I’m going to try very hard to be fair here. This is about 3.5 stars for me. I love clever, quirky, and twisty short stories with last line reveals. None of these are that kind. That doesn’t mean they aren’t good; because they are. Overall this is a decent collection of stories with paranormal, fairy tale, or existential spins. Worth a read.

It’s also note worthy as it is written by an Australian woman of colour. Certainly a minority not often found in writing circles. I would absolutely read more from Eugen Bacon in the future. In fact a couple of the stories in here, I think, need desperately to be made into longer stories. They have a lot of potential and could easily be fleshed out to be more than how they were presented here.

I know it’s always a fine line between word count and content and it’s certainly not always the right decision; but at least two stories have that quality. In between each of the stories are little snippets of tales that seemed to be native to Australia and like the type of tale you might tell to a child. I really adored these, and the illustrations were lovely!! They broke up the larger stories nicely, and in some cases setup a feel for the next story. This showed that the order of the stories was very intentional and I do appreciate that kind of effort being put in to make the reader feel immersed; even when each story is its own.

Certainly worth a pickup and read; and an author to watch for!

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

The worst book I try to read this year! It is an anthology of bad, boring, sad, discombobulated stories.
In conclusion, a ginormous NO, NO.

Thanks to NetGalley for an earc of this in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Let me being by acknowledging that I DNFed this at 51%. I tried to persevere both because it was an arc but even more because the book has so few ratings (less than 60 as 3/2022). Furthermore, the fact that it has so few reviews meant that I also wanted to give a good rating if only to support a small author. Sadly, I won't be giving an overall rating because I just couldn't finish it.

Bacon presents us with a variety of stories that illustrates a willingness to explore a huge range of genres. That was what drew me to review it. Many of the stories were uniquely weird, but that weirdness was often more confusing than it was enticing. Part of the problem is length. I love a good short story, but many of these are very short. Those that weren't, still felt like they were merely the premise to a bigger story.

These complaints aren't enough to get me to DNF. If every story was like the last one I read (#11), I'd have happily stuck with it. I need to be engaged, and for most of these, I simply was not. The shortness of many of them are part of what made that difficult, coupled with the confusion at times. A longer story provides more time for the reader to pick up on the plot and the themes at large, and I am interested in giving Bacon another try for longer work (I see she has a new dystopia novel coming out soon/2022?). However, these stories are just not for me. I don't think they're objectively bad; almost every story has a really fascinating premise. If it sounds interesting to you, maybe give it a shot.

I wrote mini reviews of each story as I read them. You can read them below; they include commentary on my general thoughts up to that point as well.

Story reviews (the first 11)

#1 The first story is intriguing and very weird and surreal. Its a strong start, the titular story by which the collection is named by. But so much weirdness is such a small package is hard to do without leaving the reader wanting. The confusion will dominate my memory of this story more than the story itself sadly. 3.5/5 star.

#2 Swimming with Daddy.
An easier to follow story but one that didn't strike much of a cord. 3/5

#3 a nursery rhyme
Another intriguing story in a unique and well constructed world but one that feels like the making of a bigger story. It felt like I was thrust into the climax of a bigger story that I had no investment in. 3/5

#4 the one who sees & #5 beatitudes
Both 3.5. A bit more focus from me and I'm feeling a little more immersed. I thought I might have a 4 star here, especially #5 but I wasn't a fan of the ultimate direction

#6 Snow Metal
I entered this close to DNFing the connection because I'm largely struggling to connect. Ultimately, I liked this story, but like the others it felt plucked from a larger more complete narrative. 3-3.5 stars

#7 A Maji Mahi Chronicle
This is the first story I really really liked. It was not as abridged as many, but it did feel like there was more to the world worth telling. 4-4.5 stars

#8 A Good Ball
2/5 stars I don't get it. A competition of…what? Excerpts of obscure scenarios. I just don't get it.

#9 a case of seeing
a buddy cop story. Not my thing. I had little to no interest in it.2.5/5

# 10 The enduring 5-Mar
a more intriguing story, but one I failed to engage with. I fear I may be approaching DNFing this

#11 five-second button
Such a promising story that felt anticlimactic and dissatisfying. We finally have a story I was engaged with and intrigued by only to have it end abruptly. What's worse, the direction it went was odd and failed to make full use of its premise. Then the premise was itself a bit confusing and unclear, despite how intrigued I was by it. 3.5/5

DNF 51%

This collection comprises twenty stories that range in style and content – some crime, some sci-fi/fantasy, some family/relationship drama – but carry an overriding impression of lyrical poetic prose, striking imagery and a resounding flavour of Australian cultural landscapes.

