Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis is collection of three short stories, written by three young students in collaboration by James P. Blaylock for a class taught by Tim Powers, who provides the introduction. Mirrors, shadows, and secret rooms: the houses in which we dwell are sometimes much stranger than they seem to be, as are the people we think we know. Here are three stories of haunted places that stand waiting for you to enter, their windows shuttered, but their doors unlocked. REVIEWS"e;Coauthored by Blaylock and a trio of his high school students, these three reflective short-short stories employing Blaylock's signature nostalgic prose are individually strong in technique, but weakened by thematic similarities. The eccentric hero of Adriana Campoy's lighthearted "e;Stone Eggs"e; uncovers an entryway into a fantastic world while house-sitting for his uncle. In Brittany Cox's well-written but unexciting "e;P-38,"e; Anderson revisits his imperfect childhood by assembling a model airplane from his father's former shop. Alex Haniford's "e;Houses"e; hurtles toward darkness when Michael returns home for his mother's funeral and accidentally unearths the chilling secret behind his father's spiraling dementia. While Tim Powers offers a short foreword and William Ashbless (Powers and Blaylock's joint nom de plume) provides a whimsical afterword, readers will recognize both as padding and be left wanting more real content. (Apr.)"e;Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.