For the ninth year in a row, I’m making a special effort to read short stories in September; otherwise, short fiction volumes tend to languish on my shelves (and e-readers) unread. In the past few years, I’ve managed to read 11 or 12 collections during the month of September.
I don’t consider myself a great short story fan, so I was surprised to see I’ve already read 20 collections this year. Several were via a spring rereading of Carol Shields’s complete stories with Marcie (Buried in Print). Some other highlights: Cocktail by Lisa Alward, longlisted for the Carol Shields Prize; Barcelona by Mary Costello; The Beggar Maid by Alice Munro; and a speculative trio: There Is a Rio Grande in Heaven by Ruben Reyes Jr. (reviewed for BookBrowse), The Man in the Banana Trees by Marguerite Sheffer (University of Iowa Press, 5 November; reviewed for Shelf Awareness), and How We Know Our Time Travelers by Anita Felicelli (WTAW Press, 3 December; forthcoming for Foreword Reviews).
First of my dedicated reviews for the month is a set of Mexican horror stories that happens to tie into R.I.P. (I always think that’s only in October, but it technically starts on 1 September):
The Secret Life of Insects by Bernardo Esquinca (2023)
[Translated from the Spanish by James D. Jenkins]
Esquinca channels classic horror authors such as H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe in these 14 creepy stories drawn from across his career. The settings include caves, forests and abandoned apartments; and octopi, cursed dolls and dreams are among the subjects. These characters are obsessed – or possessed. As in classic ghost stories, the protagonists tend to be researchers or writers whose absolute faith in logic is shaken by encounters with the supernatural. For instance, the narrator of the title story is a forensic entomologist who makes contact with his murdered wife; the undead feature in a couple of other stories, too.
Mysterious manuscripts and therapy appointments also recur – there’s a scholarly Freudianism at play here. In the novella-length “Demoness,” friends at a twentieth high school reunion recount traumatic experiences from adolescence (not your average campfire fare). “Our traumas define us much more than our happy moments, [Ignacio, a Jesuit priest] thought. They’re the real revelations about ourselves.” Masturbation features heavily in this and in “Pan’s Noontide,” which has both of Arturo’s wives disappear in connection with an ecoterrorism cult. I occasionally found the content a bit macho and gross-out, and wished the women could be more than just sexualized supporting figures in male fantasies.
My favourite story was “Señor Ligotti” (no doubt in homage to American horror writer Thomas Ligotti), in which a struggling novelist unwittingly signs away more than he intended when the title character offers him an apartment and then a publishing deal. The Gothic black-and-white illustrations by Luis Perez Ochando are surreal or grotesque, and recall Bosch, Dalí and Hogarth. There is an introduction by Mariana Enriquez, whose stories I found more memorable in general, and I was also reminded slightly of Agustina Bazterrica. I’m by no means a regular horror reader yet found this book consistently engaging, though I concluded it had more style than soul. 
With thanks to New Ruins (Dead Ink) for the free copy for review.
Currently reading: I Can Outdance Jesus by Willie Davis, The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits by Emma Donoghue, The Forester’s Daughter by Claire Keegan, The Souvenir Museum by Elizabeth McCracken, A New Day by Sue Mell, Ladies’ Lunch by Lore Segal
Resuming soon: The Secrets of a Fire King by Kim Edwards, The Best Short Stories 2023: The O. Henry Prize Winners (ed. Lauren Groff)
Up next: The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie, The End of the World is a Cul de Sac by Louise Kennedy, Sinking Bell by Bojan Louis, Light Box by K.J. Orr, The Forgetters by Greg Sarris, The Long Swim by Terese Svoboda
Are you a short story fan? Read any good ones recently?
Bookish Beck = Rebecca Foster. American transplant to England. Freelance proofreader and book reviewer.
Bookish Beck 
First of all, how can it be RIP time already??
I didn’t even know if I’ve read one short story collection all year. So after a check, it turns out I have read exactly one! A collection of Agatha Christie short stories called Midwinter Murder. Very entertaining! I’m really not a big fan of short stories in general , but if they’re by a favorite author then I love them.
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My short story shelf is a real mix of established authors who happen to have written some short stories (Martin Amis, Penelope Fitzgerald, Ian McEwan), authors who were mainly known for their stories (Katherine Mansfield, Alice Munro), and debut writers or one-off collections.
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I’ve enjoyed both of those last authors you mentioned (although now I’m not sure if I can read Munro anymore after what’s come out about her personal life.)
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I always find it weird to start RIP reading in September! Particularly since Northern Ireland is currently experiencing the best weather of the summer right now. This does sound good – there seems to be a lot of interesting horror writing coming from South America at the moment.
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I’ll definitely ramp up the scary reading in October, but it’s so rare for me to read horror that I couldn’t resist tying into R.I.P. with this post.
This time last year we had our hottest weather of the year in England, but it’s rainy and chilly this weekend.
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Not the biggest short story fan as you will know by now – I’m not sure if I’ve read any this year but I did love “The Secret Lives of Church Ladies” whenever I read that. I didn’t realise RIP is September, too – I’ll brace myself for the horror reviews that start massing! NB I’m so far behind I’ve started alternating old and new blog posts to read so you’re going to get fairly random comments from me till I’m caught up!
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I’m woefully behind on replying to comments here, and reading others’ blogs. Attempting to catch up today! I saw a collection compared to that one recently; now to remember which one it was so I can recommend it to you…
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The Lore Segal is on my TBR too. And I’ve written up the Lauren Groff collection for my next Quarterly. Right now I’m reading Shashi Bhat’s stories, which are coincidentally on this year’s Giller longlist, which are very ordinary but somehow thoroughly engaging. And a 2021 collection of older Izumi Suzuki stories, about whom I know very little, but the concepts are interesting and I will look into her more once I’ve finished. Slowly I’ve been reading through the Summer Fiction issue of The New Yorker which has a great mix of older writers (E.L. Doctorow and Haruki Murakami, for instance) and newer ones. I guess it’ll be the end of summer when I finally finish that issue.
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I’m past the halfway point in the Groff and the standard is, of course, very high! The Segal was a little one-note for me and includes autobiographical pieces as well as the autofiction.
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I’ve only JUST picked up the Lore Segal collection; it’s shorter than I expected, so if I find it’s one note, that’s not a note I’ll have to sustain for long!
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Reviewed here: https://bookishbeck.com/2024/09/27/short-stories-in-september-ii-willie-davis-gerald-durrell-sue-mell-and-lore-segal/
Did you see that Segal just died on the 7th? Perhaps I’d like her novel Other People’s Houses better. It’s what she seems to be best known for.
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I’m impressed by the number of collections you’ve read this year! I feel similarly about short fiction volumes sitting unread on my shelf unless I make a very concentrated effort to pick them up… The Secret Life of Insects sounds like an excellent seasonal read.
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Thanks! I enjoy my little September surges in story reading.
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