Edited by Ellen Datlow

Dark Horse Books

ISBN: 978-1-59582-146-1

$19.95; October, 2009

Moving into the realm of book publishing, Dark Horse Comics makes a strong debut with the anthology Lovecraft Unbound. Capably edited by Ellen Datlow (Omni magazine, Blood Is Not Enough, Alien Sex, Twists of the Tale, Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror series), this is another very strong entry into her canon.  Datlow has a long history of pulling authors from various genres – science fiction, horror, high fantasy, mystery – to compile her books. This one is no different. With authors such as Joyce Carol Oates, Michael Chabon, Catlin R. Kiernan, Gemma Files, Laird Barron, and William Browning Spencer – it’s certainly quite varied.

Featuring just four reprints – Brian Evenson’s excellent “Din Of Celestial Birds” (from Wordcraft Oregon), Oates disturbing, Kafkaesque tale of ceremonies and traditions “Commencement” (from the anthology Redshift), Chabon’s “In the Black Mill” (from Playboy), and Kiernan’s “Houses Under The Sea” (From Thrillers 2) – this book features strong contributions (along with some of the aforementioned authors) from Sarah Monette & Elizabeth Bear (“Mongoose”), Dale Bailey & Nathan Ballingrud (“The Crevasse”), Michael Shea (“The Recruiter”), Joel Lane (“Sight Unseen”), Marc Laidlaw (“Leng”), Holly Phillips (“Cold Water Survival”), Michael Cisco (“Machines of Concrete Light and Dark”), and Nick Mamatas (“That of Which We Speak When We Speak of the Unspeakable”).

Ms. Datlow wisely chooses to eschew the standard Lovecraftian tropes and pastiches that consistently plague writers dabbling in the mythos. Instead she has chosen a collection of works firmly in the spirit of HPL. A few authors chose to expand Howard Philips ideas into new tales, but most work off of the elements of the cosmic unknown and the Elder Gods stamp on our planet’s history. This is where many really succeed. That hint of uncovering the mysteries of the ages. That was one of Lovecraft’s own strengths and one which shows in the stronger work of his devotees. Highly recommended!

Reviewed by James R. Beach

By David Agranoff

Afterbirth Books

ISBN: 1-933929-19-7

$12.95; 2009

Screams from A Dying World is Portland activist and Punk Horror author David Agranoff’s newest collection from Bizarro publisher Afterbirth. Featuring six previously published stories and six new stories, this is an interesting mix.

Agranoff seems to shift between his activist roots with tales of social unrest, and demonstration to those of a dark, dystopian future reminiscant of the New Wave of SF of the sixties and cyberpunk practitioners John Shirley, Rudy Rucker and Bruce Sterling. “Network” (a tale of tree activists rigging themselves to an intricate suicide system designed to thwart logging) and “Buffalo Trace” (the ghosts of White Buffalo knocking down cell phone towers) fall into the former category, while “Surrogate” (an android designed as a sexual surrogate for a convicted rapist, as part of “therapy”, rebels against the system that doesn’t work”), “The Fifth Noble Truth” (a computer and cosmetically enhanced human looking for spiritual enlightenment amongst “normals”), and “Fertility” (a world where the population is controlled and people are either designated for reproduction or sexual usage via enhancements) fall into the latter.

There are also tales of a Punk Rocker who faces the same discrimination as hippies did in the late 60’s/early 70’s (“Normal”), a man in prison in the “SHU” (special housing unit aka: The hole) who is visited by a ghost, a grandfather’s premonition (“Grampy’s Spirit That Never Was”), and a woman who plots the murder of her husband by fast food (“Value Menu”).

It’s a bit up and down, but overall it’s not a bad collection for an up-and-coming writer. I can see what David is trying to achieve with a before and after sort of effect. The future stories are probably the best, with the examination of some of the possible negative outcomes of our continuing trends of technology, body modification and resource depleting. Some of the other stories come across preachier and need to show (rather than tell) a bit more, but it’s definitely not your normal horror or science fiction collection. I applaud the author for trying to forge his own direction. Agranoff is a writer who is still developing, but shows a lot of promise.

