Country: USA
Genre: Flash Fiction/Horror (for lack of a better word)
Pages: 137
Here's an interesting little oddity. The Uncanny Valley: Tales From A Lost Town is a very compact anthology of short stories that single theme, a strange city in Pennsylvania. There are thirty-three stories stored in a very few pages, which makes the form as interesting as the content. Gregory Miller has crafted a nice, elaborate business card for himself with that anthology. It's not too engaging to read and yet, it's more focused and thorough than a few links to online stories. Better yet? It's been blurbed by Mr. Ray Bradbury himself. I was on the fence about reading it, but the words from a writer I respect so much tipped the scales for me. Did the content held up to the spectacular presentation stunt? Somewhat.
There are two kind of stories in Gregory Miller's anthology. The first kind is about singular/disturbed people and the second kind is about supernatural events.Without hesitation, I can tell you that the stories about singular/disturbed folks are the most interesting to me. The White Dove is the first story of the anthology and one of the best. It's about an old couple, who got caught up by time, routine and the fundamental differences in their personalities. Their problems culminate at the ceremony for the renewal of their vows, organized by the wife, Gertrude. I'm not going to spoil it for you, but it's quite the spectacular ending to years of piled up frustration. Miller has a knack for bringing up visual scenes with just the right pace. The White Dove is going to stay with me for a while. It has the right amount of humanity and unexplainable blood shed. It's very strong.
But the point of The Uncanny Valley is that it's a supernatural place. It's haunted by ghosts or some kind of presence that weights on the people. It's a dangerous ground for writers because you need to find just the right level of exposition you need not to fall in the folklore or the middle grade story. Some of Miller's stories hold well to that and are genuinely creepy. Don't Tell and Miss Jenning's Family will leave you disturbed. Some other stories like Mittens' Last Catch are JUST a little too overexposed to work properly. Horror is a harsh mistress for writers and despite having a very bold approach, Gregory Miller gets burned as much as he succeeds. The high number of stories plays in his advantage, because it's easy to forget a bad one, but there are a few stories in there that made me feel like reading from photocopies pages on a ninth grade school desk. Four or five out of thirty three, not a bad average.
It's not easy to judge Gregory Miller's literary talent with The Uncanny Valley. It reads like an anthology of very early stuff, of a green but very promising writer. Miller deals with the bizarre in a very unique way and bring the Uncanny Valley to life, despite a few hitches in the road. It's a short, easy read for a summer afternoon, but it will leave you with a strange feeling that Miller had more to show than that. Personally, I can't wait to read longer stories and to see him explore the supernatural with darker tones. If you stumble upon The Uncanny Valley, give it a try. It's short, cheap and Gregory Miller deserved to be read. If you're not a fan of the genre, he might not convince you, but he's a name to look out for.