Duffy, Steve - The Faces At Your Shoulder

A fistful of long stories. From the unearthed creature, to the original bargain dealer. From the den of lions to the utopian world of the future.

“The Oram County Woosit” caught my attention straight off. Oram, well, Mr. Duffy is simply disguising Orma in the middle of West Virginia. And Peck’s Ridge? Shoot, that’s gotta be Peck’s Mill where my father lived for forty years.
The yarn is a pulpy nail-biter, too. Swinging from West Virginia to Alaska then back again. No Mythos pastiche here, although HPL would smile.

Casting back to bygone Hollywood, “The Soul Is A Bird,” arrives in ultimate luxury, the Duesenberg, followed by the exiting star. What would you give to be famous, to bed wealthy, to stay forever young? Or to simply stay alive?

I wrote about the Southern Gothic tale, “The Psychomanteum” before, so I’ll just echo what I wrote previously. Mother is a faded belle, highly strung, riddled with delusions. In her childhood, she had fashioned a construct, as well as a pact, with her brother – her precious brother – the golden son. When he mysteriously summons her, Mother hurries her family back to the plantation.

Set in 1939, restless with uncertainty, “Futureboro” is one of the favorite exhibits of the World’s Fair. A gleaming, perfect future that ordinary folk can aspire towards. Except, beneath the surface, the electrical / mechanical is skewing badly. Seems the future ain’t what it’s supposed to be.
Neither is humanity.