My Two Cents (Book Review): THE LEPER'S GARDEN AND OTHER CONTAGIONS by Jeff Clulow

Jeff Clulow's new collection of short stories, "The Leper's Garden and Other Contagions," is nothing short of brilliant. I knew he was a talented writer going in, having read his gothic horror novel "Veil" earlier this year. But from the opening passages of the first story, "Rats' Alley," I realized that Clulow was, in fact, a PHENOMENAL writer, one of those rare and extraordinary talents whose work is so impressive, you can't even envy it as much as you covet it, longing for even one iota of comparable imagination and ability.

"Rats' Alley" is a gut punch of an opening salvo, and from there, Clulow seems to have made it a personal imperative to make each story more vivid, beautifully written, and haunting than the last. Some leave you hanging on a hopeful note, such as "The Songbird on Sampan Street" with its lessons on surviving grief, or "The Hare Bride" and "The Hidden," a pair of grown-up fairy tales about finding our better halves (whether in this world or the next).

Other stories go to some dark, disturbing places, and perhaps none more so than "The Leper's Garden" itself. It's my favorite of the collection, filled with some vicious twists, as a charming and ambitious swindler helps an equally conniving businessman in a hostile--and horrific--takeover of a competitor's business and home. Discovering what the eponymous leper's garden actually is, and how it comes into play in the story is part of the fun, so no spoilers here, but trust me--your skin's going to crawl.

Each of the stories in "The Leper's Garden" are set in the past, but Clulow has mastered the fine art of finding just the right narrative tone, pacing, and phrasing to capture a vintage atmosphere without seeming stodgy, stiff, or pretentious. There is an elegance to his writing, a lush and descriptive attention to detail that belies the more ominous undertones of many of the tales. There's not a story in this book I didn't absolutely love, but my top picks would have to be "Rats' Alley," "The Leper's Garden," "The Deceiver's Tale," "Lazlo the Unformed," and "The Hare Bride."

"The Leper's Garden and Other Contagions" isn't a book you simply read; rather, you hang on its every word, absolutely enthralled, dreading the moment when you finish, because you hate to have it end. In all honesty, it's the best book I've read all year, in terms of both the caliber of stories and quality of writing. Clulow is a masterful storyteller, and one you won't soon forget.

Available in ebook and print here.