Prepare to be ferried to an unfamiliar realm on the bony back of despair. Author Dustin LaValley takes us down face first with rapid-fire flash fiction in the form of Odds and Ends: An Assortment of Sorts. Already associated with the dark and bizarre, LaValley expands his repertoire to experiment with form and literary introspection. These harrowing meditations on the nature of the world--and the very purpose of humanity--not only provide chills, but strangely the effect of this read is vastly disproportionate to its length, leaving us with scars to contemplate for a long time to come."Extraordinary. Hauntingly poignant."--Thomas Ligotti, author of My Work Is Not Yet Done"Odds & Ends: An Assortment of Sorts is exactly that, an assortment of many themes and values written in the least amount of words while delivering the most amount of impact... LaValley uses the one-inch punch method of fiction with less-is-more." --Shadowland Magazine"As a reader I'm tired of the formulaic nature of modern horror, sick of monsters-of-the-week and moral absolutes. Dustin LaValley is trying to create an antidote to tradition, and by eschewing conventional storytelling methods and popular horror tropes he does just that. Check out Odds and Ends if you're feeling jaded by the relentless onslaught of the undead; you'll find a refreshingly modern alternative."--Starburst Magazine"Relentless provocateur Dustin LaValley sets aside the vivid viscera of his excellent 2012 serial killer novella, Spinner, to deliver this illustrated collection of bite-sized philosophical mediations-cum-existential crises, political fusillades (heavy on the anarchy), and harrowing dark fiction vignettes featuring bleak conundrums, dead hookers and living nightmares. Sounds a bit fragmentary on paper, but LaValley's unique approach to inducing dread proves a strong uniting agent."--Shawn Macomber, Rue Morgue Magazine"Provoking images of a mesh compiled of the early works of Brett Easton Ellis, William Burroughs, Chuck Palahniuk, and Hubert Selby Jr., this micro-fiction collection quickly shakes off the feelings of those who have come before and demands its own standard and appeal. To place Odds & Ends in a genre would be an insult and a tragedy, as this really is something that is common to no one label if one at all. It is beyond experimentation phase, growing into its own and is nudging through formulaic literature to plant itself and flourish...With Odds & Ends Dustin LaValley has initiated a free range movement, rooting himself as one of the leading voices of modern day anti-genre literature."--Midwest Book Review