Monochromes: And Other Stories

Some people just see the world differently.The author of this collection has, at times, argued that The Terminator is a love story, that Bob Dylan’s Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right is joyful rather than bitter, and that the characters of Everybody Loves Raymond are more monstrous than the Bates Family. In his first collection of original fiction, he turns his wry, satiric eye upon landscapes of his own creation - including the early days of skydiving, the terror of collecting unemployment, the extreme sport of competitive standing, a circus performer succumbing to zombie-ism, and the most anticipated day never circled on any calendar - to find horror hidden within humor, hope persisting amidst anguish, and absurdity pretty much everywhere. The views from his pen are equal parts hysterical, unsettling, and thought provoking.Some people just see the world differently. Matt Bechtel is one of those people. There is a vulnerability in the stories collected in Monochromes and Other Stories that is as surprising as it is wonderful. James A. Moore - Author of the Seven Forges series. If emotional sincerity was a superpower, Matt Bechtel would be the hero we’d look up to see soaring overhead. The stories in MONOCHROMES, whether winkingly subversive, angry, absurd, or sad, all reveal something poignant about the dark truths underpinning these characters and their circumstances. Despite the title, there’s nothing monochromatic about the rich vibrancy of Bechtel’s prose. His stories are as colorful as the tights I imagine him wearing. Bracken MacLeod, Bram Stoker Award nominated author of STRANDED and 13 VIEWS OF THE SUICIDE WOODS