Review: Spilt Milk

Spilt Milk by D. K. Cassidy is a short story collection that tells the entwined lives of two very disturbed guys, Caleb and George.

A Disinterested and Abusive Father is Oblivious

A drug-addicted mother dies in childbirth producing her son Caleb. A disinterested and abusive father is oblivious about his young son’s predilection for harming small animals.

After performing a heinous crime that lands him in a juvenile mental hospital, Caleb welcomes his eighteenth birthday. The young man can now seek friends that understand him.

George learns early to build a closet sanctuary that his battling parents never bother to investigate. It comforts George to fill his fortress with misbegotten collectables. He too is now an adult. Rather than battling a dangerous addiction, collector George embraces it. His vice is a monstrous lifestyle, because his imaginary friends urge George to do so.

A Surreal, Yet Reasonable, Dreadful World

Caleb posts a help wanted ad for a worker who loves collecting special things. The night job takes place behind the hospital. Caleb and George hit it off. Pity the people who catch the duo’s interest.

Spilt Milk is a subtle, disturbing, and delicious collection of related short stories that takes the reader into a surreal, yet reasonable, dreadful world. The stories have no bloody and squeamish parts, but nonetheless, they made Lita’s gut cringe. Between George and Caleb’s vignettes are glimpses into the sad and odd souls who cross their path. D. K. Cassidy uses a masterful hand in describing the characters. The frugal prose is much more effective than gushing over the bloody details. Lita just had to read the book twice, and it scared the bejesus out of her the second time, too.

Spilt Milk is highly recommended for Gentle Readers who have always wondered why some innocent-seeming people make them feel like a hellcat just ran over their grave. Now we know.