Craft: Stories I wrote for the Devil - A Fresh New Voice in the Horror Short Story Genre
“You probably couldn’t tell by looking at her now, but once, back in her twenties, the writer had slept with the Devil.”
A writer meets the Devil at a Halloween party and the two of them sleep together, in turn forging a bond that lasts a lifetime. The writer continues to write stories for the Devil to read and enjoy as she moves through her life experiencing loss, love, guilt, morality, and joy. Craft: Stories I wrote for the Devil is a short story collection written by Ananda Lima hitting shelves on June 18th. This is her fictional debut, previously known for her prize winning poetry collection. A surreal jaunt through life, this is a unique collection that is like nothing I’ve read before.
“The Devil sat on the couch, deflated. He tried to make people happy, he really did. But it didn’t work. In his eyes, the flame wilted. I could feel some of his sadness along with mine. That viscid darkness. Our two miserable, lost souls.”
I finished this a few weeks ago, but I still think about it constantly. It slowly creeps up on you and infests itself inside until you’re haunted by the writer and by her stories. For such a short collection, it really has a lot to say and says it well.
The in-between stories about the writer and the Devil were my favourite bits to read as I loved the version of the Devil that Lima has created. I love that he encourages the writer to really push herself in her storytelling and to look at the world in a more critical light. I related well to the writer and the Devil in their loneliness and their thirst for something more.
My favourite story though was Antropofaga which was somehow terrifying and hilarious and meaningful all at the same time. It’s a bizarre tale about a woman eating humans from a vending machine, but it goes so much deeper than that, with the ending being a twist to the gut. A close second was Ghost Story which completely broke my heart.
This collection just feels so fresh and unique, and Lima has such a strong voice. I thoroughly enjoyed this and I know these stories will stay with me for a while longer.
A massive thank you to Tor for sending me an advanced copy of Craft: Stories I wrote for the Devil in exchange for an honest review. Pick up a copy for yourself on June 18th, or better yet; pre-order it!
“The Devil said stories were more than knowing things, facts. There was no soul in that. It was in the telling and the words, the spaces between them.”
