I always love a good single-author short story collection
(not bad ones, though…keep those far away from me pretty please). I especially
enjoy collections in which each story stands apart from the next. Welcome to
the latest perfect example of this, Baby Powder by John C. Foster.
There’s a lot to dig into here. This does not mean the
collection is dense and/or difficult to get through. In fact, it’s a fairly
quick read despite being 300 pages. But the ideas, and very often the
well-crafted language, will stick with you in way flavor-of-the-month genre
books will not. A good mix of horror and science fiction-ish pieces here. I’m
not going to go over every story in the collection, but I would like to
highlight a few faves.
The opener, “Highballing Through Gehenna,” comes out
swinging. A very bleak and strange tale, leaving most of the facts to the
imagination, letting the mind get used to an apocalypse of a different sort.
Stressful on the level of Train to Busan. However, the threat these train
passengers face is not of the zombie variety.
“Talk to Leo” is an unsettling piece about ventriloquism.
Sort of. The creeps don’t let up much during this story, and I believe it’s
because Foster doesn’t over-explain the situation. I love when authors make
this choice. Sure, things can still be a bit scary if you know exactly what
you’re facing, but I believe frights you can’t conveniently put in a box are far
more powerful.
“Meat” is killer. Trees that eat people. ‘Nuff said.
I’ve always wondered why there aren’t more horror stories
that deal with the death penalty, and “A Lamb to Slaughter” does so
beautifully. It will make you think without feeling like you’ve been preached
to. It also heads in unexpected directions.
But the real treasure of this collection is the final story,
which also happens to be the title story. “Baby Powder” is where Foster’s true
magic as a writer has comes together to create something special. The story
focuses on a “haunted house,” for lack of a better term, but it goes much
deeper than that. The prose is wonderful throughout, the characters are
memorable, and the vibe of the whole story left me rattled for a couple of days
after I read it. I don’t want to say anything else for fear of spoiling the
wonder, but it’s worth buying this book for this story alone (plus, you also
get a lot of other really awesome stories, so you really can’t lose.) Just one
of those “wow” moments. I knew after reading Mister White that Foster was a
good writer. After reading “Baby Powder,” I now see how great he is. His finest
moment so far. No pressure.
