Coulrophobia & Fata Morgana by Jacob M. Appel Book

These ten stories, recounting bizarre crises of everyday life, are gritty, funny, and touching. Coulrophobia is undeniably a different collection than Einstein. If Einstein was a quirky, odd collection that used its bizarre situations as a way of exploring its characters, Coulrophobia confronts its characters’ traumas head-on, with almost every story revolving around secrets, guilt, shame, or crimes long past. Whether it’s the horrific actions taken by the protagonist’s sister in “The Butcher’s Music,” the prank that takes on a life of its own in “Pollen,” the hidden desires of “Hearth and Home,” or the literal haunting of “Silent Theology,” Appel’s characters linger on their crimes and sins, having their doubts and uncertainty often forced into the supposedly disinfecting light for cold, dispassionate consideration.