Reviewed by James R. Beach

Edited by Del Howison & Jeff Gelb

Running Press

ISBN: 978-0-7624-3648-4

$26.95 Hardcover; $15.95 Paperback

September, 2009; 336 Pages

The latest in the series of anthologies by Dark Delicacies owner Del Howison and longtime editor Jeff Gelb (Hot Blood series, Shock Rock 1 & 2) is out now. Intended to capture the spirit of the diverse group of authors, screenwriters, directors, and actors that frequent the store in Burbank, it’s an interesting collection. With contributions by actors Steven Weber (Wings, The Shining Miniseries) and Michael Boatman (Spin City, Arliss, Hamburger Hill); directors Victor Salva (Jeepers Creepers, Clownhouse), Eric Red (The Hitcher, Body Parts, Near Dark), Mick Garris (The Shining, The Stand, Riding the Bullet), and Clive Barker (Hellraiser, Nightbreed, Lord of Illusions); screenwriter/producer Richard Christian Matheson (Amazing Stories, The A-Team, Masters of Horror); and authors whose work has been turned into movies such as David Morrell (First Blood, Brotherhood of the Rose) and Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club, Choke) – this is definitely a Hollywood-tinged anthology.

But is it good? It’s, as you can probably imagine, a mixed bag as far as story quality goes. Some are obviously better writers. David Morrell’s novella “The Architecture of Snow” ranks among his best work, and is the best tale in the book. It’s a haunting story about a reclusive author, the cult of celebrity, and the cut-throat state of mass-market publishing. Richard Christian Matheson delivers an excellent, experimental tale of how far an author can go in cutting his work in “How to Edit”. Simon Clark’s “Children of the Vortex” is an interesting riff on Island of Dr. Moreau. Gary A. Braunbeck is always dependable, and this is no different with his original take on the grim reaper “Man With A Canvas Bag”. There are also strong contributions from John R. Little and Victor Salva, and it’s nice to see Del James (Language of Fear) back in an anthology again after much too long of an absence.

I was disappointed in Chuck Palahniuk’s silly contribution about a haunted tennis ball “Fetch”, Heather Graham’s standard Orleans gothic “Mist on the Bayou”, and Clive Barker’s poem “And So with Cries” (a letdown after his strong story in the first DD – “Haeckel’s Tale”). The other stories are up and down as far as it goes.

Overall, it’s an interesting mix of stories and worth picking up. I’d give it the edge over the second Dark Delicacies anthology, but it’s not as strong as the first.

Reviewed by James R. Beach

By John Shirley
Pocket Books
ISBN: 978-1416584124
2009; 384 Pages; $15.00

John Shirley’s latest novel, Bleak History , is a supernatural thriller set “a little ways into the future… just far enough.” Although Urban in setting, this novel isn’t as cynical and gritty as Shirley’s earlier works. Towards the middle of the set up, it takes on a superhero feel when the characters meet and show off their “especialities”. John Shirley posted on Facebook recently about a “surreal horror” in facing visitors for the holidays. An hour later, as I was following Shirley’s character, Gabriel Bleak, the phrase “surreal horror”took on a deeper meaner. Shirley further explained in his post “[that kind of] horror is found in others”. For Bleak, those “others” could be people, ghosts, or other-worldly entities.

Like most of Shirley’s protagonists, Bleak is an outsider – a misunderstood loner with special abilities. He is an Iraq and Afghanistan War vet, being pursued by the CCA, a secret government agency that wants to tap into his powers for their own nefarious ends. Bleak is an outcast, preferring to work alone in typical crime-fighter fashion as a bounty hunter – until a cute Goth CCA agent, Loraine Sarikosca, shows up to “recruit” him. However, Bleak isn’t alone in having abilities: he must team up with ShadowComm, a group of allied practitioners, and discovers that darker beings are springing up, one in particular from his own past:

“…Bleak had a brother… who vanished when he was a kid. When he was a toddler, according to this.”

“Vanished?”

“What it says. There’s nothing more about that. Says material was redacted for the file.”

The ensuing love triangle and adventure take place against Shirley’s amazing ability to define and describe “The Hidden”, a universe culled from multiple beliefs. Shirley synthesizes a sort of String Theory for the supernatural and paranormal, borrowing heavily from Gurdjieff, Colin Wilson, and New Age philosophy. The Lovecraftian central theme – keeping out the mysterious creatures of strange and cruel dimensions – is freshly presented with a modern believability.

