Sleeping with the Monster

Lovers of weird fiction will be thrilled by this collection, which has a little something for everyone: historical fiction, more traditional horror, and the downright strange. Dog lovers will find themselves particularly drawn toward “A Girl and Her Dog,” but may find the tragedy “Old Tsah-Hov,” written from a dog’s perspective, to be more heartbreaking than enjoyable. Fans of Frankenstein will want to read “The Un-Bride,” which feels like an episode of The Twilight Zone as written by Mary Shelley. Martin tackles some tough topics with varying degrees of success: “Passage to Dreamtime,” a play, presents an almost sympathetic viewpoint of a Nazi and his lover, though it does not shy away from details of the crimes he committed, while “Window” and “The Prince of Lyghes” take on domestic violence more successfully. The strongest story of the collection, “Boisea trivittata,” is a lingering horror that will make readers put pest control on speed dial. Despite occasional hiccups, this is a strong collection with a good balance of politically charged and straight-up strange storytelling. (Nov.)