As part of his ongoing “A Lore” series, Sy S. Kanaan delivers another two tales of the monstrous and the macabre with HOW TO BUILD AN ARMY OF GARGOYLES & DILEMMA OF A FAIRY DUST DEALER. In the opening story, a young woman who’s seemingly incapable of holding down a job thinks she’s lucked out when Bayard Feldman, a mysterious old handyman, hires her to help out in his workshop. Soon Feldman’s true nature is revealed as a battle between gargoyles and angels threatens the safety of mankind.
The second story charts the seedy tale of a desperate dealer who hits the big-time selling fairy dust as a new drug. With users suddenly able to perform magic, transform into other creatures, and literally fly high, his new wares promise unlimited fortunes. Things come crashing back down to earth when magical beings start demanding a payback.
There is nothing especially new in Kanaan’s approach to weird fiction, though fans of the genre will enjoy the (dis)comfort of familiar horror tropes. The stories do have an offbeat charm, though; the author’s enthusiasm shines through even if the prose is somewhat clumsy, as seen in this extract: “This place was hell. It was a place of torment and disgusting tampering with nature and humanity, all for personal gain and the dreams of old nutjobs.”
Kanaan conjures a mostly convincing milieu of petty crime and hopelessness in his second story. The notion of a drug made out of magic powder is neat and could offer the potential for a sharp allegorical tale of addiction, but the author keeps things simple. It’s the usual story of a low-level hood overstepping the mark and bringing down the wrath of those higher up the chain. Only this time, instead of disgruntled gangsters out for revenge, it’s elves and fairy folk.
These are contemporary tales with central characters concerned with how to make it in the modern world. There are references to Uber and SpongeBob SquarePants, but some of the most striking writing appears in quotes from a letter written more than a century before the first story begins: “Things that crawled and slithered between the cracks and crevices of the earth sprouted into colossal behemoths that towered above man and hunted him with pincers and claws outstretched.” Overall, it’s a memorable reading experience for fans of the genre.
Written by Sy S. Kanaan, HOW TO BUILD AN ARMY OF GARGOYLES & DILEMMA OF A FAIRY DUST DEALER is an entertaining way for horror fans to pass an hour or two. Though Kanaan’s prose sometimes stumbles, there are more than enough weird thrills and macabre moments to carry the reader through these two short stories.
~ Kent Lane for IndieReader