A Graveside Gallery: Tales of Ghosts and Dark Matters by Eric J. Guignard is not a light read, nor does it pretend to be. This short story collection plunges headfirst into some of the darkest corners of human experience, unflinchingly portraying grief, trauma, cruelty, and the raw edges of humanity.
Content Warnings: Cancer, sibling loss, dog abuse, rape, racist terminology, death of children, childbirth, and other potentially distressing material.
Let’s dive in!
My Thoughts on A Graveside Gallery: Tales of Ghosts and Dark Matters by Eric J. Guignard –
MY GOSH. I just love Eric’s work.
In this collection, my favorite stories include:
- The Telephone Game
- The Moon Over Andersonville
- Incident at the Red Hawk Road Stop
The Telephone Game is the standout story for me. I cannot stop thinking about this one!
Per usual, here are my thoughts on all the tales!
Penny’s Diner –
Distraught over an accident that occurred, this man stops for food while on his way back home. As the events of the day become too much for him, he struggles even more with what’s to come.
What an eerie tale to kick things off with!! I have so many questions!
A Kingdom of Sugar Skulls and Marigolds –
After a drunken evening on Dia de los Muertos, this man wakes up to a startling scene. Even if he doesn’t want to admit it to himself, his grief has led him down a path where he can finally start to process what happened months ago.
So many layers of heartbreak here…
If I Drive Before I Wake –
While commuting to work, this man takes a nap in his self-driving car. When he wakes, he realizes something is wrong.
I hardly trust cruise control. A self-driving car? No thanks!
Bummin’ to the Beat of the Road –
Bumming a ride, this character finds himself with an older man who has an obsession with teeth and questionable methods of finding a reliable ride.
Holy moly. While reading, I kept asking myself what was happening. That ending was wild!
The Telephone Game –
Oh. My. God. This is the creepiest take on this game that I’ve ever heard. Oh, this is going to haunt me.
The Tale of Samuel Whiskers Continued; or, A London Digression –
Traveling to London to see if things would be better for them, these two rats only find hate everywhere they look.
I didn’t know the story this play homage to, but my gosh, Samuel Whiskers is a very unlikable rat.
Drink, Drink From the Fountain of Death –
While out hunting for antiques, these two wind up in a town that wasn’t marked on the map. Thinking they can backtrack to get to the highway again to get out of there, they quickly learn that the town isn’t planning on letting them go so easily.
The atmosphere of this one is stifling. I was so claustrophobic thinking about all the rain, the forests around them, and the night that approaches much too quickly.
Ritual Sacrifice to the Great God of Skates –
A wild ride of skating and letting go!
The Moon Over Andersonville –
Starving prisoners of war try their best to survive their terrible situation.
Oh my gosh, I love a tale told through such things as journal entries and letters. This was so darkly fun! That ending. Woof.
A Stroke of Death –
Previously enjoying being an artist, another man has realized the power behind the works before the artist himself does. Now he struggles to continue to paint, but is forced to and then forced to destroy the artwork.
Phew, this one was dark! This poor man!
The Shimmer of Trees –
While out on a hike, this man thinks his mind is playing tricks on him. But soon he’s running for his life.
The premise here is so eerie. There’s always such a draw for me to isolation like this, but it also completely freaks me out!
Ommetaphobia –
After being blind for his whole life, this man can finally see! But there’s a catch… he can see eyes on everything, even inanimate objects, and they’re watching him.
I struggle already to eat meat, if all of my food had eyes on it, I would starve. This tale only gets worse and worse! This poor man.
The Ascending Lights of Yu Lan –
While his mother had warned him not to go out on a night like tonight, this man down on his luck just can’t seem to stay out of trouble.
I was so nervous to see where this tale was headed!
Two Hearts Make a Half; or, Ghosts of a Rodeo Clown –
When passing away, a soul is split into three or four bits, depending on the circumstances. This man, who was split in four, still struggles with the life that comes next, but he’s about to have an interesting night.
I loved the different viewpoints we got here! I couldn’t wait to see what would happen next.
Perchance to Dream in Voices of a Fiend: A Fanciful Epilogue to Frankenstein –
When Frankenstein’s monster is rescued from the sea, he tells the captain his struggles – that every piece of him has a voice.
My gosh, the element of this tale where each piece still holds memory and can say whether it’s pleased to live on or not, was so unsettling.
Incident at the Red Hawk Road Stop –
When approached by a lone woman who needs gas, this man isn’t impressed by anything she says or does, until she works her magic. She predicts his death, and as much as he doesn’t want to believe it, he can’t help but fixate on it.
The fact that this takes place mostly in the dark adds an even creepier level to the tale of horror!
O Shades, My Woe –
A soldier in King Arthur’s army is tasked with something terrible that haunts him.
This was a tough read! Content warning for things related to children.
Carmine Lips and a Fade into Oblivion –
As the last two people, they decide to make the most of the time they have left.
Gosh, this had such an upbeat and fun time with little glimpses of the darkest terrors.
The First Order of Whaleyville’s Divine Basilisk Handlers –
Living in fear of snakes, both in their church and those that come from a town over, five men catch the eye of the new girl in town…
So unsettling! Snakes freak me out to begin with, and where this story takes us was wild!
My Favorite Passages from A Graveside Gallery: Tales of Ghosts and Dark Matters –
My life lay spread out before me then, like a blank sheet of paper, and I had the pen to draw in all the lines of a map, wherever I wanted them to go.
— Bummin’ to the Beat of the Road
Moonlight plays funny tricks on a landscape at night, especially with wind; it moves shadows around, distorts objects, causes things to appear and disappear.
— Two Hearts Make a Half; or, Ghosts of a Rodeo Clown
My Final Thoughts on A Graveside Gallery: Tales of Ghosts and Dark Matters –
At its core, this collection is a fearless dive into the kinds of horrors that linger long after the last page. These stories don’t flinch, and neither should you— you’re going to love this if you’re the kind of reader who seeks out fiction that unsettles, challenges, and sticks with you!
Thanks for reading!
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