Leanne Olson

Spontaneous Human Combustion by Richard Thomas

Short story collection from Keylight Books, released February 22, 2022

I went into reading this collection knowing very little about Richard Thomas’s work.  What a fantastic surprise: this is a great collection of stories.  

Thomas’s work is dark, thoughtful, and immersive.  There’s a vein of horror running through each of the stories, even when they at first seem to be science fiction, weird fiction, fantasy, or myth.  At times, the stories in Spontaneous Human Combustion reminded me of the weirdness of Kristi Demeester or Jeff Vandermeer, or the bleak sci-fi of the TV series Black Mirror, but Thomas’s style is all his own.  

Thomas goes back to several themes throughout the collection: mistakes and forgiveness, choices, repentance, evolution.  His characters are broken, sometimes evil people with a depth that is heartbreaking and hopeful.  The writing is beautiful and every word is carefully chosen.  

A few of my favourite stories were:

Repent – Where the author made me empathize with a seemingly irredeemable character.

Saudade – A post-apocalyptic and mythic look at purgatory with a fantastic sense of place.

Nodus Tollens – A tense deal-with-the-devil story (one of my favourite tropes) that stands out because of how Thomas gives his characters life.

From within – A short, powerful sci-fi horror with a perfect opening sentence: “The first time they come to measure my son, he is only eleven years old.”  Beautifully-written and quietly emotional.

In his house – A complete surprise, very funny (or terrifying?), and I won’t spoil it for you.

Ring of fire – A novella that made me think of the best Black Mirror or Outer Limits episodes, ending the collection on a hopeful and philosophical note.

There were a few stories that didn’t work for me, or went over my head, but I found that even when I didn’t love a story, the imagery and prose was an absolute pleasure to read.  I highly recommend this collection.

Thank you to the author for providing me with a review copy.