(5 / 5)
Note: The following review was originally done for Reedsy and is being reposted here with the permission of the site.
Jonathan Floyd’s Stories from the Attic is one of those books you don’t want to put down until you’ve read “The End” because it’s pure entertainment. The fourteen stories in this collection are diverse in subject matter and rich in creative imagination.
These stories fall in many different genres – sci-fi, horror, comedy, mystery, thriller, paranormal, you name it. And while thematically disconnected, most of them share one key element – turning the tables on the protagonist, who is not always a good guy. Whether it’s the man picking a teenage hitcher, a school coach staging an assault, or a father engaging in secret debauchery, Floyd’s characters are vulnerable to inherent vices that characterize the human race.
For any story in this collection, readers can hold onto their seat and wait for the twist; it’s surely coming up. Floyd’s twists take various shades, from comedic to dark, and chilling to surprising. The author’s creative imagination knows no bounds. Hence the high entertainment value of these tales.
Humor is always a great asset in good short fiction and Floy’s stories in this book generously share it in plot situations as well as dialogue. Much of Floyd’s is adult humor with language so the book is a good pick for mature audiences.
There’s bit of sensitive content warning due for a few stories for certain audiences. For example, those in animal rights advocacy and others who don’t like descriptions of cruelty, skipping or reading with discretion the story “The Cat That Came Back” is recommended. For those who only like it clean, “The Ladies Room” may come as quite gross. For people of faith, particularly Christian faith, the last story – “Church Bride” – will likely sound offensive (the author wrote he’d probably go to hell for it). Nevertheless, if readers could suspend their sensitivities, all stories in the book are guaranteed amusing.
Then there’s some bonus for Stories from the Attic. Floyd has added a note to each story’s background – how, when, or where the plot was conceived etc. – which offers a mini story behind each story. Many of these mini stories are quite interesting and at times add to the humor of the tales following them.
Finally, it’s noteworthy that many of these stories were written in the last part of the 20th Century so an older audience is likely to relate better to them, though the entertainment value of each story is fairly independent of the period of its setting. It won’t be exaggeration to say that after reading Stories from the Attic, one wants to check out the attic for some more gems