Praise
Darkly humorous and wildly imaginative, A Story or Two to Tell serves up twisted tales with a satirical bite that’s as unsettling as it is entertaining.
Reading A Story or Two to Tell by Alan Crawford feels like sitting across from someone who's lived a hundred lives or at least imagined them all in vivid, unapologetic detail. These two stories, though wildly different in tone and content, are bound by a singular voice: one that is wry, brutally honest, darkly comic, and surprisingly tender in the oddest moments.
Alan Crawford’s A Story or Two to Tell is one of those books that makes you stop and wonder, “Who comes up with this stuff?” And then you realize that’s the point. These aren’t ordinary stories. They’re bold, bizarre, unapologetically twisted, and somehow still incredibly entertaining.
Alan Crawford has a gift for the delightfully bizarre, and More Stories to Tell showcases that talent with unapologetic flair. This slim volume packs in two wildly different but equally memorable stories. “Goings on in Space” is probably the most fun I’ve had with a short story all year. It throws you headfirst into a galaxy where love, lust, and corporate greed are constantly colliding in the most chaotic ways possible. Droids fall in love, shady tycoons fight over intergalactic markets, and there’s more interspecies sexual tension than in all of Star Wars. But somehow, under the layers of irreverence, Crawford sneaks in these surprisingly tender moments that make you pause.
This book surprised me. I expected light entertainment, but Crawford’s stories carry real thematic weight. “Goings on in Space” uses sci-fi not for escapism, but to explore some surprisingly poignant questions: Can machines feel? What does intimacy mean when everything’s synthetic? There's a beautiful loneliness woven into the narrative, buried under sharp jokes and ridiculous scenarios. “A Couple That Kills” is wonderfully ironic. Their community thinks they’re new-age saints, but behind closed doors, they’re wiping fingerprints off silencers. I laughed, I squirmed, I admired the guts it took to write something this unfiltered. Not perfect sometimes the transitions felt abrupt, but the ideas are bold and well-executed.
I’ve read all three books in this series, and Very Odd Short Stories might be my favorite. Alan Crawford's imagination is completely unpredictable in the best way. The stories are short enough to finish quickly but stay in your head long after. Some made me laugh, some made me uncomfortable, and a few were just downright bizarre. Totally worth the read.
Very Odd Short Stories is like a mix of satire, horror, and surreal comedy. Some of the stories made me laugh out loud. Others made me pause and reread the last sentence. The tone can be dark at times but there’s always something clever behind it. A strange little gem of a book.
Alan Crawford has a talent for writing stories that feel like inside jokes from a very unusual mind. The mix of dark humor and random absurdity makes each piece feel completely unique. Not for everyone, but if you like your fiction a little offbeat and a little unhinged, you’ll enjoy this.
Book 3 continues the wild storytelling style from the first two volumes. These 17 short stories are unpredictable and creative with plots that make no sense at first but come together in strange ways. If you’re bored of typical short story collections, this is a fun and twisted alternative.
This book caught me by surprise. Crawford writes with a voice that is bold, twisted, and original. These stories don’t follow any rules and that’s what makes them so fun. If you enjoy fiction that doesn’t try to be safe or normal, this is your next read.