Gord Rollo and Gene O’Neill are both heavy hitters in the horror game. The praise their work has received and the quality of their novels and short stories has made both of them known names in the horror community. Knowing this, I was excited to read “Mean Streets,” a collaboration between these two authors that recently hit the e-book market. While I was able to find some of what has made them who they are today in the stories, I was nonetheless underwhelmed by the collection as a whole.
“Mean Streets” has some good moments, but small problems like bad translations, a few typos and a strange afterword kept the collection from jumping to the top of the heap.
The first story, titled “Marcela Transmuting” and written by both authors, puts a creepy spin on the classic theme of vengeance. Sadly, the story will stay in the mind of Spanish speakers for a different reason: horrible translations. Also, regular readers of horror will probably predict the end of the story halfway through it.
“Chameleon,” written by O’Neill, is nicely constructed and gives the reader a bit of unfiltered reality from the streets while simultaneously possessing a surreal vibe that leads to a strange ending. Nevertheless, fans of horror will be left expecting more.
“Divine Intervention,” by Rollo, is thoroughly enjoyable and creative. The story, which is reminiscent of Robert Devereaux’s “Bucky Goes To Church” while still being very original, also packs a tremendous punch at the end that will surely leave some readers nodding their heads and wondering what just hit them.
“Lord Rat,” the second collaboration in the book, brings the same raw violence of the streets that permeates the entire book but balances it out beautifully with a good dose of righteousness and faith in humanity.
“New Kicks,” by O’Neill, is short and sharp. The pain, desperation and gore in this one come straight from the narrator and make for one of the best tales in the collection.
“Moving Pictures,” by Rollo, is a classic tale that wouldn’t be out of place in an episode of “The Twilight Zone.” The narrative sticks close to the thug discourse but goes in deeper into the character’s motivations. This one’s fun to read and could be looked at as a powerful study of the meanings of karma and retribution. If anything negative can be said about it, it’s that the narrative becomes a tad predictable after the main character undergoes an…artistic change.
“Breath of an Angel/Touch of the Devil,” the third and last collaboration of the book, is probably the best story in the collection. Following an elusive woman and changing effortlessly between points of view, the authors managed to pen down a narrative that’s part thriller, part noir detective story and part horror tale.
Even if “Mean Streets” is not perfect, at least the authors managed to bring the streets into each story in a totally unfiltered way using well-developed characters and, translations aside, top-notch dialogue. At the end of the day, $2.99 is less than what a cup of coffee costs these days, so you should get a copy for your Kindle.
– Gabino Iglesias
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
