Monday, November 19, 2007

The Number 121 to Pennsylvania-Kealan Patrick Burke

The Number 121 to Pennsylvania
Kealan Patrick Burke
Cemetery Dance, Jan 2008, $40.00
ISBN: 9781587671685

These well written fourteen entries contain twelve shorts (though two are over forty pages), one new novella “Saturday Night at Eddie’s of just under seventy pages and a new screenplay of the short story “Mr. Goodnight”. Eleven of the twelve shorts have been previously printed in other publications (the exception is "High on the Vine").

Each of the stories places everyday people in extraordinary circumstances. For instance the bone weary depressed salesman Jack Thompson coming home after another painful day at sales to find a “High on the Vine”, losing one’s pains “Saturday Night at Eddie’s Tavern” or getting pains by taking out the scarred girl to learn what lies “Underneath”. Though this reviewer normally dislikes the inclusions of screenplays as they feel like filler, it is fun to compare that entry to the original short story. With a Twilight Zone feel, THE NUMBER 121 TO PENNSYLVANIA is an entertaining anthology that fans will want to rid as well as obtain tickets to Kealan Patrick Burke’s previous collection, RAVENOUS GHOSTS (not read) and his fantastic ghost story THE HIDES.

Harriet Klausner

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