Horror in Pleasantville

Horror in Pleasantville by Caleb Finn (Penguin Random House Australia) Collection of short stories RRP AU$17.99 ISBN 978 1 76134 589 0

Reviewed by Robyn Gillies

This book is a series of intriguing short stories that challenge the normal. Each story contains a different theme covering the paranormal, the mystical and the supernatural. There are zombies, fun-parlour mirrors that suck you into your own image, strange creatures, not of this world, that take over your body, and grocery stores with everchanging aisles from which you can’t escape.

Each of the strange phenomena are investigated by the Anomaly Restriction Committee (ARC) with their findings reported at the end of each story. But employee #203, Gordon Thatcher, one of their senior entry processors and archivists, has his own distorted truth.

These stories are dark and chilling, ghoulish and twisted and not for everyone. But young readers who love the unexplainable, who want to challenge their imagination and who have the emotional maturity needed will relish their content and be absorbed into mysterious worlds.

Each story is told from the perspective of the subject, a person generally in their teens based in Pleasantville, who is at the receiving end of each experience. The language realistically reflects that of a young person as they try to understand what is happening to them albeit there is little to no differentiation between the key characters in each story. They tend to come across as same, same. Descriptions of scenes beyond known realms are given a life of their own and allow for beyond the possible to be believable.

The stories can also be viewed as allegories such as, be careful what you wish for or a message to society about the impacts of consumerism, climate collapse, resource depletion and war. But, they are craftily built into the stories, each of which shine on their own.

This book contains a content warning informing readers that some of the horror scenes may be unsettling. The themes include: body horror, the supernatural, violence and psychological horror. The content warning proposes that the book is intended for those over the age of 14 which is both appropriate and accurate for this book. There are no happy endings. There are also useful resources for both Australian and New Zealand readers if someone is finding it difficult to talk about a situation that is troubling them and who feel they can’t talk with family or friends. 

This is the author’s second book of short stories in this genre.