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Haunting the Dead features four novellas: “The Grass is Always Greener,” by Petrucha, “Eurydice,” by Lindberg, “Día de los Muertos,” by Rausch, and “Corridors,” by Chillot. Each tale is set in the Orpheus world, and features several details from that setting. The authors handle their respective parts decently well, and other than minor quibbles about language use in the “Día de los Muertos” novella, each part stands out as a strong entry to support the Orpheus line.
“The Grass is Always Greener” features a tale of the after effects of a college drug party gone wrong. The tale has the best opening line of the collection, “The pizza was dead to begin with.” Petrucha has a decent style through this tale, and it builds with the tension of the story, when the characters’ secret is revealed. I thought that the tale would have felt less satisfying once the secret came out, but thankfully it didn’t.
“Eurydice” is a love story, of sorts. Taking notes from mythology, Lindberg builds a tale of two Orpheus agents and the end of their relationship (both with each other, and their company). Plugged into this story is ample use of the setting’s catchphrase, “Don’t look back.” Admittedly taken from mythology, its presence adds to the depth of the tale, as things get worse for the two lovers.
“Día de los Muertos” sends two agents south for the Day of the Dead festival in Guadalajara, Mexico. Hired to investigate a client’s ghostly past, the two learn more about the secrets of the dead, and what waits beyond death. This story features a mixture of English and Spanish phrases, not to a good effect at times. The characters, speaking in Spanish (though written in English), would mix in an untranslated portion of written Spanish. “As you wish mis amigos,” or leaves a “¿Ayuda a mi bebe?” dangling for the English reading audience, though the characters know both languages. It comes across as using a few phrases to pander a feeling of setting. Though in spite of this feeling, I enjoyed the story.
“Corridors” may be the oddest short of the anthology, as its main character is the hotel that the tale takes place in, though the other characters act as the story’s voice. The story jumps from one point in time to another, to round out the characters and their histories. This tale doesn’t feature the setting drug Pigment, as do the others, but it does use Radio Free Death as a supporting character. The best part of this story is the author’s writing style. “Ed sees her make the slashing motions again, sees more wounds appear on her skin. From the corner of his eye he can see a smiler turn in his direction.” This tale, even more than “Día de los Muertos” hints at the unraveling that waits for the Orpheus setting at the end of the limited series.
Overall, this anthology is a solid collection of setting pieces that very much give the feeling of setting and things that could, would (or will?), take place over the course of an Orpheus game. Some things to keep in mind are that most of the characters in these tales are dead, and some tales feature prominent drug use (pigment users) and violence (like, gun shots to the head). If the reader can handle those things, then this anthology would be well suited for their collection. Fans of the horror genre may also want to give the book a look over, as it presents some well developed horror themes.
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