Short Story Reviews

Sources are cited at the end of each review excerpt.

In Sickness And... (Published in The Second Black Book of Horror)

There's a whiff of old school craziness about 'In Sickness And...', the tale of a rogue marriage counsellor, who comes in and screws up everybody's lives, then goes home to her husband. It's an over the top exercise in madness that's both unbelievable and great fun.

Peter Tennant                                                                                                                       From 'Black Static' Issue 5

Guided Tour (Published in Supernatural Tales 12)

John L Probert (definitely a new writer to watch) contributes ‘Guided Tour’, plainly allegorical but as frightening as a real spook, where a disenchanted young man manages to carry on with his life after a love disillusionment.

Mario Guslandi
Future Fire Reviews
http://futurefire.net/2007.10/review/mg-supernatural.html

Size Matters (Published in the anthology ‘The Black Book of Horror’)

A nasty little schlocker about a man hell bent on penis enlargement surgery with a vicious sting in the tail and descriptive passages guaranteed to make the strongest wince.

Peter Tennant
From ‘Black Static’ Issue 2

The Comeback Kid (Published in the anthology ‘When Graveyards Yawn’)

A smart quickie pushing the idea of reincarnation to the farthest limit

Mario Guslandi
‘Whispers of Wickedness’ Review
www.ookami.co.uk

Special Offer (Published in the anthology ‘Read by Dawn Volume 1’)

A vivid, effective report of how a merciless organization helps people to get rid of their debts for just a little price.

Mario Guslandi
Horror World Book Reviews June 2006
www.horrorworld.org/reviews.htm

The Volkendorf Exhibition (Published in the anthology ‘Poe’s Progeny’)

When I think of Poe’s influence, I don’t think of well-crafted crime stories, or seafaring adventure; frankly, I’m looking for a touch of the barking mad. John L. Probert’s ‘The Volkendorf Exhibition’ (is) entirely worthy of the Gothic Poe of my preconceptions. It pushes real world trends in body art into Grand Guignol nightmare, and I found it deeply disturbing in the way I associate with Poe’s writing. Probert pursues the logic of a distinctively sick premise with Sadean logic and gusto. I was left slightly worried by this one, and in context, that seems entirely appropriate.

Douglas Campbell
 All Hallows No. 41

Offers an offbeat look at the art world and its more extreme practices - a vignette with a satisfyingly nasty sting in the tale that more than justifies its status as conte cruel.

Peter Tennant
From ‘The Third Alternative’ Issue 42

Entertaining…a bizarre tale with a nasty ending in the tradition of the conte cruel

Mario Guslandi
‘Saluting the Masters’
Emerald City Review
http://www.emcit.com/emcit125.php?a=10

My own favourites (included)…’The Volkendorf Exhibition’ by John L Probert. Clever and cruel.

Terry Gates-Grimwood
 ‘Whispers of Wickedness’ Review
www.ookami.co.uk

The Moving Image (Published in Supernatural Tales 9)

I got deeply engrossed in The Moving Image by John Llewellyn Probert, where dark secrets are hidden within the frames of extremely rare films shot by a forgotten movie director. Although here and there the story is a bit foggy and lacks plausibility, the global effect is very atmospheric and unsettling.

Mario Guslandi
The Zone Review
www.zone-sf.com

A wonderfully readable novella. A real sense of delicate suggestive evocative scariness (the bottom line in this field) and prose that purred like a well-tuned Bentley. Writing so smooth I’m convinced at one stage it asked me for a Vodka Martini, shaken (yes) and stirred (yes, yes!), with a complex technique at work beneath that silky surface that has a genuine ability to unsettle.

Gary Fry
Editor, Gray Friar Press
www.grayfriarpress.com

Taking Over (Published in Fusing Horizons Issue 3)

Starts off quietly, and even ends quietly, but we’ve had a few surprises in the meantime, cunningly meted out. A well-dressed lady of 33 wants to look round a large Georgian property for sale. There are tiny indications, but it’s only after three pages that we learn the lady already knows something about the very unpleasant things that went on in the house, which had been a residential home for the elderly, and some more time before we learn about her own connections to the person who did those things, and, finally, what her own intentions are (as in the title). In the subtle duel between the woman and the estate agent, we see that she takes delight in making him feel uncomfortable, though I’m not sure whether these little cruelties quite make her real intentions believable. And yes, there is something living in the attic. What makes the story successful, I think, is the pacing; we see the present situation from the POV of the woman without being told the back story too quickly, and the whole tale is extremely carefully constructed.

Steve Redwood
‘Whispers of Wickedness’ review
www.ookami.co.uk

Ophelia (Published in Fusing Horizons No.1)

Bizarre and sadistic…hard to explain without spoiling the twist, but let’s just say I’m glad I’ve left university.

Jeff Gardiner
The Alien Online Review
www.thealienonline.net

The title of ‘Ophelia’ by John Llewellyn Probert does rather telegraph its ending, and it is certainly another conte cruel, but in this case a rather quietly repulsive one.

John Howard
 All Hallows No.37

The Trendelenberg Concerto (Published in Here & Now Issue 2)

‘The Trendelenberg Concerto’, a first story by John Llewellyn Probert, is possibly the highlight of the issue, giving us a musician every bit as mad as Lovecraft’s Erich Zann. The story develops at a credible pace, one that makes the train of fantastic events seem entirely plausible, with moments of mystery and gore complementing each other, and the tone of voice with its hint of madness barely held in check is put over well. A very impressive debut and hopefully not the last we’ve heard from Probert.

Peter Tennant
From ‘The Fix’ Issue No.7