The Ones That Got Away

January 31, 2011
Thirteen horror stories, most originally published between 2005 and 2010, make up Native American writer Jones's second collection (after 2005's Bleed into Me). Several stories feature children coming of age: in "Father, Son, Holy Rabbit," a father and son, stranded and awaiting rescue, sustain themselves by eating a magical rabbit over and over again, while in "So Perfect," 17-year-old girls lose weight by poisoning themselves. A standout western-zombie mashup, "Lonegan's Luck," twists the trickster trope when fate takes down a murderous snake-oil salesman. In "Crawlspace," original to this volume, an infant taps into his father's mind, waking up screaming when his dad reads horror. The story notes collected at the end of the book provide insight into Jones's writing process and will particularly interest aspiring fiction writers. The twisty endings, villainous characters, and truly shocking scenarios make several of these disturbing stories truly unforgettable.