D.R.E.A.M: : Darkness Rules Everything Around Me

“...my happiness was like a punch in his face.” writes Vincent Lee Smith in the dedication to this eclectic collection of over 50 of his short short stories, and his accompanying photographs, that features every genre from family drama, crime, sacrilegious parables to Science Fiction and Horror. The stories are about life, where anything can happen, where the ordinary day-to-day meets the extraordinary again and again.

“The-The-The” takes a stuttering bartender and drops him and his favorite patron in the middle of a stick up. In “Foreclosure,” a wife recalls her life in her home before the bank takes it all. In “Sentinels,” the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier guard against more than just tourists, but must fight for all the rest of humanity. In “Sheep,” an alcoholic Vietnam vet goes for a long walk right into a den of wolves. “All Saints Day” asks what would happen if Jesus walked into a 70s era New Orleans bar in the middle of football season.

Smith’s ability to render in both words and photos a sense of wonder and a sense of weird within the confines of the short short story form is joyous. In one collection everything is here, all the emotions from ennui to amusement to surprise to fear. Enjoy!