“Bleak climbed the ladder, feeling them more clearly, up there, with every rung, their presences altering the ambient field of mind like fourteen iron spikes driven into the ground near an electromagnet. Only it wasn’t a magnetic field; it was the apeiron field, as the Greek philosopher Anaximander had called it: the field of boundless essence that subtly took part in the other energy fields and gave birth to them; the pattern of undifferentiated consciousness from which all consciousness sprang. The apeiron was subtle yet endlessly powerful. It was the Hidden, the field traversed by planetary ghosts and other spirit beings; the energy which natural conjurers such as Bleak and the other member of the ShadowComm used as their medium of expression…”

The action picks up when Bleak descends from an alternate world created by Magick and storms CCA hideout, Facility 23, to save his love interest and destroy the bad guys. Some plot twists and character arcs are reminiscent of Star Wars and propel the story towards a climactic ending. I found myself unable to put the book down once I reached the last few chapters.

The story is well-written and doesn’t disappoint. I like the book and recommend it. The characters have complexity and I was able to empathize with them, even the villains. If I could change one element, I would have rather dropped the evil twin and combined the villain with the Loraine character (Bleak’s soul mate). This would have given equality to the characters and a more compelling redemption. In the end, Shirley leaves some relationships and situations unresolved, as the main characters almost literally walk off into the sunset. Hopefully, that means there will be a Bleak future.

- Reviewed by Sunni K Brock

By Joseph S. Pulver Sr.
Hippocampus Press
ISBN: 978-09814888-8-2
2009; $15.00

Jagged. Lurid. Hard-boiled.

All of these terms describe the writing of Joseph S. Pulver Sr. His recent collection, Blood Will Have Its Season, is testament to the power of the written word, even if those words are sometimes scathing, dark, harrowing. The collection comprises 41 tales, presenting a wide gamut of approaches and forms, from poetry and short fiction to more eclectic mashups of the two. While the cast of characters leans toward the less fortunate (whether by choice or accident of Fate) in our society – junkies, whores, the desperate – Pulver’s strength is in showing the beauty in the chaos, even as the chaos consumes the universe. An example:

“Moonlight. Crashing in the room. Filling it like a drunk who doesn’t give a shit who’s watching or what they think.
Moonlight. Staining everything. Blood stained everything. Every thing. Blood – loud and fresh – everywhere.
A head with no face – the skinned face thrown in a corner-tomb with no memory of yesterday. Dropped with the other garbage. Cash lying around, two thousand in small bills maybe. Cold blue steel. And dope. A skinny underage girl with a dirty spikeneedle still in her arm – slain. Naked.” (from “No Exit Sign”)

Mr. Pulver has a good eye for detail, and is a sensitive student of his fellow humans. It is there on every page of Blood Will Have Its Season, and while his unsparing insights and observations veer into an almost unconscious critique, his brooding approach and (sometimes) brutal directness nonetheless exhibit an empathy with those who are less than privileged; who perhaps went to all the wrong schools; whose road less travelled is indeed rather dark (to paraphrase Robert Frost). In short, those like us — we who are not like others.

Strangely, with his obvious enthusiasm for the works of Lovecraft and Chambers, Pulver (on the surface) seems to have little in common with these two masters of the 20th Century when it comes to writing style. Likewise, with regard to present-day writers of the weird and macabre, he is neither lyrical like a W.H. Pugmire, nor esoteric and cloistered like a Thomas Ligotti. No, Pulver’s output is more lean and spare – think Cormac McCarthy meets Ernest Hemingway, but more musical. His sentences are choppy, expressionistic — like existential bullets exploding color onto a white psychic canvas. Some may not care for his approach; I for one found it intriguing and compelling. It propelled his stories into interesting, rarely explored terrain – visceral and unsettling though it may be — that commands attention, even as we want to look away.
Almost like some literary traffic accident that forces the eyes to the very thing we dread the most…

In his Foreword, S.T. Joshi rightly states that “Joe Pulver [has] found his voice.” I could not agree more; in the end, it is abundantly clear that Pulver has a singular style and approach, and is certainly an author who I cannot only recommend, but highly endorse.

- Reviewed by Jason V Brock

By John R. Little
Bad Moon Books
2009; $

The follow-up to John R. Little’s award-winning novella for Bad Moon Books, Miranda, is another very solid effort. This time using the mysticism of Egypt as his background, John weaves a compelling tale of a man named Henry, who bounces back in forth in time to relive portions of his life. There are some startling revelations along the way, and the story ends very fittingly. Not a word is wasted in this interesting character study.

