"Bone Ballet" is a short, side-staped booklet of seven short stories, thematically linked through the concepts of bones, crime and horror generally. This is not to be confused with C.S.I. or any such forensics-oriented tales; these are active, character-driven tales. Copies of the booklet can be ordered from the editor's website here, and from Shocklines here.
In my contribution, we follow the protagonist as he meets with the titular Mojo Man, a resident crime lord with... unusual methodology. Saying more would probably ruin the story, as it is rather brief, but sufficient to say it isn't a friendly chat over tea and crumpets.
This is the first story to be published within the context of Chasm City, a fictional metropolis which I use as backdrop for a number of my contemporary horror stories. It was also a rather wickledly fun story to write... taking such dark subject matter as crime (and worse) in an inner city ghetto, then lacing the story with references to fairy tales and mother gooseries as a bit of a twisted counterpoint. Humour, I've always thought, is quite difficult to achieve in prose form, and I've made no attempt at such here, but there is a recognition that taking any piece of fiction too seriously robs it of some of its human element... the interaction between the artist and his medium, and, in turn, between the product and the reader--who is, of course, aware that he or she is reading a book. |
