M. Rickert. The Corpse Painter’s Masterpiece. (Fantasy & Science Fiction, Sept/Oct 2011)

A strange and unsettling tale, a sort of bastard offspring of David Lynch and Tim Burton (I know they are both male, which makes that conceit even worse…)

It took a couple of attempts for me to get into the story – I found myself a couple of pages in, but hadn’t tuned in to the frequency of the story. The story moves back and forth in time in the same paragraph, which feels a little awkward until you get used to it, then it totally works. Some of the background is revealed as the story progresses, but by no means all, leaving you with a strange, grieving couple, a very strange corpse painter, and a closing scene that leaves a strong impression.

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