Diabolical Plots #87, May 2022
“Mochi, With Teeth” by Sara S. Messenger
“The Many Taste Grooves of the Chang Family” by Allison King
“Vegetable Mommy” by Patrick Barb
“A Strange and Muensterous Desire” by Amanda Hollander
Reviewed by Kevin P Hallett
There are four new short stories in the 87th issue of Diabolical Plots. One story was flash, while all four were entertaining reads.
“Mochi, With Teeth” by Sara S. Messenger
Magic is part of June’s family in this short fantasy. But she left Japan as a child and couldn’t read the Kanji in a book of magic she had just purchased. Yet she hopes to find a way to recreate a simple spell her grandmother always liked to show her. The magic handbook’s cryptic advice is hard to understand; she must find a thread from Japan to make it work.
The story was quick and heartwarming, like a remembrance of a happy childhood.
“The Many Taste Grooves of the Chang Family” by Allison King
Ba came from Taiwan as a teenager in this SF short. All his adult life, he took his two children to a rundown Chinese restaurant so he could experience its oily chop suey that uniquely reminded him of his original home. And throughout those years, his children resented these trips, preferring to eat at McDonald’s instead. They even concocted a vile drink to show their father up.
Now Ba is an old man who is losing his memory and can no longer find the taste that reminded him of his lost home. But a new invention from China, called Remote Mouth, offers a chance to recreate any taste based on a person’s memories. However, the first time Ba uses it, he decides to use it for revenge.
The author’s story reminded us that our tastebuds can invoke our distant memories. Still, the tale offered little to grab the reader.
“Vegetable Mommy” by Patrick Barb
The boy is home alone in this flash SF. The sky had already turned yellow before his mommy left and never returned. So, now he sits in the bath with a model of mommy made from vegetables that gradually rot, as he gets thinner.
The story was a quick and chilling trip into a dark future.
“A Strange and Muensterous Desire” by Amanda Hollander
She is determined to win the State Fair’s grilled cheese competition in this short horror. In fact, she’s so engrossed in cheeses that she hardly notices the new boy, Byron, with his sharp teeth and hypnotic eyes. Meanwhile, people are disappearing from the area.
Byron keeps trying to entice her to do something, but she only thinks about grilled cheese and beating the boy she likes, even though he is never around during the romantic full moons.
The author’s story was humorous at first, but it didn’t take long to realize the joke, and from then, it dragged.
You can follow Kevin P Hallett’s writing on www.kevinphallett.com