Foul Black Rookeries (Modern Weird in Darkest Baltimore)
I was lucky enough to see David Simmons read, or rather perform, one of his short stories at VoidCon 2024 and was instantly impressed by his delivery and enthusiasm, but don’t let that grill fool you because underneath the shimmer is a twisted energy that will change your perception of reading entirely. While talking with him briefly about some of the dark wares he was peddling, I was immediately drawn to the yellowed depiction of Alastor, taken from Dictionnaire Infernal, upon the cover of his short collection Foul Black Rookeries. With a symbolic title that only makes sense after you’ve finished, as Simmons drags you into his native Balitmore, this is a must-read intro into a fascinating mind that keeps so distant from most of social media the mystery of who he is ties into the tales he weaves.
“She becomes the vultures in their foul black rookeries. Maddened, she flaps her dorsal wings and capsizes a youngling in a paddle boat. The youngling is dragged under the frigid water. A blue skin – rough and dry, even when the water touches it – breaks the surface. Writhes a bit. Long bone, sharpened against itself over time. The youngling is dead now but to its family it is missing.”
Foul Black Rookeries consists of four short stories, two in particular that lean towards the weird, while the other two dip into true crime and modern-world degradation. This balance works to Simmons’ favor, for the idea of a “rookery” at once evokes images of symbols of death perched and waiting among dilapidated tenements, connecting the human to the primal. Starting with “Lunge,” Simmons gives insight into the dark underground of city life with a touch of realism so vivid one can’t help but to feel a sense of personal tragedy within. This, along with “Ulysess 3000, or…” are the natural backdrop to the other two, “Foul Black Rookeries” and “Marlon Keeps Calling,” the former of which delves into first-person perspective of an uncanny lake being that eats children. Simmons’ writing features an interesting focus on animal and human bodies, centering the reader’s mind on details that stand out from the rest of the prose like a rusted, much-utilized knife as he mixes the weird into the modern pastiche of Baltimore. Simmons has a few other works of note, but I suggest you start here to get a feel for his style.
David Simmons Official Instagram
Written by Stanley, Devourer of Souls
Foul Black Rookeries (2024)
David Simmons
Bruiser Mag
Cover Art: Mark Wadley
4.5 / 5
