Horror is pessimism at its bleakest. Worst-case scenario. The darker side of reality. The glass half-empty. The situation unfathomable.
In Black Bubbles, Kelli Owen presents classic genre tropes-ghosts, murderers, zombies, what you'd expect-but it is the characters, rather than the tropes, who experience the story, speak of the horrors, and sometimes survive the inevitable.
Sometimes.
A decades-old crime shocks a family as evidence points to one of their own. An ancient evil hitchhikes its way to freedom. A child has an unusual fascination with decay. A woman excuses premeditation. Death takes a holiday. Science and good intentions make horrific bedfellows. A man hides from nightmares that invade his waking world.
Kelli Owen's first collection gathers over 60,000 words, including a handful of out-of-print, difficult-to-find previously published work, a plethora of new pieces, story notes, and drawings inspired by the title story.