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I’ve read a few Hirshberg’s short stories before in past horror anthologies, so when I managed to find a rare signed copy of this at a Half-Price Books, I thought it’d give this a try.Part One: Longer Stories“The Janus Tree”In the title story, a preteen boy finds himself facing a former friend turned bully in a mining town in Montana. Hirshberg captures the reader with the nostalgia of the tumultuous middle school years permeated by instability, and the loss of childhood. The characters were off...
Glen Hirshberg’s third collection of short stories, “The Janus Tree,” contains eleven tales of varying length. Some are ghost stories, the subgenre for which Hirshberg is most well-known, and others are bizarre in some other manner, often ending with a gut-punch conclusion. In my opinion the best of the bunch are in the latter half of the book. I’ve listed the stories below, in the order in which they appear, with my favorites marked with an asterisk. “The Janus Tree” is divided into three parts...
An exquisite collection of enchanting and chilling tales. The horror elements are understated in most tales, and the writing is breathtaking.
“Do you remember the turtle?” my mother asks. And then she just folds her legs under her and sits down in the square of grass in front of the triplex.She pats the grass. My legs are bare under my skirt, and if I sit there, they’re going to itch. I do it anyway.“‘ You become the neighborhood,’” I say, gliding my hands across the tops of the blades of grass, feeling their chemically treated ends prickle like gelled hair. “Do you remember her saying that?”For a moment, I wonder what whoever curre
An uneven horror story collection, but the good ones are damn good! Special props to the stories that touch on Jewish traditions and culture, particularly "The Shomer" which is about the people who are assigned to guard the dead before they are buried. I will definitely be seeking out Hirschberg's other short story collections.
This book with which I’ve been making love for the last few days, fearing nothing that may be passed between us as a result of such intercourse. I relish, too, of course, the squashed meadow-fly or buffalo poo, a ghost’s spore or, even, an invisible deadly germ, left upon the page of a book from childhood’s endless Summer… or from this my endless Autumn: now merging gently into what I shall call that Pikesville ‘distance’. The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too lo...
I recommend the book, but I have liked other Glen Hirshberg works better.The author's stories tend to focus on confusion and unsettling details, and then there is some sudden horrific realization in the very last moments, usually the last few sentences. This can be used to great effect, particularly when I need to rifle through pages to reread a passage that sudden made the transition from odd to creepingly terrific. The formula tends to work less efficiently in this collection; sometimes this i...
I'm really leaning toward 3.5 stars, but am pushing it up to 4. I've loved Hirshberg's work in the past and enjoyed some of these stories, so I'm wondering if maybe this was just the right book at the wrong time.
There is something unique about these stories that stay with you long after you've read them. I can't exactly explain what it is, but I think about them when I'm crossing the street, riding my bike or walking to the store to pick up some beer and toilet paper. I usually find myself thinking,"God-damn! That was some freaky shit!"I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves good stories.
