Unimaginable Things and Other Stories

Unimaginable Things and Other Stories, a collection of short fiction, contains surreal, lyrical, Kafkaesque narratives in addition to the novella, “Henry Holcomb, Esquire,” offering hilarious, semi-autobiographical stories of adolescent conflict and angst focused on growing up on Chicago’s Gold Coast and in the North Woods.
Anyone who has lived in the Windy City (or any city) and its rural suburbs, or has vacationed north of Six Flags, will recognize and inhabit the stories’ many “unimaginable” noirish, ghastly settings and characters. On a lighter note, Henry Holcomb embarrasses himself in dancing school, gets drilled at the dentist on Michigan Avenue, plays mumbly-peg at sleepover camp, and can’t remember the Apostle’s Creed when confirmed, leaving you laughing with memories of your own.
“Richard Holinger’s stories are brief, piercing, and addictive—echoing Chekhov’s clarity, Dybek’s strangeness, and García Márquez’s haunted magic.” –novelist John McNally, The Book of Ralph, Writer-in-Residence, University of Louisiana, Lafayette
“Holinger walks the line between real and the unreal with virtuosic precision, a craftsman at the peak of his craft.” –Ralph Pennel, A World Less Perfect for Dying In and Editor-in-Chief of Midway Journal.
“Richard Holinger is a master of the short short story voiced in American vernacular. Each story is a reward, delight.” –Jeffery Renard Allen, author of Song of the Shank; taught at Queens College, Columbia; work published in The Chicago Tribune, TriQuarterly, Ploughshares
Many stories appeared first in journals such as Cream City Review, Sundog, Vestal Review, Witness, Constellations, I-70 Review, The Iowa Review, Midway Journal, among others. Selected works were nominated for The Pushcart Prize 2025; Best Small Fictions 2025; Best Microfiction 2025 (accepted); and Best of the Net 2024.