Spectral Lives

Ambition outweighs ability and cliché conquers originality in five novellas unsuccessfully striving to evoke terror from the accounts of fragmented lives distorted by surreal impossibilities. The enticing ingenuity promised by the opening of “The Department of Hair and Teeth” fizzles into an archetypical tale of jealousy when Matt Gunovski accepts a sinister position to exact revenge on a romantic rival. Underachiever Steve loses his girlfriend to the renovating vampiric neighbors in “Smith vs. Jones.” “Updator” is a confusing mish-mash of illness and disorientation without clear direction or motive. “Thin Walls,” the most successful entry, captures the startling intimacy and powerlessness of a nightmare with its disturbing mix of moral comeuppance and childhood molestation. Unfortunately, it’s followed by the Twilight Zone–inspired “FF,” which recycles the premise of technology that can predict the future. Pope’s concepts have limited effectiveness in certain scenes, but they are divorced from structurally weak plots. Overzealously absurdist situations lack the foundation in consensual reality that creates belief; when everything is surreal, there is no agreed-upon reality to subvert. [em](BookLife) [/em]