Compositions for the Young and Old

Tremblay's disturbing debut story collection runs the gamut from straight-up horror through SF to psychological sketches of troubled souls. In "The Jar," a grandmother shows her granddaughter a jar that holds horrors—or is it delights?—with the old woman willing to sacrifice her granddaughter's peace for a peek into the child's mind. In one of the volume's most original tales, "Cold," a gay man devours his lover piece by piece and in the process reconstitutes himself. More predictable is "The Harlequin and the Train," in which a commuter watches a clown get hit by a train and then devoured by people who descend onto the tracks. Each story revolves around transformation, be it the removal of memory in "Annabel Leigh" or a woman's descent into postpartum madness in "With More Than Eyes," whose denouement will surprise no one familiar with the real-life Susan Smith case. Stewart O'Nan provides an introduction. (Dec.)