Vic Valentine: Fever Dreams by Will Viharo

 

(pb; 2021: serial-vignette anthology. “Foreword” by J.J. Sinisi.)

Review

Writing about Viharo’s work is different than reviewing most other authors’ works because of Viharo’s fierce, neo-pulp and pop-culture quippy insular logic, surroundings, and characters, which mix explicit lust, violence, melancholy, jubilation and other relatable emotions in intuitive slip-slide “cross dissolves” (Viharo’s words). True to that creative and intensely personal adherence, Fever’s sixty-three serial-vignettes, originally published online in serial form during the initial COVID-19 outbreak, force stick-with-it readers to let go of real-world preconceptions and just enjoy the go-damn-near-everywhere ride (provided its not far from a tiki bar, a retro-cool movie soundtrack, or a salvation-or-damnation vixen). While Fever continues in the vein of relatively recent Viharo books (e.g., Things I Do When I’m Awake, Vihorror! Cocktales of Sex and Death and his Mental Case Files trilogy), it reflects further maturation, less wallowing-in-despair in its often-clever prose.

Fever’s loose storyline, such as it is, takes place during a pandemic where Vic time, place, and character travels through vivid, possibly crazy, and highly personal scenarios, any of which are merely titular fever dreams or reality. Vic has guides for this wild rollercoaster─namely his wife (Val, who’s appeared in previous Valentine books and stories), Rose (another Vic-chronicled lover) and Harold Floyd, a client, a demon of sorts, and who-knows-what-else.

The vignette chapters are short, possibly excessive for those who like tight, logical narratives. As I’ve written before, fans of David Lynch, Jim Jarmusch and other offbeat creative types may revel in this blink-and-everything-changes anthology, with its strangely satisfying and collection-true ending, one worth owning.

Dark Corners (Spring 2015 issue) edited by CT McNeely, Emily J. McNeely and Steve Gallagher

(pb; pulp fiction magazine/anthology: Spring 2015, Vol. 1 Issue 3)

Overall review:

The third issue of this beating-heart-of-pulpiness magazine is just as exciting as its first two issues. Many of the fiction pieces have a nasty crime and borderline psychopathic feel to them and there are some intriguing speculative fiction and horror-ish works. These works are rounded out by a few book reviews and one striking, excellent poem (see the "Standout pieces" section below).

If you're a fan of pulp, this is a worthwhile magazine to support. This issue can be purchased here.


Standout pieces:

1.) "Long Time Gone" - Chris Leek: An ex-con's bad timing complicates his relationship with his daughter and their freedom. Especially good tale that is pulp-interesting and emotional, without being bathetic about it.


2.) "People Bug Me" - Will Viharo: An on-the-lam reporter interviews a small town shrink for an article after the shrink has been attacked by one his patients -- a teenage "lycanthrope," according to the doctor. Then things get really weird. . . this quick-blast, fun and excellent story has a Fifties film feel, appropriate since two Fifties films inspired it: The Sweet Smell of Success and I Was a Teenage Werewolf (both were released in 1957). One of my favorite stories in this issue.

(This story was originally published in the fifth issue of Nightmare Illustrated magazine in March 2014.)

3.) "The Bounty Hunter" - J. David Osbourne: Carnal and memorable piece about a tracker who encounters a criminal whose bizarre predilections unsettle the tracker. Funny finish to this one.


4.) "Sinner's Holiday" - Mark Krajnak: No-words-wasted, boiled-to-its-pulpy-core versework about the elements of a losing situation. Excellent, perfect, one of my favorite pieces in this issue.

5.) "Family Matters" - Bruce Harris: Two ex-cons (one a pro, the other crime-dumb) take on a closer-to-home job to avenge a misdeed. Quick plot-pretzel, gains-acceleration-as-it-progresses work, with a nasty, satisfying ending.


6.) "Twice Dead" - Gabino Iglesias: A P.I. (Maschietti), hired by a wealthy, drug-cognizant zombie (Areola Armstrong), tracks down the mysterious murderer of her famous scientist father. This clever story hits most of the expected Chinatown-esque marks, but knowing Iglesias' references adds to the fun (in this instance).


7.) "The Last Blue Sky: Starflight" - J.J. Sinisi: Jet packs, Japanese demons and Nazis highlight this America-has-been-invaded speculative fiction tale. "Last" is a chock-full-of-action, imaginative read, with an open-to-a-sequel ending.


8.) "Man's Gotta Eat" - Warren Moore: Brutal stream-of-consciousness story about a low-life, interesting in an intense and morally void way.