Home Improvement Undead Edition

Home Improvement Undead Edition (#121) is a collection of short stories brought to you by Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner.  Like the previous anthologies put together by these editors, the authors of these stories were given a theme to write about - home improvement projects.  Since the other requirement is that the paranormal world must also feature into the stories, the home projects might not be quite what you're likely to see on reality TV.

Take the wizard who's having problems with his security system after a break-in, or the house that is a link between the mortal and supernatural worlds that human and elf inspectors both want to alter to meet building codes - simultaneously; or the bori who just want the Homeowners's Association in their development to approve a fence to protect their young ones.  The frustrations that the homeowners feel as they're refused permits, made to jump through bureaucratic hoops, overcharged, and forced to live with delay after delay on their projects is something any homerowner can relate to, even if they're not the usual problems.

Fairies, elves, wizards, raisers of the dead, ghosts, malignant houses, and vampires all play a part in these stories.  I must admit I liked some of the stories a lot more than others, and I learned that I don't know anything at all about the fantasy world of fairies and elves, nor am I likely to in the future.  There is a new Sookie Stackhouse story for all the Charlaine Harris fans, but I think my favorite story was The Path by S. J. Rozan.  It features the ghost of a Buddhist monk whose Chinese monastery was discovered by nineteenth century explorers who removed the head from a statue of Buddha in the monk's meditation cave.  The ghost can't move on to his next life until the head is recovered from a museum in New York City.  Unlike many of the other stories, it's not a violent tale, but it certainly is an imaginative home improvement project with a satisfying ending.

I'm not normally a short story fan, but my husband found this book and recommended it based on the collections Death's Excellent Vacation and Wolfsbane and Mistletoe (See my posts of 12/3/10 & 12/27/10) also edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner.  If you like the supernatural, you'll undoubtedly enjoy Home Improvement Undead Edition.