A Haunting Journey Through the Cracks in Reality
Have you ever had one of those moments where the world suddenly feels… off? Like you’ve stepped into a parallel universe where everything looks the same, but something intangible has shifted? Zach Williams’ debut story collection, “Beautiful Days,” lives in that unsettling space between the familiar and the uncanny. Through ten meticulously crafted tales, Williams peels back the veneer of everyday life to reveal the cosmic horror lurking just beneath the surface.
Reading this book is like wandering through a hall of funhouse mirrors—you recognize the basic shapes, but everything is warped and distorted in ways that make you question your own perception. A family vacation becomes an endless purgatory. A routine exterminator visit unleashes existential dread. A corporate team-building retreat devolves into primal chaos. Williams takes the mundane and twists it into something deeply, disturbingly weird.
Stories That Burrow Into Your Brain
Let’s dive into some of the standout stories:
“Trial Run”
The collection opens with a gut punch in “Trial Run.” Here Zach Williams presents a tale that unravels during a snowstorm in an office building. The protagonist, an office worker, finds himself alone with Manny, a conspiracy-theory-obsessed security guard.
As the storm intensifies, so does Manny’s paranoia. He warns the protagonist about bizarre conspiracies, such as secret emails from “TruthFlex” and shadowy forces manipulating global events. With the eerie backdrop of an empty, snowed-in building, the protagonist becomes increasingly uneasy, trapped in a strange dialogue with Manny, whose comments become more unsettling and cryptic.
By the end, the protagonist escapes the encounter, leaving behind a sense of unease about what is real and what might be paranoia fueled by isolation. Structurally, Trial Run is a psychological horror that relies on the claustrophobic setting of a nearly empty office during a snowstorm to heighten tension.
The story explores themes of isolation, paranoia, and the erosion of trust, as Manny’s conspiracies blur the line between reality and delusion. Williams leaves readers questioning whether Manny’s outlandish theories are symptoms of a deeper madness or if they reflect societal fears about control and surveillance.
The story also asks unsettling questions about the fragility of modern life—how quickly normalcy can be upended by a small, seemingly trivial encounter. The narrative’s slow, deliberate pace amplifies the sense of dread, with reality becoming increasingly distorted as the dialogue between the characters deepens.
“Wood Sorrel House”
In Wood Sorrel House, Ronna and Jacob, along with their young child Max, find themselves in an isolated, rustic cottage nestled in the woods, removed from society. What begins as an idyllic retreat soon turns into a strange, unnerving experience.
As time passes, the couple grapples with the realization that they are trapped in this place, with time flowing differently than in the outside world. While Ronna and Jacob age, their son Max remains frozen in time, perpetually a toddler, unaffected by the passage of time.
As Jacob becomes obsessed with understanding their surroundings—charting the moon, seeking the boundaries of their confinement—Ronna grows increasingly attached to their strange reality, particularly a mysterious snapping turtle they encounter. Their relationship deteriorates as the isolation and the surreal nature of the house drive them into psychological and emotional turmoil.
The house and the surrounding environment seem to resist any efforts to understand or escape them, leaving the characters in a perpetual state of dislocation and confusion.
Wood Sorrel House explores themes of isolation, time distortion, and the fragility of family bonds. The structure of the story is disjointed, reflecting the fragmented reality the characters experience. Williams weaves a narrative that raises questions about the nature of time, the role of parenthood, and the psychological toll of isolation.
The story grapples with the fear of stagnation and the terrifying possibility of being unable to move forward in life. Thematically, it blurs the line between the bucolic and the nightmarish, forcing the reader to confront the surreal disintegration of ordinary life in the face of forces beyond comprehension.
“Ghost Image”
In Ghost Image, the narrator recalls his time working at a mundane summer job in an office, tasked with formatting computers using a CD labeled “Ghost Image.” The repetitive nature of the job, combined with the sterile and lifeless environment of the office, allows the narrator’s mind to drift. His interactions with Joe Daly, the IT department leader, form the core of the story.
Joe, with his dull anecdotes about family vacations and his dream of working on the Disney monorail, symbolizes the monotony of life and the small, unremarkable ambitions that define some lives.
Over time, the narrator becomes haunted by Joe’s existence, viewing him as more than just a man but a symbol of a deeper, more unsettling reality. Joe’s life, much like the computers he fixes, seems to have been formatted, emptied of depth, and rebuilt into something robotic and unfulfilling.
The story touches on themes of existential dread, the passage of time, and the hollowness of modern life. Williams constructs the narrative around the metaphor of the “ghost image,” both in terms of technology and human existence, suggesting that people, like machines, can become empty shells, devoid of meaning.
The story’s structure, with its cyclical nature and drifting thoughts, mimics the narrator’s sense of disconnection, questioning whether people can live meaningful lives in the face of overwhelming monotony. The eerie detachment between the narrator and Joe raises questions about identity, memory, and the small, often unnoticed ways people live out their days, hauntingly ghost-like.
