Other Household Toxins by Christopher Allen

Can you tell us a little more about your recent collection, Other Household Toxins? Which story from your collection is closest to your heart at the moment?.

He is presently the co-editor of SmokeLong Quarterly and a consulting editor for The Best Small Fictions 2018. In 2017 Allen was both a finalist (as translator) and semifinalist for The Best Small Fictions.

Allen is a multiple nominee for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, The Best Small Fictions, storySouth‘s Million Writers Award and others. Allen’s fiction has appeared, or is forthcoming, in, Indiana Review, Split Lip Magazine, Longleaf Review and Lunch Ticket, among many other great places. Jude Higgins, author of The Chemist’s House.Īlso available from Amazon worldwide.Christopher Allen is the author of Other Household Toxins (Matter Press) and Conversations with S. I was frequently moved, yet often snorted with laughter. The stories reveal the devastating nature of human existence with great observational skill and wit. These very short fictions are like beautiful intricate puzzles, with many layers and threads to unravel. ‘Once I’d finished reading Now You See Him, Tim Craig’s debut collection, I immediately wanted to read it again. Janice Leagra, Editor of Janus Literary. He holds back just enough to urge the reader to reflect on what is left unsaid and to appreciate that there is always more to the story than a first glance holds.’ Craig proves himself a master of the form, managing the delicate balance of moving from dark hilarity to tragedy and back again. There are glimpses of Barthelme in his examination of human frailties and life’s absurdities. Tim Craig’s crisp, clean prose is refreshing and full of heart. ‘ Now You See Him is a sharp, intelligent collection of flash fiction, written with a lapidary’s precision. Mackintosh, author of The Yet Unknowing World. Now You See Him is flash fiction at its quintessential best.’

This is the essence of good storytelling - while the reader chuckles, a subtle ache remains.

Loss underlies even the jauntiest of his pieces.

‘Nothing combines wit and woe as seamlessly as a Tim Craig story. Christopher Allen, author of Other Household Toxins and Editor of SmokeLong Quarterly The stories in this collection, most a single tight page of killer prose, all deserve revisiting again and again and again.’ With enviable confidence, Craig spins the most varied, playful and poignant tales.

Other Household Toxins by Christopher Allen