Reviews by Emma Campbell
Six People to Revise You by J.R. Dawson
Vibes: identity, self-acceptance, anti-capitalist (and I mean that in the best way)
In the not-too-distant future, pandemics are commonplace, the world is literally on fire, and humans still cope by trying to figure out who they are in the midst of it. In Dawson’s rendition of the future, “Revisions” are insurance-covered surgeries that allow you to change the worst parts of yourself; all you have to do is ask people in your life to fill out paperwork explaining what those parts of you are. Equal parts commentary on capitalism, self-acceptance, and gender identity, this story comes back to the question that everyone asks themselves at some point: who am I in the context of my own life and the greater world outside it? The thing I found most interesting about this story was the worldbuilding; while the narrator’s journey to understand their identity is heartwarming and relatable, I found myself wanting to know more about this near-future in which the narrator lives.
The Final Girl Trap by A.C. Wise
Vibes: immersive summer slasher
Wow - what a read this was. A second-person narrative of the famed Final Girl (the girl who gets away in the slasher films), this story worms its way into your psyche just as much as it exposes the narrator’s intricate thoughts. The Final Girl (“you”, in this scenario) is called to advise on the set of a slasher film, but when she sees a second Final Girl, she realizes that there can never be two final girls - killers only ever let one live. Wise’s extended metaphors of traps and killers make this story unique, even while rehashing something so common to horror, and the use of second person narration adds to a tense mood that makes your skin crawl. The sensual imagery throughout reiterates the idea that violence and sex are intertwined within the realm of the Slasher, and all of it is tied up in its own twisted bow at the end. If you like the Scream franchise, this one is for you.
10 Visions of the Future; or, Self-Care for the End of Days by Samantha Mills
Vibes: dog sitting in house on fire saying “This is fine”
Uh oh, sorry, but why did my fun little excursion into speculative fiction stories just make me tear up sitting at my computer by myself? I know the best speculative fiction is created as a reflection of society: there’s the commentary on capitalism in the first story, on violence in the second. But there is something about this story that touches on our current state of affairs in a way I have never felt so deeply before. In 10 scenarios, the narrator reflects on ways to cope with unprecedented times - something we all have become too familiar with. I recognized myself in the narrator, and I recognized us all in the subject matter. This story is both absurd and too real, and in its absurd reality, makes you realize just how much we cope with on a daily basis. I laughed, I cried. What a ride.