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It’s the rare work of fiction that bleeds over into the real world, leaving residue on the reader’s brain. The work of Haruki Murakami comes to mind immediately. Now add Canadian horror writer Simon Strantzas to that list. His new collection, “Burnt Black Suns,” can assault one’s dreams causing genuine discomfort.

The story “One Last Bloom,” one of several novellas in the collection, did just that to this reader. The story concerns two researchers who go missing but send their findings back to their university, with horrific results.

Strantzas’ work has been called “weird” or “strange” fiction, a form of horror. I’d heard of Strantzas and his peers while watching HBO’s excellent creepy series “True Detective.” The show’s creator, novelist Nic Pizzolatto, cited Strantzas among other writers like Laird Barron, John Langan and Thomas Ligotti as influences or favored writers.

Strantzas stories vary in tone, voice and setting, from modern life to more vague periods, all to great effect and all expertly crafted.