A Deep Horror That Was Very Nearly Awe by J.R. Hamantaschen
The third collection by J. R. Hamantaschen. If you've read the others you know what to expect more of , if not start at the first, or quickly turn the other way and think happy thoughts.
He continues his great character work , always wanting to know what makes people tick , how they think , everything. You get to know them , and enjoy them, then remember, oh yes , something terrible is sure to happen to them , or by them.
The stories have a fair bit of variety , ghosts , psychic powers , various mental issues , hints of Lovecraftian monsters lurking in the background, and something that will make you fear public restrooms, if you didn't already! Throughout it all is a dark humor , and fun imagination.
I want to be able to talk more about the stories themselves, but it is rather difficult as they are more about the character's thoughts, and observations then mere plot. For example, Rococo Veins and Lurid Stains is about Kristen , a young woman who wants to kill herself, finds her suicidal thoughts attract ghosts who want to trade her life for their own, so they may come back. That is the plot , sure , but it's not really that simple. Summaries won't do most of the stories justice , it's more about getting inside the character's heads, experiencing it for yourself, seeing how you relate to what is going on, and thinking about the implications of everything. That being said though, plenty of it is dark and violent , so don't relate too much!
He says in his introduction "For fans of mine , I view this collection as a fitting end point and an encapsulation of the themes and motifs I've explored in my short fiction (particularly with the last story in this collection: hopefully that's enough of an impetus to get you to read the whole book!)" I really couldn't put it better. No really , he's very wordy , did I forget to mention that? But don't worry , your kindle doesn't judge you when you look up definitions.
He is right when he mocks "hyperbolic introductions" , this won't blow your mind or cure cancer , but it's just well written , and worth your time.
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. Learn more
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle Cloud Reader.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Join or create book clubs
Choose books together
Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
![A Deep Horror That Was Very Nearly Awe by [J.R. Hamantaschen]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51XTpudlX9L._SY346_.jpg)
Follow the Author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.
 |
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Customer reviews
Next to discussing this author’s quality of work, that J.R. Hamantaschen continues to steadily produce pleasingly bleak fictions amid (or perhaps due to) the backdrop of social-media neediness is to be commended. In his collection, A DEEP HORROR THAT WAS VERY NEARLY AWE, Hamantaschen, with an almost prosecutorial execution, submits fictions containing themes familiar to his fans; but this most-recently revealed cache of stories (eleven in all) is a bit more resilient in their aesthetic and tangible in their approachability.Along a literary landscape which, in some ways, has become distorted by the online channels of gnathonic, echo-chamber transmissions, Hamantaschen’s tales—devoid of a simpering sentimentality so prevalent in those interweb mediums—remain untinged by the typically mundane anchor of social-media activity, and reflect an admirable variety of isolation.That said, Hamantaschen invests energy to, and capitalizes on, focusing on (what would otherwise be considered) the mundane—those day-to-day interactions which most dismiss despite possessing a prism for our multiform realities (case in point: the story “No One Cares But I Tried”); and though I wager he’s knee-deep in the daily fray, A DEEP HORROR… budges very little when it comes to giving in. “He usually didn’t like people looking at him dead on,” writes Hamantaschen in one of the pieces; but that’s precisely how the writer scrutinizes his subjects.A few of these fictions are lengthy and contemplative (this volume contains a sturdy, novella-length study, FAITHFULLY AND LOVINGLY), and several pleasantly strain convention. “7099 Brecksville Road, Independence, Ohio” is a meta-exercise in set-up which has a pay-off punctuated by a “back-to-the-drawing board” relent in this drudgery of thankless creation.One of the more scalpel-sharp stories is the opener, “Rococo Veins and Lurid Stains,” which casts several regret-dwelling characters who—throughout several colorful exchanges—are plotting some sort of, well…exchange. Cautious of exposing too much of the tale, there exists in this piece a sort of literary loop, a “chain”: “You don’t come back as who you were before,” a central character suggests. “You probably come back as something else and it’s doubtful you’d have any real memory of who you were before.”My nits include several layout-formatting, general editing throughout the volume, and a number of distracting POV jumps (particularly in “That’s Just the Way Things Are These Days”). But audience members aren’t reading Hamantaschen for these reasons. Rather, it’s something more innately unique.Aside from a bleakly acerbic sense of humor, the most compelling characteristic to Hamantaschen’s work is his voice. Not unlike certain moments in life which bear the potential of developing into indelible vignettes, Hamantaschen’s resonant voice emerges in unlikely moments: a stylistic mechanism within his narratives which seamlessly serves to insulate an unnerving scenario—the scenario, in many cases with J.R. Hamantaschen, is simply existence.
Images in this review
Top reviews from other countries
Raoul Kunz
Hopefull terror and sympathy for the devil
Reviewed in Germany on June 25, 2020Customers who bought this item also bought
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
