Various (Editor: Plöeger, Jonas) - Infra-Noir 2020

I’ve never been keen on chapbooks. I realize many prefer the less durable, highly collectible chapbooks, but I’m not in their company.
This collection contains those one-off runs handmade by Zagava during 2020. (I’m hoping this becomes a tradition.) This is affordable, and is a primer on this press’s aesthete.
D.P. Watt’s “Craft” proves an inspired opener. The portrayed scribe is dedicated; not only in writing his book, but also hand-crafting it, from paper making to bindings. The trick, however, lies in the distribution to an unprepared audience.
Another writer, this one trapped by characters and revisions, haunts the story of “The Idyll Is Over” by Jonathan Wood. (I actually worked with a soul like this, toiling endlessly like Sisyphus.)
Some tales fall into the “unexplained” camp. Not Horror outings, but weird or strange. Reading these is always slightly apprehensive, hoping the author can deliver the ending. There are unresolved endings that are satisfying, and others that simply stop with a dead shrug. The latter is unfortunate, indicating the writer lacks finesse, or quits at a work count.
Not so Mark Samuels’ “Posterity.” The authority on and champion of a deceased writer is determined to buttress his diminishing literary reputation. Not only has she access to his papers, but also keys to his final residence, a retirement community. A place, at once eccentric and grotesque. Fans of another author of the strange might find themselves wondering about similarities.
Reggie Oliver, peerless in many regards, ferries us into the exclusive retreat. The spa for actors and musicians, creative sorts, who need their backbones stiffened. In “The Wet Woman” Oliver mixes theatre gossip, rivalries and revenge with dead wet girls of onryō.
I’ve touched on less than half the stories. There is no need to comment on all.
A satisfying read overall, and worth a place on your shelves or in your travel rucksack.