Absolute Fiction: 17 Stories of Horror, Mystery, Farce, the Macabre, and Modern Faith by Willard James Rusch

The stories in this collection, three nominated for the Pushcart Prize for short fiction published in small literary magazines, vary widely in length, genre, and subject. Two stories are short-shorts and three are novellas, with the others of conventional short story length. In these frames of different sizes, characters contend with realistic, surrealistic, and fantastic obstacles in contemporary life. In the farcical "Della's Motivation," a junior executive discovers sinister paranormal secrets while trying to advance her career at a behavioral motivation facility in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. In "A Spike in the Head," a young reporter visiting her grandmother inadvertently discovers a family secret involving abortion, murder, and surprising acts of compassion. "An Octopus Vase," "Only All the Dead," and two other stories portray crises in religious faith, particularly Roman Catholicism. Raucous, irreverent humor prevails in "And Marion Never Looked Lovelier," in which a...