I Know a Place
I Know a Place by Nat Cassidy was a real roller-coaster. You never really know what you're in for with a story collection (also, for what it's worth, with Nat Cassidy), and this one really messed with me. I mean, I should have paid more attention to the subtitle, I guess, Rest Stop and Other Dark Detours because...yeah.
To be clear, this is all a compliment. The novella "Rest Stop" was nominated for a Bram Stoker award, so it's clever to start with that one - or not so much if it's setting the bar too high? Just kidding, this is a strong collection, and "Rest Stop" is an appropriate jumping off point to the remaining 12 short stories (or "detours").
"Rest Stop" as well as several of the stories are reprints, but they feel like they belong together in this collection. There's a throughline that is just a vibe even for the stories that don't seem to have anything in common. It feels like there's some omniscient presence with a dark sense of humor always watching, even when there's no particular humor in the story. We know it's lurking, telling us, "Look, this is f'd up, but don't take it so seriously. Except the part you should."
I'm not going to call out every story, but I do want to start with Rest Stop as it accounts for about a quarter of the book.
"Rest Stop" is set in 2016, which is important only in that it immediately depressed me and would have even if it didn't start with a dying grandmother. That's when the timeline split, right? And we ended up in the worst one? Anyway, Abe gets stuck in a fight for his life in a gas station bathroom. And written on the wall in that bathroom is "sally sparrow duck now" which does not help explain the story, but I loved it. (blue hearts) It's also about life and love and how people react when things don't turn out as hoped.
Some highlights from the "detours" for me were:
Both "Meet-Cute"s; in different ways, they were clever character studies and perhaps cautionary tales.
"Laughlines" was probably my favorite of the collection. It was a modern gothic story about a young woman who has traveled to a remote village as she tries to connect with her father whom she has never met. It's told via a series of emails which adds to the tension throughout and makes the ending extra impactful.
"A Fruiting Body" - I need to see a production of this. Stat.
There is probably something for every kind of horror/fantasy/sci-fi fan here, from time travel to spiritualism to cursed tapes to a lot of WTF is even going on in this one? If you're a Nat Cassidy fan, this is a must read. If you haven't read him before, this is a great start. If you've read him before and aren't a fan? I don't know what to tell you. Did you read When the Wolf Comes Home? It's impossible not to like that one.
Thank you to NetGalley and Shortwave Publishing for the advance copy for my unbiased review. Pub. date: 5/5/26
