edgunk, Miss., isn't just any small Southern town. For one thing, there is a mummy on the loose there, stealing fresh pies from windowsills. A dragon lives in its sewers. Ghosts, alien abductions and unicorn sightings are the stuff of everyday conversation. A tiny pocket of civilization populated by 400 people, plus one yellow dog with smelly black lips, Redgunk is simultaneously a place of prosaic horror and impossible beauty. In Redgunk Tales: Apocalypse and Kudzu from Redgunk, Mississippi, author William R. Eakin provides readers with plenty of swamp gas and a piercing view into the human soul.
All of the stories in this collection interweave the fabric of everyday life with fantasy elements ranging from the bizarre to the beautiful. "The Secret of the Mummy's Brain" is a monologue, delivered by a dime-store mannequin who has been wrapped in bandages and put on display in an Egyptology exhibit, in which he declares his love for the store clerk, Mary Ann Klugel. In "Encounter in Redgunk," a man must deal with decades-old guilt when a schoolmate is abducted by aliens. In "Unicorn Stew," a brother and sister learn the truth about a horrific crime, and about the magical creature who was involved.
Though most of the 13 stories in Redgunk Tales appeared in SF and fantasy magazines during the late '90s, Eakin fans will be pleased to learn that a trio of the stories in this collection are new. "Roadkill Fred" is the tale of a man who likes to run over skunks and the scientists who clone him, while "A God for Delphi" follows a Redgunk resident on a tour of Greece, where he searches for inner peace after the death of his mother. In "The Miracle of Swamp Gas Jackson," a widow redeems the spirit of her late husband and a long-dead jazz legend with one generous act.
A rich and sorcerous brew
Readers who cannot get enough of wonky fantasy will want to rush out right now and get their hands on this book. William R. Eakin's strange combination of day-to-day living and the stuff of tabloid headlines makes for potent fiction, combining heartbreak with humor in every story. Redgunk is brimming with life's harsh realities--abused wives, children with birth defects, drunk drivers, inhumane and greedy land developers--revealing the darkest hues of human behavior. His stories, however, are never entirely bleak. The Mississippi landscape in which they take place is thoroughly enchanted, fully capable of supporting any Redgunkers who strive to save themselves from ruin.
Two of the most powerful stories in the collection are "Unicorn Stew" and "A Dragon of Conspiracy," in part because in using two of fantasy's most employed creatures, Eakin shows the extent of his originality. The unicorn in the former superficially follows the traditional rules of the myths from which it comes, but in Redgunk it only appears to a virgin for the purpose of making a tremendous sacrifice. The dragon of the latter tale is both gorgeous and powerful--but it is trapped in the town sewer system, and cannot survive if it leaves. By taking a pair of creatures who appear so often in fantasy that they are almost invisible, and savagely twisting their tropes, Eakin reminds readers of the great power which drives the genre.
Another appealing aspect of Redgunk Tales is that the stories are interlocked: characters who appear as protagonists of one story are background for the next. Their lives move forward, and the result is that readers gain an impression of a vibrant town with a real past and continuing history. Despite its bizarre occurrences and wandering ghosts, Redgunk is convincingly real. It may not have all that many residents, but readers will be convinced they know them all, alive, dead or undead, with their generous hearts and dark secrets.
