moments of rest and ease from unexpected corners

September 10, 2021 10:43 AM

John Wiswell has written a few short fantasy stories about domestic settings that turn eerily comfortable or appealing: "Open House on Haunted Hill" and "For Lack of a Bed".
posted by brainwane (6 comments total)

"Author’s Note: I’ve lived with chronic pain for more than two thirds of my life, but until a couple years ago, I never wrote fiction about it.... But it couldn’t be a story about isolation and disabled pain. It had to have the social elements. Here I tried to capture a little about the human support systems that keep people like me going, and that reflect that we matter. A painful world isn’t necessarily coldhearted. If it gets better, it does so because we look after each other."

The result is charming urban fantasy with subverted horror tropes. Thanks for posting!
posted by otherchaz at 12:54 PM on September 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

"Open House on Haunted Hill" is the winner of the 2020 Nebula award for best short story. It is also a finalist for the Locus and Hugo awards.
posted by boymilo at 1:32 PM on September 10, 2021 [6 favorites]

John Wiswell is one of my current favorite short SFF story writers writing today. Another recommendation: We Are Not Phoenixes, about illness and hospice and magic and its cost. It’s stunning.
posted by sgranade at 2:55 PM on September 10, 2021 [7 favorites]

I was just wondering about this sort of thing!
posted by The otter lady at 4:06 PM on September 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

Thanks for posting! These were so charming. I especially liked the nod to green wallpaper in the Open House on Haunted Hill.
posted by winesong at 4:12 PM on September 10, 2021 [3 favorites]

Very nice! Thanks for posting these. I particularly liked the one about the lonely haunted house and his explanation of why he wrote it.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 1:58 AM on September 11, 2021 [1 favorite]