. Knave at his best, offering readers a taste of literary cyanide served with a grin, much in keeping with the spirit of the late, great Robert Bloch. This reader is curious to see what the author will offer up next.

Crazy Little Things by Adam P. Knave
265 pages
Die Monster Die Books
Projected Released Date:  March 2008

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