The Four Redheads of the Apocalypse by Linda L. Donahue, Rhonda Eudaly, Julia S. Mandala, and Dusty Rainbolt
Yard Dog Press, $6.00, 58pp, chapbook, 9781893687708.
An amusing conceit played nicely for laughs, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse have died, and now their widows have to take over the family businesses. None of the four are either suited for the job or interested in keeping it; rather, each wants to do a bang-up job to convince Satan (who’s set to retire) to name her the new Satan.
Each of the four authors have taken on one of the new personalities of the Four Horsewomen, and have apparently been playing to packed houses at mid-West conventions. The chapbook, however, really does stand on its own. Donahue’s story, “A Helluva Way to Run a War,” is told from Bunny’s point of view, and Bunny’s having a little trouble kick-starting some war. Eudaly’s “Death Becomes Her” introduces minion trouble, specifically with Death’s minion The Grim Reaper, who may actually be trying to push Zoe out of her new job. Rainbolt’s “A Plague on Y’All” tells the difficulties of Butterflye’s attempt to spawn plague and pestilence when she’s just a little too afraid of bugs. And then there’s Mandala’s “Feast and Famine,” in which the poor Sara Lee just can’t seem to get enough to keep her satisfied, but she, too, may be having minion trouble (that damned Little Debbie). Well, things go from bad to worse as the poor redheads (if the authors were blonde, as their characters seem to be, it might have made more sense, but still…) try and try again. They’ve got hard jobs, but all of eternity to figure them out.