Some of the stories are written in second person narrative form, which worked some of the time but was jarring on occasion. For the most part, though, the prose was lyrical and flowed rhythmically through a series of unusual and expressive word pictures, that captured not only the surface content of the story – a literally disappearing boyfriend, a memory of family love and loss – but hinted a deeper, more connected picture beneath. I was reminded very much of my childhood impressions of the Aboriginal Dreamtime and its stories of ‘how and why’ about the world; impressions which have carried with me into adulthood due to the rich, bold beauty of word and picture.

To borrow a phrase from Sir Terry Pratchett: this is not what a story looks like, it is what a story is.

These are stories to read again and again, to mine for hidden gems and deeper meanings. Not every story will work for everyone, but there is something for everyone – funny, touching, serious or strange.

This collection was delightful, at times dark, serious, at others light, playful. The author writes absolutely gorgeous prose that is poetic, insightful, and imaginative. The stories themselves were nicely plotted, interesting and kept me turning pages until the end. My favorite was probably The Road to Woop Woop (title story), a speculative journey that really hits the mark in describing troubling times in a relationship. In this case, the couple are taking short holiday, when a strange storm hits and things get ... different. In fact, the boyfriend starts disappearing in pieces, first the hands, then the arms, and soon there is nothing left. I highly recommend this for speculative fiction readers.

Truly one of the most original short story collections I’ve ever read, each short story so different from the others in the collection. A few stories pull you in and weave an interesting tale, while others feel so ethereal, it’s like we’re getting the ghost of a story or a fragment of a memory. Fans of Carmen Maria Machado’s surrealist horror would appreciate the literary risks taken with this collection.

I appreciated the author exploring the boundaries of relationships, parenthood, gender, indignity and more. The collection also broke the rules of so many genre tropes, leaning from one genre to the other with the wind. Some featured magical realism with shapeshifting wise men, some were science fiction love stories, others featured singing sirens, intelligence gathering androids, a mysterious child, a time-traveling button, and more. Some were eerie, some were melancholy, others were downright confusing.

Overall, this collection, though intriguing and truly one-of-a-kind, was not my favorite anthology collection to read.

I received a free e-copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I like the rhythm of this story. I am still reading, but it's unlike anything I've read before. It's very strange and almost has a dream like quality.

What I Liked

This is one of the most interesting short story collections I have read. Each story is so different than the last and are so distinctive from one another and at times down right quirky. While there were some stories I enjoyed more than others, I really was drawn into these stories. They were out there, but in a wonderful way. </p>

I really loved how unique these tales were, they were a combination of creepy, but thought provoking at the same time. I have a habit of putting down a short story collection between each story and taking forever to get back to it. Bacon's writing pulled me in and I read quite a few each sitting and easily came back to it. I really wanted to see where the next tale would take us. Like I said each was so unique so it felt like I was going on an adventure with each one I read, but also a surprise.

What I Didn’t Like

As with all short story collections where are just some tales I don't enjoy, but honestly there were not many I did not enjoy in this collection.

Overall

Overall, I enjoyed this collection of horror/fantasy tales. They were imaginative, unique, and inviting as well as making you scared or creeped out. I felt myself reflecting on a deeper meaning of these tales often and it was exciting to read something that made me think on top of enjoying it. If you enjoy horror and want a collection of tales, I think you should look into it and see if it is right for you. I certainly enjoyed it and will be reading more from this author.

The Road To Woop Woop And Other Stories has magical realism and poetry in its DNA, and it is not afraid to show it. Bacon laces many of her stories with poetic writing, which sometimes works beautifully, and at other moments it becomes a bit much, leaving me feeling like I'm part of Creative Writing class.

So you get a sentence like "He still didn’t answer but his silence never left the table or the saucer or her heart— it lurked everywhere it could hurt.", which is poetic while still being clear in its poetry. Many more times you'll get something like "Vision dipped her thoughts in K’s coffee and sought for answers buried in dates and resentments in the muddied froth." (Vision is a character name here) or "She tastes of rain and sun and snow.", which sound like they mean something, but their poetry actually makes them wishy-washy and vague.

The stories are a true grabbag - there's the aformentioned magical realist semi-fairy tales, there's contemporary drama, science-fiction, fantasy, crime noir. Too many of the stories are too sleight to actually make much of a mark, the stories just suddenly end, as if they were an idea quickly jotted down, to be expanded later.

2.5 stars

Thank you to Meerkat Press and NetGalley for the Reader's Copy!

Now available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble & Indie Bookstore!

Eugen Bacon's "The Road to Woop Woop" is one hell of a roadtrip to go on. I don't even know how to describe the unique journey through time, space, language, and genre. There is a focus on relationships, gender, and indigeneity which I greatly appreciated as a reader. Stylistically, though, the language felt a little bit dated and forced, kind of like steampunk. Personally, it was not the right book for me.

