Strange Wonders by Mike Russell

 



Twelve wondrously strange fiction cupcakes Mike Russell serves up in this delicious collection.

Strange Wonders is Mike's fourth book of short stories following Nothing is Strange, Strange Medicine and Strange Secrets. Great news! Mike's explosive imagination continues to runneth over.

To share a sweet taste of Strange Wonders, here's a bite-sized sampling of three strangely wonderful tales fresh from the oven of my own reading -

MR MARCONI'S CONSCIOUS MACHINES
Roll up! Roll up! Red and white vertical stripes of a big top tent shout out a strangely strange tale of bizarre wonders.

What?! Did I hear you right? Did you say a tent shouts?

Oh, yes, every single stitch of fabric, red and white, shouts and sings. No, wait. It is Mr. Marconi's daughter, Rebekah, a living recording machine, that's doing the shouting. Roll up! Roll up!

And there's Edith, the conscious toaster, Bill, the conscious one-armed-bandit (Bill actually cares if you win or lose), Colin, the living omniscient computer, Tom, the conscious television, and, for the evening's delights, there's Lisa, the living, luscious sex doll.

Sound strange? Roll up to this quizzical Mike quote: "Like Rebekah the record player, they all desperately yearned to fulfill their mechanical functions, for their mechanical functions were their only distraction from an otherwise constant terror: the terror of the obliteration of their consciousness that they wrongly believed was their fate when their mechanical bodies eventually broke down."

Roll up! Roll up! Enter the big top of Mr Marconi's Conscious Machines and discover some mighty odd wonders.

KILLER COFFINS
Mike has written a moving, strangely beautiful tale of three oldsters in a hospital ward - Mr. Gubbins, Mrs. Kline and an unnamed snoring patient I'll call Mr. Snores. An avid fan of Mike's strange stories just can't help himself.

Mr. Gubbins alerts Mrs. Kline that something is falling, heading for the hospital. Mrs. Kline tells Mr. Gubbins she hope it is for her since she can't stand any more of this pain.

Mr. Gubbings, who has been standing at the window, moves aside and a coffin suddenly smashes through the window and lands on the floor.

"Whose is it?" asks Mrs. Kline. Mr. Gubbins covers his eyes and tells her that he doesn't want to know. Mrs. Kline walks through the broken glass to the coffin, bends down and reads the brass plate. She says in dismay, "Kenneth Drake. Never heard of him." Mr. Gubbins sighs in relief as Mrs. Kline walks despondently back to her bed.

Meanwhile, Mr. Snores, still snoring loudly walks over to the coffin, lays down inside and dies. Sounds like Mr. Snores' real name might be Kenneth Drake. The door opens, two undertakers enter, close the lid and carry the coffin out of the room.

Events at the hospital continue to move apace. A nurse comes in to boss the patients, a son visits and there's another coffin, this time smashing through the ceiling. What happens at the end is strangely wonderful, granting that most cherished wish to both Mrs. Kline and Mr. Gubbins - sweetly strange and out-of-this-world wonderful, when the world is a hospital room, that is.

THE L-SHAPED THEATER
This short strange tale of Mike's reminds me of a number of plays by Samuel Beckett. It would surely make for a superb short animated art film since we have two characters, a man and a woman, and a peculiar theater shaped in an L.

Here's a snatch of the opening lines that will also offer a taste of Mike's sometimes quirky language : "A man with long hair, a long beard, and clothes covered in dirt, walked across a barren landscape, toward a large, flat-roofed, L-shape building...In front of the door was stood a woman propping herself up on two crutches. One of her legs was in plaster, one of her arms was in a sling, and her neck was in a brace. The man walked towards the woman."

Turns out, this is all Mike needs to create a story not only having affinity with Samuel Beckett but also that famous Zen kōan : "What's the sound of one hand clapping?"

Hint: In this Mike story we do hear clapping, along with laughing, all in the spirit of beholding a wonder of wonders. Sound strange? It's not only strange, it's vintage Mike Russell.

Highly recommended! Many strange wonders await.


British author Mike Russell, born 1973