by Alex Mcdermott:
When you really dig into literature, you begin to see a significant difference between the novel and the short story. Novels give authors the opportunity to explore themes, characters, and plot in great depth. Short stories are a quick blast! They capture a moment in time like a literary snapshot. Robert Dunbar’s Martyrs and Monsters is a photo collection of erotic, bizarre, and disturbing moments in time!
Heavy in atmosphere and mood, light on gore, Dunbar’s collection is thematically linked through the idea of sacrifice and need. These characters are driven; their motivations almost primal at times. Traditional monsters such as vampires and zombies make an appearance, but Dunbar doesn’t limit himself. But, like his novels, it’s not the monsters who take center stage. Humanity, with its strengths and weaknesses, faces off against the horrors. Sometimes humanity loses, giving in to weakness, and sometimes it triumphs. It’s that unknown that keeps you turning the pages.
As always, Dunbar’s work is challenging, thought-provoking, and intense. Like his novels, Martyrs and Monsters skips right past all the horror clichés of violence, blood, evisceration, and gore. He goes for the throat, but doesn’t tear it out. Instead, you hang by a thread, waiting in fear for the axe to fall! Get this one and read it with the lights on.
Martyrs and Monsters can be found on Amazon.com.
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