Long before the development of AI, humans created automatons in their own image.
These sixteen weird tales explore magical and mechanical representations of humankind drawn from history and myth – from Odin carving humans from wood to Pygmalion’s living statue Galatea, from Julius Caesar’s animated wax effigy to the chess-playing Mechanical Turk, from the first humanoid robot on the International Space Station to online deepfakes.
Dark bleatings, my glorious tribe! I’m talking about a short story collection today, and it’s so interesting. The theme is in the title, but the stories show much more imagination and variety than you might think when you read the word “robots”.
The Funnel
This one gave me chills at the end when I realised what was happening. Mr Freed goes to see a woman called Faye, who has a collection of extremely lifelike automatons, that he wants to write an article about. Two children, AI, particularly freak him out for some reason, and he wants to leave.
A really great opener and a chilling story, particularly at the end. I was full of existential terror by the time I finished it.
Wax Ceasar Displaying His 23 Wounds to the Crowd
Written as a class project report about bringing history to life, a boy recounts the events that unfold on the way to another absolute blast of a final image. I’m starting to think this author really knows how to stick the landing on a story.
The Andraiad
Martin – the real Martin – dies and his daughter pays to replace him with what they call an andraiad. Her mother doesn’t know. He likes making other little machines. He’s constantly perplexed by what he is and why he’s inflicted with guilt-ridden memories. So like most humans, when you think about it. This one made me feel introspective, and I really enjoyed it.
The Ichor Ran Out of Him Like Molten Lead
A tale of Greek, mythological revenge. Very well written but not a personal favourite because I’m just not that into Greek mythology.
Echec!
Written in script format (I’m a script nerd and love this). A human chess player is trapped, seemingly forever, with some sort of mechanical chess player, and they appear to need but hate each other. This one was fun, in a really dread-inducing sort of way!
The Brazen Head of Westinghouse
Oh god, this fills me with sadness. A girl speaks with some sort of robot, only it isn’t JUST a robot, because it can see through time, including the future. It’s something more trapped in the confines of programming, limited to phrases and words that have been input, and movements that are triggered only by specific commands. It’s so sad. Loved it.
Icarus and His Wise Father Daedalus
The story of Icarus and his difficulties with his father, Daedalus – but not the story you think you know. What’s really masterful is how the author conveys the time period – this has to be the first time I’ve ever been shocked by the ‘when’. Loved it. Great story telling, truly.
Degrees of Freedom
Loved this one. an AI (I think) on the International Space Station seems to despise the humans, and balks at the idea of having to go to Earth. It’s content where it is and doesn’t want to be forced anywhere else. I’d imagine this would be an astronauts worst nightmare. (Very entertaining story!)
Ask and Embla
Odin hates his brothers, who treat him like trash. They make pets (I think), and treat them terribly too. This isn’t a revenge story, but it’s for sure about cause and consequence, in a twisted way. I enjoyed it.
Dear Will
A man writes a letter detailing a weirdness he found in a note to someone else, stuck in a book, about a funeral that was being carried out for a wooden effigy. It’s really weird (and wonderful) and made me feel anxious!
Four Fabrications of Francine Descartes
I’m not sure I totally get this one, but it’s about a ship’s Captain and his reaction to multiple versions of the same girl, with increasingly convincing AI.
Milk-White
Horrifying concept. A woman realises that she is a statue, carved out of marble by her husband and blessed with Aphrodite’s grace. It is HIDEOUS because through metaphor (and also some quite literal details), it really does accurately represent the box that women tend to be put in (when we’re dealing with misogynists). Very effective horror.
The Cardboard Voice
All of these stories are so unsettling! How (that’s his name) is putting together a presentation about the harmful risks of AI, when he’s shown an early AI audio generator. He’s moved and impressed at first but then becomes increasingly disturbed as he becomes increasingly uncomfortable in his own skin…
One of my favourites.
There Goes the Neighbourhood
Mr Holdstock and Shante hate each other and fear each other. He is a demon that sets wolves on her where she lives in the woods, and she is a ghoul that trespasses on his property. One day, someone called Bench appears and tells them they’re representations, simulations. It’s nuts.
A Box of Hope: A Can of Worms
Loved this. It’s written as a detailed film review of something old that was never quite finished, thanks to horrific real life events. The film is the story of a woman who was created practically perfect except for something wrong with her hands, lusted after by brothers. In real life, the lives of the actors are much closer to the fiction that anyone would guess, and it’s terrible! It reads as a story of rage to me, and much more.
The Horizon
Short and sad but another favourite. Talos waits on the shore for ships and then sinks them with huge boulders, because he’s a giant made of metal parts, created to protect the island. I’ve been thinking about this one a lot. There’s a lot to unpack, thematically, and it’s fun to think about.
Overall, I’d definitely recommend this to horror fans that like that existential horror side of…horror. Almost every story in here subverts expectations about what you think you might read about technology based narratives, and almost everything reads like a Black Mirror concept. Very refreshing and unique, especially given the subject matter.
If you’d like to check out the book or the author, I’ve popped some links below for you:
Bleeeeeet!
Happy Goat Horror 
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