Themes That Haunt and Resonate
While each story in Beautiful Days by Zach Williams stands on its own, several common threads weave throughout the collection:
The Terrors of Parenthood
Many of Williams’ protagonists are parents grappling with the awesome responsibility and bone-deep terror of raising children. In “The New Toe,” a father’s discovery of an inexplicable new appendage on his toddler’s foot sends him spiraling into panic and questionable decision-making. “Mousetraps” examines the cognitive dissonance of wanting to protect your child from harm while also acknowledging the violence inherent in the world.
Williams captures that constant low-grade anxiety of parenthood—the way your brain conjures up worst-case scenarios unbidden. These stories feel like picking at a scab—painful, but oddly satisfying.
The Slipperiness of Reality
Nearly every story in the collection plays with the nature of reality. Characters find themselves in situations where the rules of physics and logic no longer seem to apply. In “Lucca Castle,” a man named Walter finds himself drawn into a bizarre pseudo-religious gathering led by the enigmatic Lucca. “Neighbors” features a protagonist who encounters a mysterious masked figure in the home of his recently deceased neighbor, Bing.
This blurring of reality and fantasy creates a pervasive sense of unease. As a reader, you’re never quite on solid ground. It’s disorienting in the best possible way, forcing you to examine your own assumptions about the nature of reality.
The Absurdity of Modern Life
Underpinning many of the stories is a biting critique of late-stage capitalism and the soul-crushing nature of corporate culture. “Golf Cart” turns a leisurely activity into an existential nightmare as two brothers confront the emptiness of their lives. “Red Light” examines the transactional nature of human relationships in the digital age through the eyes of a personal trainer named Parker.
Williams has a knack for exposing the inherent strangeness of things we typically take for granted. Reading these stories, I found myself looking at my own daily routines with fresh eyes. The arbitrary nature of office etiquette, the bizarre rituals of social media—suddenly it all seemed a little more sinister, a little less “normal.”
A Distinctive Voice in Contemporary Fiction
What sets Williams apart is his ability to infuse even the most outlandish scenarios with grounded, relatable emotions. His characters feel like real people, even when thrust into unreal situations. The prose is crisp and evocative, with flashes of dark humor that provide welcome moments of levity amidst the existential dread.
Take this passage from “Ghost Image”:
“If you have a car in America, you still have quite a lot. You can get so far-flung so fast that to start over again and again is no sweat. Look for work, find a spot to plug in and take a shower. Those years in my mind are just earth tones blurring by at eighty per, the white stripes rumbling underwheel to the rhythm of day-lee-JOE, day-lee-JOE.”
The cadence of the prose mimics the rhythm of a road trip, the repetition of “day-lee-JOE” becoming almost hypnotic. It’s this kind of attention to the musicality of language that elevates Williams’ writing beyond mere plot.
While reading, I was reminded at times of George Saunders’ more experimental work, or perhaps a less maximalist version of David Foster Wallace. But Williams has a voice all his own—incisive, darkly funny, and deeply unsettling.
Not for the Faint of Heart
You should note that Beautiful Days by Zach Williams is not always an easy read. Several of the stories deal with heavy themes like grief, mental illness, and the loss of a child. Williams doesn’t shy away from the darker aspects of the human experience.
In Neighbors, Zach Williams crafts a suburban horror tale that centers on the emotional isolation and unease lurking behind seemingly ordinary lives. The narrator and his wife, trying to recover from marital strife, move to a new neighborhood where their elderly neighbor Bing becomes a haunting presence. The story’s true horror comes not from supernatural elements, but from the quiet decay of human relationships and the discomfort of being trapped in close proximity to the unknown lives of others.
If you’re looking for light, escapist fare, this probably isn’t the book for you. But for readers willing to venture into murkier psychological waters, the rewards are immense. These stories will challenge you, unsettle you, and ultimately leave you seeing the world in a slightly different way.
A Promising Debut From a Writer to Watch
“Beautiful Days” announces the arrival of a major new talent in contemporary fiction. Zach Williams demonstrates a masterful command of the short story form, crafting tales that are at once intellectually stimulating and emotionally resonant.
While this is Williams’ debut collection, several of these stories were previously published in prestigious literary journals like The New Yorker and The Paris Review. Also, it was one of the 14 books in Barack Obama’s 2024 reading list. It’s easy to see why—there’s a polish and assurance to the writing that belies his relatively newcomer status.
I, for one, can’t wait to see what Williams does next. If he can sustain this level of psychological insight and narrative dexterity over the course of a novel, we could be looking at a future literary superstar. For now, though, “Beautiful Days” stands as one of the most impressive and memorable story collections I’ve read in 2024.
Final Thoughts
Beautiful Days by Zach Williams is not a book you passively consume—it’s one that actively haunts you. Days after finishing, I found myself mulling over certain passages, reconsidering my initial interpretations. It’s the kind of book that burrows into your subconscious and takes up residence there.
If you enjoy authors like Kelly Link, Karen Russell, or Carmen Maria Machado—writers who blur the lines between literary and genre fiction—you’ll find a lot to love here. Williams is mining similar thematic territory, examining the horrors lurking just beneath the surface of everyday life.
Beautiful Days by Zach Williams is a challenging, unsettling, and ultimately deeply rewarding read. It’s the kind of book that reminds you of the power of fiction to reshape your perception of reality. Just don’t be surprised if you find yourself eyeing that innocuous office park or suburban cul-de-sac a little more warily after reading.