Short stories and anthologies of short stories are much maligned because most of the times, readers do not believe that a short story can wholly encompass and totally tell the tale it seeks to. And maybe some stories don't but in the case of the tales in Blood and Other Cravings, each story, no matter what its length, stands on its own and does not just tell the tale it seeks to but tells it in such a way that it will linger in your consciousness long after you have turned the page.Ellen Datlow, the editor of this collection, has won numerous awards for her editing and once I read the stories, I understood why. Each story in the collection is crisp, evocative and terrifying. I'll briefly review some of my favourite ones:All You Can Do Is Breathe - Kaaron WarrenThis story reads like a dream. A dream composed by darkness, fear even in the light of day. It slips into your mind and seizes it until at the end, you are feeling just as cold as the protagonist of the story and you have no idea what is going to happen next. The vampire is very real and yet it would seem that you made him up. Warren's portrayal of the blood thirsty beings is utterly terrifying. And as beautiful in the way it probes the human psyche and the human need for survival and for heroes.Needles - Elizabeth BearThis would be what I call a story in transit. The fact that the tone of the story is a little prosaic, the fact that perspective is a bit skewed considering it is through inhuman lens that we view the world - all of these things conspire to make the unstated fear more pronounced than it would have been otherwise. The casual violence, the murder, the setting and the darkness. Yeah. This tale is to be savoured and read more than once. Sweet Sorrow - Barbara RodenThis is a story by a local writer (yay for Can Lit) and oh my goodness, it is terrifying. Seriously terrifying. It takes a lot to scare me when I'm reading and this did it. It rips into the facade of familiarity, problematizes the placidity that people have when faced with things that they ostensibly "know." After reading this story, you will be giving your neighbors second looks and wondering if you really do believe what you see. And the fact that story is told from the perspective of a little boy - your emotions are immediately involved and you are invested in the story, no matter how bloody it gets. Mulberry Boys - Margo LanaganThis just may be one of the strangest coming of age story that I have read. I pondered a long while after I had read it. I wasn't sure what exactly it was telling me and why I had the feelings about it that I did. I mean, there was a kid and there was violence. I'm sure I was supposed to be feeling no small amount of horror but. This is a beautifully imagined and crafted tale that will make you think. Let you wonder about the things we turn blind eyes to simply because it profits us to do so.So yeah, there are other stories in the anthology that I liked (actually I liked them all) but these are the ones that most resonated with me. Vampire stories in literature form (high lit for the literary snob) are not common. Blood and Other Cravings takes mythical beings who are currently starring in young girls' dreams and strips them of their humanity and by doing so, presents them to the reader at their most terrifying. I recommend it to anyone who likes being terrified. Don't let the fact that these are short stories turn you away. They tell the story in all its entirety and they tell it well. You may never look at vampires the same way again.
