Dreadful Things
Michael Laimo
Crossroad Press (January 26, 2025)
Reviewed by Carson Buckingham
This is the first of Michael Laimo’s works I’ve read, but it won’t be the last. Dreadful Things lives up to its title and becomes relatable simultaneously because it’s your normal, average person whose day, Job-like, spirals out of control for no good reason. Here’s what you can expect:
“The Chicken Man” – A supervisor, insane with worry that an underling is going to take his job, takes nasty steps in a chicken processing plant.
“The Layover” – A passenger in the concourse restroom, a horribly sick person in the next stall, and a freaky reason for it all.
“Halloween Three” – Divorce would have been SO much easier…
“Through the Eyes of the Victim” – A tourist alone in Venice during Carnevale buys a mask to fit in with the crowds and comes to regret it. This story reminded me a bit of W. F. Harvey’s “August Heat.” This was my favorite story.
“Room 412” – A traveling businessman hears incessant knocking on the wall of his hotel room…and would have been better off ignoring it.
“Err” – A grim future where the human race has been saved by eliminating standard childbirth. If you want a child, it must be ordered and implanted in the female—but there is a 4% margin of error. Loved this one.
“Anxiety” – A tale of a wacko psychiatrist who experiments on his patients.
“The Alley Man” – Two men down on their luck chance to meet in an alley—one a doctor and one a sociopath. Moral of this story? Be careful who you rob. A nice twist at the end.
“The Potato” – A giant potato, a reporter eager to do a story on it, and an insane farmer. I will think of this story every time I drive by a tourist trap. Well done!
“11:11” – A cursed time for a police officer to be at a crossroads investigating a death in the projects.
“The Juggling Jester’s Final Appearance” – An old, alcoholic, drug-addicted circus juggler is replaced with a younger, better one, who lives with him and keeps him drugged up. But one night, he gives him LSD with horrific results. Old-school horror story beautifully done.
“Slugfest” – A torrential storm that rains down slugs as well as water…but not your average slugs.
“The Radio” – Abused son finds a radio among his dead father’s possessions. The son is on medication as a result of the abuse suffered at his father’s hands. When he turns the radio on, he can hear his parents’ voices. Or is it because he hasn’t been taking his meds? This has a nice twist at the end—one I didn’t see coming. Loved this one.
“Banalica” – A priest follows his best friend to Banalica, a town where his friend was summoned to fight against a great evil there. It is an old trope with a nice twist.
“Heirloom” – Sexual perversion and a gun. An ugly, well-written story.
“Gila Way” – Jerry is on the run from a couple of Vegas toughs whom he ran out on rather than paying his poker losses…but where he ended up was far worse than a beating…
“Upside Down” – a dreamlike, surreal story of a day in a man’s life where everything is suddenly upside-down.
“Sleep Tight, My Love” – Gaslighting at its most appalling.
“One Last Breath” — A man beset by a greedy ex-wife finds a man drowned in his pool and winds up solving both his problems. Clever.
“1-800-S-U-I-C-I-D-E” – A suicide hotline operator shows that semantics can be deadly.
Believe me, you will want a copy of this book. Michael Laimo’s writing combines out-and-out screaming horror with nobody special, and that’s what makes it so hard-hitting. And the fact that he is a great writer doesn’t hurt, either. His descriptions are right on without going on and on, and his dialogue is perfect. This book will stand up well to re-reading and would be a great gift or stocking stuffer for those horror fans on your list.
5 out of 5 stars
