First off, I am a big fan of Neil Gaiman. So I’m just going
to call him Neil from here on out.
Neil is one of those writers, that if they were dead, you
would say, “Man, I wish he were still alive”. I feel that way about Orwell and
Camus. Thankfully, Neil is still alive and making art. We are lucky for that.
This collection is a continuance of Neil’s awesomeness. I
have read his other two collections – both Smoke and Mirrors and Fragile Things
– and loved them. Fragile things was one of the first presents I got for my
wife when we were first dating. I waited for her to finish then I asked to
borrow it. It is now part of our combined collection. Thanks, Neil.
That said, I have a quibble. The title of this collection
sounds too de mode. It is brought of current discourse in the left. In 20
years, the title will have to be explained to new fans. “Oh, a Trigger Warning
was a way of saying…”. Other than that, these stories are awesome. Neil has a
way of creating an atmosphere that is just creepy, but in a good way. There’s
no exposition dump, or if there is it doesn’t stand out. That’s good, because
the format is made for immediacy, and quick intimacy. You have to know who the
character are, and live in them right away.
The problem with short stories by Neil is that they are too
short. I want a new book by Neil, I want
to fully live in a world that he creates. Thankfully, some of the stories are
long enough for you to stretch out your legs in, and you’re not confined by the
page count. There is a nice selection here – the good long stories are Lovecraftian,
Grimmish, and Whovian. The best, most haunting story is just a few pages.
Somewhere Neil once said that adults need fairy tales too.
Thankfully he’s still giving them to us. I’ll now hand this book to my wife,
glad that I had a chance to read it first when she wants to talk about the
stories.
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