[Review] Dancing With Tombstones

Dancing with Tombstones

Michael Aronovitz

Cemetery Dance Publications

5/5 Stars. 

First, I’d like to thank Cemetery Dance Publications for a free e-book in exchange for an honest review. Every reader knows how rare it is to like every story in a collection, but that’s exactly what happened with Dancing with Tombstones. There was not a single tale that wasn’t well written. They all flowed well and had distinct elements that made them unique. There were stories written in the first person POV, the third person POV, written in a dialogue format, stories woven within each other, and ones narrated through snapshots. The book is divided into four sections: Girls, Psychos, Tools and Tech (which contains the novella Toll Booth), Martyrs and Sacrificial Lambs. I’d also like to point out that they wrote these short stories during a span of ten years, and I think that’s one reason the tales were so wonderfully distinct and varied both in theme and style. 

Seeing as there are seventeen short stories in Dancing with Tombstones and if I were to comment on every single one, this review would never end, I picked my favorite from each section. Starting off strong with The Girl Between the Slats from Girls, we have what seems to be a standard story of how the ghost of a little girl came to be. However, the reader soon learns that things are a lot more complex than they look, and every time you think you’ve figured out what’s happening, the author throws you another curveball. This was the trickiest one to pull off because of the structure the author was working with. It required impeccable timing and the ability to keep the reader invested throughout all the twists and turns. Moving on to the Psychos category, we have Quest for Sadness, which takes the concept of the antichrist and gives it an interesting twist. The choice to have a filthy rich man being confronted by his own “servant”, that he fitted the role of the antichrist, was incredibly smart. After all, if the devil really sent someone to the earth, it would most likely be a millionaire. The hard thing to do with a character like this protagonist is making the reader care about his fate. The author sidesteps this issue by keeping you engaged with the story, by making you want to know what the character is going to do to others, instead of what’s going to be done to him.

From Tools and Tech, I picked The Tool Shed and if there’s one trope; I love is the father who’s got a skeleton in his closet, or, in this case, the tool shed. Even though the reader can figure out early on who the culprit and the victim were, the story keeps you hooked on the how. Sprinkling in the supernatural element and having the focus be this creepy shed full of animal remains puts this story over the top for me. Now, the best for last, very few pieces of literature have hit me as hard as The Soldier. I was not expecting something so emotional, especially regarding the topic of the story. To me, this tale perfectly showcases the dangerous consequences of toxic masculinity and how damaging it is to push boys to be “tough” all the time. It’s also such a beautiful representation of fatherly love and the strong bond that can exist between father and son. Just remember to have a tissue box handy when you read this one, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Finally, if all of that wasn’t enough to convince you to pick up this amazing collection, let me present to you one more reason. How could you not want to read a book that has one of the most powerful lines I’ve ever read: “I have a soul, but I loaned it to the church.”