Synopsis
Welcome to Mad Days!
A vanishing town. A cursed cemetery. A treasure hunt on Earth’s last day.
Mad Days features 38 illustrated stories, including 19 drabbles and 3 terrifying novelettes.
Alley’s latest collection takes you on a tour of rural wastelands throughout Texas
and Oklahoma. There are ghosts here. There are monsters too. All manner of heinous things, hiding in dead hearts and rotten soil.
Review
Loved the idea of an illustration per story, and of course I got to help with the cover reveal, so grabbed this one on preorder.
This collection is a unique blend of topics or sub-genres that I found incredibly enjoyable. I daresay this is up there as one of the best collections I’ve ever read. I loved that each larger work was followed by a drabble or poem, and it was no surprise to me at all at how many of these had been previously published.
For me the standout in the collection is the author’s openings. I feel like Alley could take one single idea, and through the way the stories begin, make an entire collection out of how many things he comes up with. There were stories that had you guessing the time period, stories that made you feel calm and safe, stories with created worlds, and even many that didn’t feel quite like horror. I found that to be a mark of how well written these were.
Story wise, there is a nuclear apocalypse (well the beginning of one) story that will simultaneously get your blood pumping and rip your heart out entirely. And as one of the shorter stories, that sticks out as a fave. Then there’s one titled, The Lost Treasure of Jocelyn Alameda, that stood out above the rest. It is a dystopian future that is dark, gritty, and far too close to our own. It struck me as deftly crafted in its believability and scope, and I was fully sucked into this one. I would love to see the world return in something…be it a sequel or something only loosely related.
Sharply written, this collection made me feel the entire gamut of emotions. And while there are so many different stories, I did feel a kind of through-line with the author’s voice that I really enjoyed. I have not been so pleasantly surprised and happy with a collection in a long time. I feel like it wasn’t so long ago when I avoided these entirely, and this is a shining example of why I got into them. AND a first read from the author?! I need more, stat.
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