Little seems to have found his niche with time-travel stories. With The Memory Tree, Placeholders, Miranda and now The Gray Zone, he has shown a knack for weaving haunting, thought-provoking plots and creating strong characters around the fragile fabric of time. Miranda is still probably his strongest (with a compellingly unique backward plot), but this is another solid entry into his cannon.

One last aside: Dark Discoveries readers will likely recognize John from the pages (I’ve published three of his stories in the magazine and collections I have done). I always feel fortunate that DD was one of the first places he submitted to in his comeback a few years back. I have always liked his stories (that were featured in the pages of Twilight Zone magazine and Weird Tales back in the eighties) and was glad to see him making a go of it again. John has continually grown as a writer and will only continue to improve. If you haven’t yet read anything by him, The Gray Zone is a good place to start!

Reviewed by James R. Beach

Edited by Lisa Morton
Darkhouse Publishing
ISBN: 978-0-578-02162-1
2009; $15.95

From a new publisher, Darkhouse, comes the anthology Midnight Walk. Ably edited by Bram Stoker award-winning author Lisa Morton, it features 14 original stories by relatively new writers. But don’t let that stop you as it has some very interesting and unconventional offerings.

Armand Constantine kicks it off with a strong tale of magic and revenge set in the slums of India in “Monsoon Devil”. Next comes John Palisano who tells us what’s really behind those wildfires around L.A. in “The Tennatrick”. Lisa Majewski touches on voodoo in “Inside Out”, and Richard Payne offers up an interesting take on demon possession in “Eddie G At the Gates Of Hell”. Lisa Morton herself contributes a great piece based in Chinese Mythology as does Jodi Kaplan Lester. Vince Churchill of Dark Scribe Press warns of the hazards of staying at motels off the beaten path. Richard Grove bases his story in Irish folklore, and even Del Howison – the man behind the great Dark Delicacies store (as well as 3 anthologies that have sprung out of that wonderful shop of all things horror)- joins in for the fun. There’s also stories by Mike McCarty, George Willis, Kelly Dunn, Jason M. Light and Joey O’Bryan.

Overall, a mostly solid book. Up and down a bit storywise, but I give extra points for it trying to break past the some of the well-rehashed horror conventions.

Reviewed by James R. Beach

by Paul G. Bens Jr.
Casperian Books, 2009;
252 pages; $15.00

A journey to the truth is described in the novel Kelland by Paul G. Bens Jr. The road taken by five strangers is long and full of conflict; their guide is a supernatural being named Kelland who appears in various forms to become close enough to these people to be their confidant.

Bens doesn’t follow a direct timeline – he bounces back and forth over a period from 1975 to 1998 to reveal a character’s flaws and strengths. This technique draws the reader into the tale with great effect. By not telling the story in chronological order, Bens sets up a shocking truth in all their lives at the end.

These characters are relatable, even Minh and Toan from Vietnam. Bens balances vivid description and omissions left to the imagination of the reader very well. The various settings from Vietnam, Kentucky, and California add to the richness and depth of the story. Bens avoids stereotypes which focuses the reader on each individual. The author is masterful in switching points of view from the boys George and Lucas, the woman Melanie, and Toan and Minh, both as boys and men.

Bens’ style of writing seems to flow across the pages and his use of language and strong characterization is reminiscent of Stephen King. The horror in Kelland is ripped from the headlines, yet is presented in a fresh, original manner. The supernatural being Kelland is left as an enigma, part of the symbolism used to enhance the story. Bens’ immense talent is showcased in this outstanding novel and he is an author to watch.

Reviewed by Karen L. Newman

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HE IS LEGEND
Edited By Christopher Conlon
Gauntlet Press
ISBN:978-1-887368-10-0
2009; $60.00

THE TWILIGHT AND OTHER ZONES:
THE DARK WORLDS OF RICHARD MATHESON
Edited by Stanley Wiater, Matthew R. Bradley and Paul Stuve
Citadel Press
ISBN: 978-0-8065-3113-7
2009; $19.95

First off, on a personal note, Richard Matheson has long been one of my favorite authors – one that I discovered (along with Ray Bradbury, William Nolan, and Harlan Ellison among others) as a kid. A tribute to the man and his work in fiction (I am Legend, Bid Time Return, Shock (1-4), Hell House, etc.), TV (The Twilight Zone, Thriller, Star Trek, Night Gallery, Lawman, Night Stalker, Dracula, Trilogy of Terror, etc.), and Movies (The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Fall Of the House of Usher, Pit and The Pendulum; Burn, Witch, Burn; etc.) as well as a companion to his vast catalogue – is long overdue. It has long been a crime that Matheson is not a “household name“ such as Stephen King, Dean Koontz or Bradbury. As both this limited edition tribute anthology, and a nonfiction companion for him have arrived around the same time, it seems fitting to combine the reviews as they both “bookend” each other nicely.

