Stranger On The Loose is a collection of 28 stories, most of which have been published at a range of small press venues. If you don't know D. Harlan Wilson's work, and are expecting the usual mix of standard serial killer, ghost and monster stories, you're in for a shock. One of the quotations at the beginning of the book is from Kurt Vonnegut: "in nonsense is strength" -- and this pretty much sums up the whole collection. The stories aren't horror, or fantasy as such -- they deserve their own genre. The closest I can get is to say they're surreal. I believe Wilson himself describes them as "irreal".

So what am I talking about? The world of Stranger on the Loose is filled with offbeat absurdity. It is a world of kids and porn stars, fake bag ladies, bakers, bodybuilders and barbers. Children are killed frequently, in horrible ways. Doctors and filmstars are treated with equal irreverence and hostility.

Certain themes stand out. People are rarely who they seem to be: there are characters wearing masks, wearing whole bodies to disguise themselves. Nothing is sacred, nothing can be relied upon, nothing is taken seriously, except by the characters who are usually desperately worried about some problem or other. And while I'm talking about the characters, I must mention their names. In the grand Dickinsonian tradition, people can't have names like Smith or Jones. Instead they have wonderfully flamboyant monikers such as Rakehell Bartleberry, Narnia Hecklebake, Tommy Thingdoer, Mrs. Honda Gonnagitcha. Raised a smile every time.

Some of the stories have erupted from a simple phrase, exploring the possibilities as far as they can. How well do you know the back of your hand? What happens when your knight in shining armour turns up to find another man at your door? A man walks into a bar... and what trouble he finds! And I guess "Disney Reanimated" was too good a title to resist.

At first look, these stories could be the work of any literate child. They capture the lack of respect for laws (physical and metaphysical), the humour, the flippancy, and the utter imagination that we are bullied into losing as we grow older. But on a second read the incredible detail present in most of the stories stands out. There is a deeper concern about identity in many of the stories, and the lust for freedom also comes through strongly. It is by no means as random and nonsensical at it may at first seem.

While I found some of the stories highly entertaining, others seemed rather tiresome and pointless. Overall, the unending surrealism was a bit too much for me. I think rationing may be the best policy. Perhaps a Wilson story a day will keep overbearing sanity away.

Stranger on the Loose is available from Amazon and the author's website is here.