Strange Horizons, April 9, 2018

“All of Us Told, All of It Real” by Evan Dicken

Reviewed by Victoria Silverwolf

The thin line between the fictional and the actual is explored in “All of Us Told, All of It Real” by Evan Dicken. The narrator returns to his childhood home after the death of his mother. The police shot her when she attacked them with seemingly superhuman strength. They found multiple murdered bodies in her basement. As he rummages through the cluttered house, he finds evidence that his ordinary memories of childhood may be false, and that the fantastic, often macabre stories his mother told may be true. The author’s choice to make use of themes from horror fiction to create this tale of reality and illusion is questionable.

Victoria Silverwolf thinks the content warning that comes with this story is somewhat justified.