Short Stories 366:303 — “Chaya and Loony-Boy,” by Rati Mehrotra

A favourite from Playground of Lost Toys, "Chaya and Loony-Boy" walks this fine line between a youthful ghost story, creepy "dolls are live when you're alone with them," and something altogether charming and compassionate. We meet a little girl who has broken something of her grandmother's—or, rather, her somewhat petulant and ill-behaved doll, Chaya, has …

Short Stories 366:287 — “Goodbye is a Mouthful of Water,” by Dominik Parisien

Yesterday's brief respite from the month of dark and creepy notwithstanding, today's story, found in Playground of Lost Toys, is an atmospheric and slow-building-shudder of a story from Dominik Parisien, who I've been lucky to meet a few times via Can*Con and the Prix Aurora Awards (Dominik, who edited the fiction content, co-won the Aurora …