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Thursday, October 24, 2013

Oddities and Entities by Roland Allnach

Author: Roland Allnach
Publisher: All Things That Matter Press
Date of publication: March 2012

 "There's more to this world than flesh and bone." Set in the mysterious space between the everyday world and an existence just beyond reach, "Oddities & Entities" traces a path through the supernatural, the paranormal, and the speculative. With moments of horror, dark humor, and philosophical transcendence, these tales explore a definition of life beyond the fragile vessel of the human body. 

I was hoping I was going to like this anthology of horror stories.  Out of all of the stories included in Oddities & Entities, I think I only really liked the first two. The stories are well written, they just weren't my style.  I really liked "Shift/Change". It was creepy with a great twist in the end. "Boneview" was also captivating and had a Rumpelstiltskin like feel to it.  If you read this book, those are the ones I would recommend.  

I wanted to like "Elmer Phelps". I did for a while as it was a great idea.  But once the incest part came into play, I was too disturbed to really like it.  As to the he remaining stories, I found myself not being able to get into them.  I think with any book of short stories, there will be hits and misses.  Why not pick this one up and see which ones you like?

About the author:

Roland Allnach has been writing since his teens, but did not actively seek publication until 2007. He has numerous published short stories to his credit, one of which was a 2010 Pushcart Prize nominee, as well as two multi-award winning books, Remnant (2010) andOddities & Entities (2012). His literary inspirations arise from classic literature, history, and mythology, and his aim is to invest his stories and characters with a complexity and depth that continue to reward upon repeated readings. Writing aside, his joy in life is the time he spends with his family.
Find out more about Roland at his website, see what he’s writing about on his blog, and follow him on Facebook.
Check out his other tour stops!

3 comments:

Roland Allnach said...

Thank you, Kari, for taking the time to give 'Oddities & Entities' a try. I appreciate your objective appraisal between your opinion of my writing and your impressions of the stories. It is admittedly a strange book, and that's by design, though I'm well aware its content will not suit every reader's tastes. For those who would like to learn more about 'Oddities & Entities', I invite you to visit my blog, http://www.rafictionzone.blogspot.com/
Happy reading,
Roland Allnach
fiction@rolandallnach.com

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this collection for the tour.

trish said...

Boneview seems to be everyone's favorite story in this collection. I'm glad you liked that one too!