So onto the tribute to Matheson, He Is Legend , featuring work by contemporaries as well as writers strongly influenced by the man.

After a forward by Editor Christopher Conlon (a long-time devote to the California Writers Group Matheson was part of) and an Introduction by Ramsey Campbell, the collection leads off with a highly anticipated collaboration between Stephen King and his son Joe Hill, “Throttle”. A sequel to “Duel”, the Kings pit an aging biker gang against the faceless, demonic trucker. For the most part, a pretty good action filled tale, with great characterization, but a little disappointing as they reveal who the driver is and provide a motive for his actions that I think take the wind out of the sails a bit. The strength of the original tale is you never see who the trucker is, and in my opinion makes it scarier.

Continuing on with some of the stronger stories, F. Paul Wilson helms a sequel to “The Distributor” (a personal favorite of mine) called “Recalled”, which tells the fate of the protagonist from the original tale. Although Wilson’s short fiction is a bit up and down for me usually, this one works very well. In this case, seeing the human side of the main character adds to the tension rather than taking it away. William F. Nolan clocks in with a great sequel to “The Children of Noah” titled “Zachary Revisited” which takes us back to that small town that built itself on a very unseemly foundation. The ever-steady Gary Braunbeck offers the answer to Matheson’s “Button, Button” in his wonderfully poetically titled “Everything Of Beauty Is Taken From You In This Life Remains Forever”, and John Shirley rides in with a great western story in “Two Shots From Fly’s Gallery”, his time-travel riff on “Bid Time Return”. Joe Lansdale attacks with a strong sequel to “Prey” – “Quarry”. Whitley Streiber’s tale “Cloud Rider“ – while being purported as story influenced by the body of Matheson’s work – doesn’t seem to have much to do with Matheson in general, but is a wonderful, inventive story that definitely ranks amongst the best in the book and one of the best Strieber has written. Capping it off is a collabrative Screenplay between Matheson and Charles Beaumont – Burn, Witch, Burn – based on Fritz Leiber’s novel Conjure Wife.

A couple were a little bit weaker such as Michael Arnzen’s “Screech Like Me” (a sequel to “Born Of Man and Woman“) – which isn‘t badly written, but doesn‘t really add anything new to the tale, John Maclay’s “The Case of Peggy Ann Lister” – A sequel to the early crime/pulp novel Someone Is Bleeding, which is decently written story, but I felt the characterization was a bit weak. Nancy Holder‘s prequel to Hell House is also mostly good, but doesn‘t really add much to the story and has a major fault of historical research which distracts from the tale. So not really bad tales per say, but not as strong as the others.

So overall the collection holds up very well. Certainly one of the better anthologies of late for sure and highly recommended.

*

The Twilight and Other Zones is the mass-market release of The Richard Matheson Companion, which came out from Gauntlet Press a while back (in slightly different form).

It features wonderful personal tributes, insight and background on Matheson by writers Dean Koontz, William F. Nolan, Harlan Ellison, Joe Lansdale, F. Paul Wilson, David Morrell, George Clayton Johnson, Brian Lumley, Dennis Etchison, Jack Ketchum and Gahan Wilson (some reprinted and some new for the collection); family members – wife Ruth, sons Richard Christian and Chris and daughters Bettina and Allison; as well as editors, screenwriters, publishers, artists, interviewers and experts that have worked with Matheson like Barry Hoffman, Greg Cox, Harry O. Morris, Gary Goldstein, Stanley Wiater, Paul Stuve and Matthew Bradley.

This is an exhaustive look at Matheson’s career that also features photos of the man, his family, and acquaintances and a huge bibliography that takes up a little over 1/3 of the book. This is everything you wanted to know about the legendary writer and more. The only thing that could have made this awesome book just a little bit better was more photos (especially of covers of books, magazines, movie posters, etc.). But a minor quibble and highly recommended nevertheless.

- Reviewed by James R. Beach