Order STARING INTO THE ABYSS here
(also reviewed)
Order HERNIATED ROOTS here
Order TRANSUBSTANTIATE here
No, she was no ray of sunshine.
Short stories are the great existential question of the publishing game. They are fun, easy to read and a completely different experience from novels, yet no one since Raymond Carver made a decent living only writing shorts. Richard Thomas is one of the most prolific and talented short story writers you can find online and he's been hard at work this last couple years. In 2013, Kraken Press published an anthology of some of his darkest work yet, titled STARING INTO THE ABYSS. I've been a Richard Thomas fan some time, but he's so active that it's always hard to wrangle all new publications, so I'm always glad when he publishes a collection that allows me to catch up. Has Thomas found a solution to the short story enigma? Time will tell, but STARING INTO THE ABYSS is another fine addition to his growing underground legacy.
The stories of STARING INTO THE ABYSS have been collected to fit the overarching theme of confronting darkness. Whether it's the darkness within, the darkness of other, a supernatural kind or nothingness, the characters of Richard Thomas here are all standing in the dark and facing demons. What transpires of that is, surprisingly, some of Thomas' most humane work yet. He's a writer with a knack for intimate atmospheres and strong first person narrations, but STARING INTO THE ABYSS highlights the strength and the beauty of human character facing torment. I did not expect that, but I gotta say it layered the reading experience quite nicely and made STARING INTO THE ABYSS a stand out Richard Thomas publication.
One of my favourite stories was SPLINTERED, which is about an estranged couple going through a separation. It's built on the old choose-your-own adventure format, so there are different ways to read it and different stories that emerge from the same text, depending on your decision. The subject matter is extremely involving from the get-go, and there are subtle hints of supernatural elements. So much is going on in that story. I loved the story TRANSMOGRIFY, too. A cyberpunk tale that's as much of an aesthetic trip than a narrative one. Whenever Thomas integrates science-fiction or supernatural elements to his stories, he does it very successfully and generates an abstract beauty that his other work doesn't have. I would go as far as calling him a poet of the cyberspace.
I used to lie awake at night and fantasize about such things. Romanticize these horrible moments and how I would react. War, rape, fistfights. Violence layered upon violence, a momentary release of every thread of anger that had knitted its way through my being.
Perhaps none of the stories in STARING INTO THE ABYSS fascinated me more than VICTIMIZED, though. It's the kind of story I usually hate, but Richard Thomas succeeded in making me conflicted about his. It's a fighting story and I've had the privilege of being in the ring/cage myself a couple times and it's not like that at all, yet I would have a difficult time finding a story that epitomizes the romantic myth of fighting so well. Plus, Thomas has an understanding of the cathartic power of fighting that he doesn't try to justify in self-righetous rants. Sometimes, punching something into oblivion just feels good and when you have your back to the wall, you fight better than your normally would. VICTIMIZED is a story that's very much pertinent in this era where everyone and their moms discover their inner fighter, so it kind of obsessed me. It sure is an interesting read.
Not all that many authors can make me passionate about a short story collection like this. STARING INTO THE ABYSS was my favourite Richard Thomas so far and I'm sure that as his legacy is growing, it's going to be a mandatory stop for every reader. While browsing Thomas' website for this review, I found out that he signed a two books deal with Random House Alibi, so you are bound to see him take the center stage in the near future. It's good to know that there is still a place in literature for authors like Richard Thomas, who fear nothing and who take pleasure and pride in challenging their reader. If you didn't know him previously, get started on STARING INTO THE ABYSS and fall in love with one of the most peculiar, transcendent neo-noir authors in the game.
