Title: Space Snot
Author: Jonathan Antony Strickland
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: December 1, 2019
Genres: Science Fiction, Horror
Length: 12 pages
Source: I received a free copy from the author.
Rating: 3 Stars
Blurb:
A man gets hit in the head by a meteorite. Then things get a little weird! Friday was the day when a meteorite was shot through my head… Yet here I am! Why? Why did I not die? You may say that I shouldn’t question, say I should consider myself lucky! But the fact is, I don’t!
Content Warning:
Review:
Silliness is underrated.
This is one of those cases where having two narrators in a short story is not only a great idea but makes the execution of a humorous plot line a thousand times better than it would have been if readers had only gotten to know what happened from one point of view instead. Seriously, go read this and see how Mr. Strickland developed both voices and gave them unique speaking patterns and habits that made it so effortless to switch from one of them to the other, sometimes as often as a single sentence at a time. Kudos for pulling this off! It isn’t easy, but it’s so rewarding for a reader when it does happen.
The ending left something to be desired in my opinion. While the most important conflicts were resolved, there weren’t a lot of details about how they were wrapped up or what might happen to the characters next. I’m the sort of reader who likes to imagine what happens next, so even in cases where a sequel isn’t warranted I still like to have a few clues to work with there. It wasn’t quite a cliffhanger ending, but it was vague enough that I felt a bit dissatisfied.
Don’t let the horror genre tag scare you off if you’re not generally a fan of such things. The occasionally gross moments didn’t involve any blood, and they were greatly overshadowed by how playful and wacky this tale was. Sometimes it felt like something written for a middle grade audience instead of an adult one as far as the themes and execution of plot twists played out, although I do believe this was actually intended for adults.
Space Snot made me shudder, laugh, cringe, and shake my head almost simultaneously. This is a fun read for people who want something zany.