This was a beautifully written book that danced between poetry and literature throughout its narrative. The emotions it attempted to provoke were ones seated deep within ourselves, the kind we keep secret even from our own hearts. If a literary style is not your cup of tea then I'd skip this book, but I would highly recommend it to anyone who's a fan of poetry that flirts with being a short story.

I had to stop because the writing style just isn't for me and I had a hard time following along. The way its written and then some of the vernacular was msking it a difficult read.

A collection with a unique voice and wide-ranging styles and themes. This would be a good pick for someone looking for unusual and evocative stories to read between times. The whole book feels liminal. If you read these before bed, you'd have weird dreams. If you read them on the commute, you'd spin tales about the people around you and their relationships and secrets. There's a slant-wise syntax happening, but you get used to it and it become its own rhythm.

Thank you to NetGalley and Meerkat Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow Bacon sure knows how to write beautifully! Some sentences and text structures leap off the page and slap the reader (in a good way), but because it is written in this highly stylized and lyrical way it was hard to understand most of these stories. Unfortunately that means I was unable to connect to many of the themes the author is trying to highlight. I know a lot of what is written is meant to draw out the reader’s emotions regarding relationships, family, diversity, society, inner self, and so on. It was definitely a blast to read all of the magical realism, fantasy, science fiction, and mythological inspirations that permeate these pages. The highlights for me were the titular story and A Maji Maji Chronicle. I just need a different perspective on all of the other stories.

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My kind of stories - truly unique and often strange! Bacon’s vivid writing style requires your full attention but it pays off as you’re brought to amazing times and places while reading.
Favorite stories include: Swimming with Daddy, A Nursery Rhyme, and The Enduring.
Looking forward to reading more from Eugene Bacon!

Thank you to Eugen Bacon, Meerkat Press, and #NetGallery for an eARC of #TheRoadtoWoopWoopandOtherStories in exchange for an honest review. Review will be posted on NetGallery, Goodreads, and Facebook.

Description: "Eugen Bacon’s work is deemed cheeky with a fierce intelligence in text that’s resplendent, delicious, dark and evocative. NPR called her novel Claiming T-Mo ‘a confounding mysterious tour de force’. The Road to Woop Woop and Other Stories imbues the same lushness in a writerly language that is Bacon’s own. This peculiar hybrid of the untraditional, the extraordinary within, without and along the borders of normalcy will hypnotise and absorb the reader with tales that refuse to be labelled. The stories in this collection are dirges that cross genres in astounding ways. Over 20 provocative tales, with seven original to this collection, by an award-winning African Australian author."

I enjoyed the collection and thought the stories were both unique and interesting.

Eugen Bacon's collection, The Road to Woop Woop, contains such a variety of genres, it is hard to believe these stories are all written by the same author. But Bacon is an established, multi award-winning author, so it is no surprise she switches between fantasy worlds with ease.

The second story in this collection, Swimming with Daddy, absolutely floored me. What a beautiful portrayal of grief, and how the loved ones we lose remain as voices in our heads. Gorgeous. This is then followed by A Nursery Rhyme, a fable about parenting, and how dealing with children can sometimes be literally deadly.

There is so much to love in these stories, from the fantastic time-traveling lessons of A Maji Maji Chronicle, to how glimpses of our future can be devastating in unexpected ways in The Five Second Button, to deeply engrossing crime fiction in A Case of Seeing.

I read a lot of short stories, so my preferences are pretty well-established. I would have loved some of these stories to be a little longer, so I could selfishly spend more time with Bacon's creations. This collection consists of over 20 stories, but I feel the collection may have been stronger had this been whittled down a little.

I would recommend this book to everyone, as the variety ensure that there is a lot to enjoy. Bacon is an incredibly exciting writer, and I will absolutely continue to read her work.

The Road to Woop Woop and Other Stories is certainly not for every reader. This collection was not for me despite loving anthologies. The writing style was choppy and hard to connect with (especially with 2nd person) but some readers may love it. The stories were okay but hard to enjoy.

Thank you NetGalley and Meerkat Press for the opportunity to read an advance reading copy.

This is one of the most unique anthologies I've ever read! Each story I went in having no idea what to expect, and I really enjoyed that kind of a surprise. This ultimately was a really cool introduction to Eugen Bacon's writing and I'd love to continue to read her work.

Thank you NetGalley and Meerkat Press for a free ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This is hard to review. I'm a fast reader, but it's taken me two or so weeks just to get to 30%. The stories are imaginative and interesting, but the writing is very hard to follow. I was constantly rereading and jumping back to the beginning to try to keep straight who was who, if the story was about people or animals or creatures, where it was set, etc. The stories vary wildly whether they're realistic, current/past/future, or fantasy. There's no intro or explanation for any of them, and because they're each just a few pages, it was exhausting to keep up.