Some people shouldn't be allowed to write. I read Ligotti, Barron and now this J.R. guy and I'm crawling the walls at 3am trying to let a little light in so I can get to sleep. At least someone else understands why I talk to myself in the bathroom. Would you pay $300 to save someone you didn't know? And what about a zombie with poor eyesight? You think you have problems...

A little advice, hide the razor blades and sleeping tabs this is one creepy bleak batch of stories. ( )

This book is a kick ass collection of weird and dark stories. In the very best tradition of weird tales, Robert Aickman and Thomas Ligotti among them, this collection stands tall.

There's some nihilism here, there's some Lovecraftian angles here and then almost smack dab in the middle, there's some major laughs. I think the lighter story was perfectly placed, because my main complaint about the last Ligotti collection I read was that it was too nihilistic, resulting in the urge to kill myself about halfway through. Mr. Hamantaschen wisely avoids this.

Nearly every story in this collection worked for me but my favorites were:

Endemic An imaginative tale about a creative way to catch perpetrators of a certain type of crime.

There's Always Something in the Misfortune of Our Friends That Doesn't Displease Us Focused on IT,(Something Gleeful), and its focus on the horrible patterns we humans get into in our daily living and then using those patterns to achieve its horrible goals. The storytelling style here was absolutely perfect and I loved it.

Nothing This one worked well for me and that's all I'm going to say.

There Must Be Lights Burning Brighter, Somewhere The last story in the collection and the longest. Some killer descriptions here of horrific events (the girl's back? WTF was that?) and the guilt (?) that plagues the survivors. A powerful story, both in description and creativity.

Lastly, the aforementioned funny story: "Jordan, When Are You Going To Settle Down, Get Married and Have Us Some Children? I don't even know what to say. Horrifically funny doesn't seem to cover it, but there you have it, just the same.

Overall, I adored this collection. I feel like I do need to mention that there were a number of small errors in the edition I received. Normally that irks me, and it did here, but the stories were just so damn good, I was able to overlook them. That's the ONLY complaint I have about this sublime collection.

I HIGHLY recommend this book for fans of weird tales, such as those by Ligotti and Aickman, and to fans of short stories, in general. Bravo J.R. Hamantaschen! Bravo!

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My Review of “You Shall Never Know Security” by J.R. Hamantaschen

November 29, 2011

This book is comprised of 13 short stories. I have to say I loved this book. I like dark humor and sarcasm. I would recommend this book to anyone that likes dark and sarcastic humor to taken to its fullest extent. My favorite story was “Endemic”. I am a big fan of poetic justice and I think this story is the epitome of it. This book made me expand my thought process. I look forward to reading many more books by J.R. Hamantaschen.
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I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through Goodreads.

First I must apologize for my delay in both reading this book and posting of my review. Life has a way in interrupting sometimes.

That being said I have only two words to sum up this book. Fluid madness. J.R. has a way of taking his madness and making your brain absorb it through your eyes. When you read this collection, go back and read them again........... maybe even thrice. No matter how many times you read it, read it. ( )

Overall, I liked most of the stories in this collection. I found them more bizarre than anything else; weird but not scary or disturbing. I wish some of the stories were more detailed and more deranged. ( )