Review | After the People Lights Have Gone Off by Stephen Graham Jones

A collection of fifteen short stories about ordinary people in ordinary situations. Only there’s something simmering underneath, hiding behind the mundane, that changes everything.

The past is the past. Sometimes it should stay there.

After the People Lights Have Gone Off is delightfully terrifying. I took forever to finish this book because I needed to take a breather after each story to let it sink in! The author made every character feel real through their fear, desperation, regret and anguish. It was easy to get into their lives for a short while.

The surprising thing about the stories is that while they are disturbing, strange and bleak, they aren’t harsh. Despite the theme of grief and loneliness, there is also a lot of love. It ranges from a father who fears for his son’s fate in Brushdogs; a family of werewolves caring for each other in Doc’s Story; a couple on the verge of a revelation at a rest stop in This Is Love; to a husband and wife shattered by a tragic accident in the title story.

If there is one thing that I would pick on is that some of the stories ended abruptly without resolution, and I wanted a little more. But overall, a thoroughly enjoyable collection – best not to read at night!

About the author: Stephen Graham Jones

Photo by Jonathan Simcoe