Alien Virus Love Disaster is a debut short story collection by Abbey Mei Otis, which thrilled and confused me. In the first couple stories I was reminded of a couple of my favorite short story collections of the year, Friday Black and Sabrina & Corina. I relished Otis’ creativity in crafting otherworldly stories and was reminded of Adjei-Brenyah in that satirical brilliance that makes you laugh so hard until you’re on the verge of collapsing in anguish. I was reminded of Fajardo-Anstine in the searing humanness of the characters and their resilient depth. I was riding high on this collection but it began to fray around the edges and I found myself unable to keep up as the narratives again and again dissolved into fragmented dream sequences - both literally dream sequences and inexplicable descents into absurdity.

My favorite stories were the titular Alien Virus Love Disaster, which explores the effects of government experiments with alien technology on the surrounding community after exposure begins to cause their bodies to swell with red lumps; Moonkids, about a group of young adults living on Earth after being separated from their Lunarian parents after failing to pass the exams required to continue living on the Moon; and Blood, Blood, about a pair of friends who earn money fighting for the entertainment of aliens, while struggling to adjust to the alien impact on their world.

Even the stories I liked less had such intriguing imaginative premises that I’m still contemplating, I just wish they were less baffling. If you’re intrigued by any of this, I definitely would still recommend you check out this collection and then come unpack it with me!