Winner of the 2023 Dzanc Short Story Collection, Christian Moody’s Lost in the Forest of Mechanical Birds is an imaginative collection comprised of four short stories and a novella. Moody’s eccentric characters find themselves in altered realities involving comical situations. His wonder tales question the peripheries of one’s imagination versus reality. And though the author’s tales are playful, something darker lurks beneath the surface.
In the opening story, “Go Seekers,” George “loses” his best and possibly only friend Elise in a game of hide-and-seek. A once amusing childhood game between these two characters turns into an epic competitive sport amongst splinter groups of hiders and seekers. Though the stories have a surreal quality, the author’s mellow style makes a never-ending game of hide-seek feel commonplace.
“Go Seekers” isn’t just a whimsical tale meant to amuse; there’s something deeper going on here. Why are these characters hiding in the first place and who or what are they ultimately hiding from? There’s this incredible line— What else is marriage but the person you most want to hide with? —that stands out in the story because it begs another question: What happens when a partner or spouse no longer wants to “hide” with the other anymore? “Go Seekers” teeters on the edge of a loss-of-innocence story, but it is more about one character’s inability to let go of childhood and recognize when the game is over, while another character leaves the game without telling the other. The ultimate act of ghosting.
Book reviewers have a habit of overanalyzing stories—picking apart an author’s subconscious or potential influences in an attempt to make sense of a story. “Horusville” is a story you can get lost in. The town’s name and title, “Horusville” is an allusion to the ancient Egyptian god, Horus, and is an apt title as Horusville is a town full of eyes. The trees are always watching and recording “immoral” acts. The protagonist, Stephen, is reminiscent of another famous fictional boy combatting earthly desires, Stephen Dedalus from James Joyce’s A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man. If there was a soundtrack to this story it would have to be Rush’s, “The Trees,” which also has a blockbuster ending “by hatchet, axe, and saw.” But all small towns have watchers and even if they don’t represent the moral majority, their voices can sometimes overrule common sense. Horusville is representative of our current society—an artful commentary on what is currently happening with freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and perhaps more specifically book banning. Horusville, Whoville, Horusville, Whoville. Mmmm…kind of similar sounding. Don’t forget that Dr. Seuss’s villain, The Grinch, also wanted to silence the town of Whoville.
The title story, Lost in the Forest of Mechanical Birds, is an eco-horror story set in a modern ice age. Moody creates a dark atmospheric tone with his setting—a birdless forest demolished by climate change. In Moody’s dystopian world more traditional deities are replaced by the mechanic, a character who is a godlike figure who rebirths mechanical birds out of the bits and bobs of salvaged from appliances. The fact that the story occurs within the span of two days, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, further implies that the actions of the mechanic are a god-like reenactment of the Nativity in his workshop.
Along with disturbingly graphic details, the author is a skillful writer who layers allusions and thereby adds richness to his narratives. Readers must pay attention, must look for Moody’s Easter eggs and not simply skim over these delights. Along with Chekov’s gun, the Arthurian legend of Balan and Balin and the Dolorous stroke, there’s an allusion to Alfred Hitchcock’s famous movie, “The Birds.” And just as there is no explanation as to why the birds from Hitchcock’s movie attack the town of Bodega Bay, there is no rhyme or reason as to why the antagonist in Lost in the Forest of Mechanical Birds is set on violence—other than solely that violence begets violence.
With the last two stories, “The Babycatcher” and “Ray of Golden Yolk,” Moody demonstrates his comedic prowess. The author suspends disbelief by creating a world where the absurd seems plausible. The babycatcher character is a Crocodile Dundee type who rounds up feral babies to sell on the black market. Edward Gorey once said that “it was his mission in life is to make everybody as uneasy as possible.” This story brought Gorey’s Beastly Baby to mind. Readers will either get it and love it or absolutely hate it and complain about how cruel the author’s characters are to babies in this story. If only everyone had a sense of humor…
“Ray of the Golden Yolk” is a metaphorically brilliant story. Imagine what would happen if farming became industrialized, healthcare commercialized, and there was a term called Big Pharma and then all those entities became besties. Wait, did that happen? The protagonist, Ray, like many Americans, is one paycheck away from total ruin. And then it happens, he has an epiphany—his employer’s dark secrets are revealed. Ray pushes the proverbial red button and halts the production line. He must decide if he can be both a company man and a family man. Toe the line and pay his mortgage or take his family and run.
Lost in the Forest of Mechanical Birds is a cornucopia of genres. Weird fiction? Check. Experimental? Check. Science fiction? Check. Ecological and comedic horror? Check, Check. While the stories have a peculiar bent, the author’s light-handed touch, relatable characters, and vivid imagery accompanied with his wicked sense of humor make the collection a very accessible and enjoyable read. Christian Moody, a modern-day fabulist whose stories deliver a message.
Christian Moody
Moody has been published in Esquire, Alaska Quarterly Review, The Cincinnati Review, the Best New American Voices anthology, the Best American Fantasy anthology, and more. He received his MFA in Creative Writing from Syracuse University and PhD in English from the University of Cincinnati. He was a creative writing professor for many years, and currently works as Brand Director for an e-commerce company. He lives in Indianapolis with his two kids and wife, memoirist and illustrator Margaret Kimball.
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