cover image The Beautiful Red

The Beautiful Red

James Cooper, . . Atomic Fez, $19.99 (256pp) ISBN 978-0-9811597-0-6

Cooper's lackadaisical second collection of macabre tales (after 2007's You Are the Fly ) leaves much to be desired. Most of the 12 stories are either overly long (“The Hack,” “There's Something Wrong with Pappy”) or overly short (“The Good Book”). The straightforward prose and excessive exposition (“She died at 9:17 in the morning. Wednesday the 12th of July. 2006. It was raining”) leave nothing to the imagination and make it hard for readers to form emotional connections with the characters. Worst of all for a horror collection, there are few moments of real terror or dread. The majority of readers will share the emptiness described by Victor, the narrator of “Eight Small Men”: “I try to remember how this should make me feel, but there's nothing there.” (Apr.)