Dale Carnegie once said — “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.”
I say– “ Do sit at home and keep fear as close as possible to you, because before you know it by the end of this book, you may just lose it and become fearless!”
“Macabre Tales” is a thriller anthology brought together by Chrysanthemum Chronicles. It is a dystopian corpus ignited by Monalisa Joshi, the director and founder of CC, the book was edited under the fine guidance of a brilliant poet and writer/editor Nandita De nee Chatterjee. The book has 17 short stories written by prolific splendid writers.
Dr. Santosh Bakaya a seasoned and amazing writer, sets the mood for this thriller, her story ‘And the fireplace roared on’ is unimaginably mysterious that will keep you guessing till the end. It is about a new year’s party, the exuberant guest and their lively discussion on the liquor, entrepreneurial skills, love for antiques, ailments, poetry, and stock market et al. And amongst all these vanity talks were two guests who were uninvited. Story set in the cold winter of December with the fireplace roaring, what was the purpose of these two gatecrashers? Who were they?
‘The Patient’ by Harshali Singh throws light on the Dissociative Identity Disorder and the ordeals a senior doctor faces under politics and power play. In the fight between the wrong and the right, who wins? It’s a story about a person’s multiple personality disorder and complicating decisions making by the medical fraternity.
‘Last of the Pench Tigers’ by Antara Banerjee is a story that will shake you up to womanhood and woman power. When the submissive wounded ones take charge to revenge and find justice in their own hands, hell breaks loose. This is a must-to-be-read story of unrelenting spirit, terrifying acts by brave women, and the echoes of their defiance and confrontations.
‘Larceny of Identity’ by Purba Chakraborty is a story about human insecurities, revenge, and denial. It is a story about deceit and lies using a doppelganger. It is an intriguing tale and depicts human shades of revenge and jealously.
‘Kurchi-The wild flower’s tale’ is a titillating tale about a couple’s lustful nights of obsessive love and yet their lack of steam in their conjugal togetherness. Lopamudra Banerjee has beautifully crafted femininity revealing the insides of a yearning woman, her yearnings, and her search for something unknown.
‘The Last Train to Earth’ by Monalisa Joshi is a fascinating story, with an interesting name to it that makes you want to read about this last train. Who are the passengers and why is it the last train? The story about a woman who desperately wants to get onto this train but why? This riveting story of longing and separation will leave you spellbound.
‘The Elixir and the Nemesis’ by Sreeparna Sen is a suspense thriller in the real sense. The plot develops quickly and swiftly, shifting focus and makes you race your mind a la Sherlock Holmes to find the real culprit and the victim. The story is engrossing and will keep you hooked till the end.
‘The Connoisseur’ by Alipi Das is an interesting tale about a blast from the past and how the past tries to reveal the doings, jolting an unrelated family of their peace and sanity. The narrative is strong and keeps you glues till the end.
How buckled-up emotions can turn into grief and loneliness, hate and regret is what ‘Delusion’ is all about. With a fine and crisp narration by Muskan Sharma, this story has a gripping suspense build up in the middle of the story that makes it impossible to pause and you may find yourself finish and complete it in one breath.
‘Love with Fire’ by Dr. Paromita Mukherjee Ojha is a story with shades of love, denial, hate, revenge, and deceit. Strange is love and strange are the feelings that come with rejection that reveals the true nature of humans. The engaging tale has indeed all the elements of a thriller.
‘Ratha Katteri’ by Varadharajan Ramesh is folklore of a creature with an unquenchable bloodlust. The kingdom of King Vikrama Varma feels unsafe with a monstrous entity – Ratha Ketteri. The astrologers claim the influence of Mars and reincarnation on the king’s younger brother. What havoc and terror does he bring to the kingdom and who would control it. It’s a wonderful mythical tale of horror by a wonderful writer.
‘Being immortal’ by Preeti S. Manaktala : Now, since I wrote this story I cannot review it myself, but here is a short summary instead.
Can dreams turn you and your personality into becoming demonic? Can dreams run you and your day? This tale tells the story of a woman who is stalked by evil voices in her head and the grisly dreams that makes her do evil things which turns her into the vile woman that she is not.
‘In Your Bloody Eyes’ by Rashmi Agrawal is a vengeance tale with intriguing twists and turns. The quick turn of events planned moves and the interesting plot makes it engaging for the readers to indulge in this treat.
‘Fly with Me Love’ by Preethi Warrier is a story that builds up well right from the very start, and you will find yourself completing the story in no time. A very well-crafted unique tale of a family’s tussle with violence and disturbed life. The writer has crafted a true thriller in every sense.
‘A Complot on the foothills’ is an intriguing story set in the foothills of a quaint township. Penned by Moushumi Bhattacharjee it portrays the dark truth of today’s current times. It’s a story of a murder that is camouflaged as an accident, the search for the culprit and the underlying corruption holds the story together making it very gripping.
When a bestselling crime author moves into a house with a dark history, he finds himself write the story of the house dweller who vanished into thin air. Would he be able to get to the core of the truth and find the real culprit or will all his efforts too vanish into thin air ‘The Fulcher House Mystery’ by Zainab MM is a story that the readers would wish does not end.
‘Forbidden’ by Nandita De nee Chatterjee tells a story of the sexual harassment and molestation of a section of a vulnerable tribal group, the Adivasi girls. It is a story about three girls on their anthropology project in a small town near Khargone. It is an intriguing tale of eerie encounter, salvage, and belief.
All the stories in this collection absolutely fit into this book –The Macabre Tales, published by Chrysanthemum Chronicles this book shall keep you on the edge and you may want to wish for a part 2 by the end of it.
A little about the publishing house – Chrysanthemum Chronicles :
This is the utopian land of contemporary fables, folklores, whimsical tales, and verses. It is a place of candid expressions of literary journeys in abundance. It is a publishing house that gives shape to myriad unspoken, unheard voices from Asian subcontinents and across the globe through its literary voyage.
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