"J.S. Breukelaar moves effortlessly among the varieties of the fantastic, shifting from horror, to science fiction, to fairy tale, sometimes within the same story. Combining gritty, lived-in settings with characters grooved and gouged by their experiences, these stories refract the complexities of contemporary existence, bringing our hopes and horrors to vivid life. Breukelaar’s work collides with the reader, opening us to terror, wonder, and insight”—John Langan, award-winning author of The Fisherman and House of Windows
“Collision shows J.S. Breukelaar’s range, from horror to fantasy to literary to science fiction and every emotional register between, but, after reading this collection, I’m not at all sure there’s any kind of limit to what she can get done on the page” —Stephen Graham Jones
“J.S. is leaving her footprints on a path blazed by luminaries such as M.R. James, Robert Aickman, Tanith Lee, Kelly Link, Charlotte Perkins Gillman, Jeff VanderMeer, Gustave Flaubert, Edgar Allan Poe, Daphne DuMaurier, Leonora Carrington and Charlotte Brontë, to name but a few” —Angela Slatter, Award-winning author of Sourdough and Other Stories, Vigil, and Corpselight
“Stories that start in one place, and end—or don’t—somewhere else entirely, with dread, surprise, and wry beauty along the way . . . Collide with J.S. Breukelaar’s collection, and who can say where you’ll end up?” —Kathe Koja, award-winning author of The Cipher and Buddha Boy
“Collision: Stories, should be on your ‘must read’ list. Breukelaar, an American living in Sydney, Australia, writes in a clean, incisive style with razor-sharp opening hooks, while blending the literary, the speculative, and the weird” —Locus Magazine, Paula Guran
“There’s an ethereal and dreamlike quality to Breukelaar’s prose that demands attention and reflection that keep the reader enthralled beyond the last page” —Aurealis Magazine
“All 12 stories hit the same surreal nerve despite their sometimes vastly different plots, making the transition from one story to another feel like entering an entirely new world. The only predictable element is the collection’s overall strangeness, which is something that never gets old” —Booklist
“J. S. Breukelaar is a writer of obvious talent, demonstrated over and over in this collection” —New York Journal of Books, Walker Townsend