Bluegrass Symphony is the debut collection from a rising star in Australian genre fiction. Bluegrass Symphony deals with cowboys and fallow fields, shapeshifters and rednecks, superstitions and realities in harsh prairie country-and a whole bunch of other things thrown in the mix. In her introduction, Ann Vandermeer writes, "These stories are about more than people just trying to get something from one another. These stories are about power and redemption, transformation, and sacrifice."
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By Dave Versace
Bluegrass Symphony is a collection of twelve short stories by Lisa L. Hannett, published by Ticonderoga Press. Though an Australian writer, Hannett has set her stories in unspecified parts of the US south. They are fantastic, exploring new takes on ghosts, vampires, werewolves and other things in a voice that seems (to my untrained ear) authentically Southern Gothic. These are beautiful stories, even the ugly ones - and a few of them are very dark indeed. In particular the chilling and repulsive vampires of "From the Teeth of Strange Children" touch not only on the horrific amorality of immortal blood drinkers but also the twisted sexuality of the vampire legend in ways I've not seen before.
These are all strong dark fantasy tales. Most are not as out and out horrific as "Teeth", but they all have at least a tantalising undercurrent of darkness. The standouts are probably "Down the Hollow" in which a community's grotesque fertility rite goes wrong, and the astonishing "The Short Go: a future in eight seconds", which wraps together rodeo riding, minotaur hunting, divination and marriage rites together to amazing effect. It deservedly shared the Aurealis Award for Best Short Story this year with Paul Haines' "The Past is a Bridge Best Left Burned", and that was a breathtaking piece.
I've digressed, so let me mention one more story. The collection opens with a short, dreamlike piece called "Carousel", without doubt my favourite in the book. It's one of the shorter stories, a beautiful elegaic piece about a dying girl being comforted in her final moments by moths. It's heartbreaking and funny and somewhat grotesque, and it has a lovely punchline. It sets the tone for the rest of Bluegrass Symphony wonderfully well.
These are all strong dark fantasy tales. Most are not as out and out horrific as "Teeth", but they all have at least a tantalising undercurrent of darkness. The standouts are probably "Down the Hollow" in which a community's grotesque fertility rite goes wrong, and the astonishing "The Short Go: a future in eight seconds", which wraps together rodeo riding, minotaur hunting, divination and marriage rites together to amazing effect. It deservedly shared the Aurealis Award for Best Short Story this year with Paul Haines' "The Past is a Bridge Best Left Burned", and that was a breathtaking piece.
I've digressed, so let me mention one more story. The collection opens with a short, dreamlike piece called "Carousel", without doubt my favourite in the book. It's one of the shorter stories, a beautiful elegaic piece about a dying girl being comforted in her final moments by moths. It's heartbreaking and funny and somewhat grotesque, and it has a lovely punchline. It sets the tone for the rest of Bluegrass Symphony wonderfully well.
By Alan Baxter
This is the debut collection from Canadian-born Australian writer Lisa L Hannett. It's an outstanding achievement. A selection of tales of magic, darkness, intrigue, mystery. Hannett's style is clear throughout, even though the stories cover very different ground. There's a brilliant vampire story here that's worth the cover price alone. Seriously, if you thought vampire stories had been done to death, buy this book and read From the Teeth of Strange Children. There isn't a bad story in this book and it's a superbly dark and twisted exploration of life in mythical Blue Grass towns and counties. Great characters, great stories. Lisa is a friend of mine, but this isn't just mate's favours. I can't recommend this book highly enough.
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