The Bad Things We Did – Chris Archeske

5 stars!

This is my first time reading any of Chris’s work, and I can say with absolute certainty that it will not be my last!

The Bad Things We Did is a collection of stories that show, simply put, people behaving badly. From an animal rescue influencer attempting to stage a dog rescue to a power-hungry HOA president with a vendetta against a resident to middle school kids breaking into an abandoned elementary school and playing with the forgotten parachute that they found, and more….this book has a little bit of everything.

Every story in this collection is so good! Honestly, I don’t know that I can pick a favourite because I loved them all. If push came to shove, I suppose I’d pick The Candy Cane Man simply for the fact that I despised Lee and was glad to see him get what he had coming to him. He was so insensitive and a complete jackwagon to Paul; he deserved every second of what happened.

My runner-up would have to be the opening story, The Bad Things We Did. I read a fanfiction awhile back centered around the concept of malicious compliance (following instructions exactly as they are said, even if the consequence of the action will be unintended or negative) and this story reminded me of that, though in a much more naive and innocent way. It’s uniquely horrifying to think what could happen if a child (or anyone really) took everything literally and wasn’t corrected, and it’s something I’ve never thought about much until now.

I’m reading this collection in the lead up to voting for the Short Smack participants, and this one is a serious contender for me. Everyone else should be worried because Chris is putting them all on notice!

And can we talk about this absolutely gorgeous cover?????