Review: Kaleidoscopes in the Dark: Dark Short Stories in Technicolour
Reviewed by Imogen Gadd
Author:
B. G. Rogers
Publisher:
B.Press
ISBN:
9780473648794
Date Published:
31 October 2022
Pages:
112
Format:
Paperback
RRP:
$19.99
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“Short. Readable. Disturbing. The stories in Kaleidoscopes in the Dark paint the more sinister elements of the psyche in technicolour. The collection writhes with black humour, remnants of fairy tales and gothic themes.”
That’s how the promotional material describes Bethany G. Rogers’ new collection and, as a lover of horror, I’d agree and add that the short stories in Kaleidoscopes in the Dark are a must read for fans of the genre.
Rogers’ prose and poetry has been published and commended internationally and in 2021, she was selected for the New Zealand Society of Authors mentorship programme for emerging writers. Kaleidoscopes in the Dark is the result. It was the clever title that drew me in; what kept me reading was the cornucopia of fairy tales, gothic themes and unexpected worlds which allow Rogers to explore the realms of experience and emotion.
The kaleidoscope of reality is continually twisted to blur the edges between light and shadow while imagery is effectively used to transport readers deep into the realm of imagination, where the fantastical starts to feel real.
In Great Grandmother’s Stories, she describes a child crawling through plastic waste in search of water, trying to outsmart and avoid the blood-drinking gulls desperate to drain her. Rogers ponders death - the duality of good and evil, right and wrong - and the way people take their stories with them when they die in The Program, where a young woman plots her way onto a reality TV show where murderers are publicly executed in a manner that mirrors their crimes.
Rogers even attempts – and pulls off – a twisted take on Judith Kerr’s classic children's story The Tiger Who Came to Tea. She considers and contorts themes of innocence and the naive, all-too-trusting nature of children in Tiger Food. Here, a young girl befriends a talking tiger who’s not as cuddly or willing to share take tea as those portrayed in children’s books.
Full of wonder and terror, Kaleidoscopes in the Dark is a compelling blend of deliciously dark short stories sure to engage the mind. Wonderfully conceived, and beautifully written, Kaleidoscopes in the Dark presents as being shot in rich technicolour, and it is sure to enchant you.
Reviewed by Imogen Gadd
