Anomalies and Aberrations

E Floyd Phelps delivers nine distinct tales of horror in Anomalies and Aberrations, a collection that spans domestic dread to cosmic terror. The volume opens with a novella concerning a married couple who relocate to the country to escape urban pollution and crime. They soon discover that the peaceful village of Jacobs Crossing harbors its own hidden dangers. Phelps structures the remaining stories to explore various forms of the supernatural and the unknown. Readers will encounter a noise in a garage that reveals a strange creature refusing to leave in The Anomaly. A shipwrecked yacht captain finds his rescue by a cruise ship turning into a nightmare in V. The collection also features Chocolate, where a NASA scientist’s research on space rocks yields surprising results regarding extraterrestrial life. In Swamp Magic, a biology professor investigating Louisiana swamps realizes that magic, not science, governs the environment. Another tale, The Cat's Meow, describes how feral cats at a small college behave after their caretaker dies. This book suits readers who enjoy short fiction involving scientific inquiry gone wrong or isolated communities with dark secrets. It may not appeal to those seeking long-form narratives or traditional ghost stories without a speculative edge. Phelps qualifies as a writer of supernatural fiction through his focus on the intersection of rational observation and inexplicable phenomena.