FriedEgg

I've been hearing good things about Reggie Oliver for a while. He's apparently quite a productive writer with numerous collections to his name. A modern writer of strange and spooky stories but in the classic vein which sounds very much like my cup of tea.

Thematically, most of the stories here revolve around the activities of thespians and antiquarians as they encounter strange goings in their day to day lives. The plots were varied enough not to feel samey but similar enough to give the collection cohesion.

His prose style is clear and pleasing enough to read and the stories are carefully constructed although the endings often felt a little flat to me. I usually enjoyed the overall story execution more than the resolutions that sometimes felt like the punchline of a bad joke or just generally underwhelming.

There were no really bad stories here but neither did I feel that there were any outstanding. Generally all of a good but not great standard. I also enjoyed the spooky illustrations before each story. All in all, good enough to make me want to pick up something else of his one day.