Previous SFF Author: Anthony Horowitz
The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Four edited by Ellen Datlow
Anything Ellen Datlow edits automatically finds a place on my list of books to read. For many years, this included the excellent anthology series The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror, which Datlow coedited with Terri Windling. When that series disappeared, much to the dismay of fans of short fiction everywhere, Datlow undertook to publish The Year’s Best Horror, which has been published by the terrific smaller press,
December 3rd, 2012. Terry Weyna´s rating: 5 | A.C. Wise, Ellen Datlow, Glen Hirshberg, John Langan, Laird Barron, Margo Lanagan, Peter Straub, Stephen King, Terri Windling | Horror, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Black Gondolier by Fritz Leiber
The Black Gondolier is a collection of horror stories by Fritz Leiber. I love Leiber’s LANKHMAR stories — they’re some of my very favorites in fantasy literature — and I’ve enjoyed several of Leiber’s short stories and one of his horror novellas, so I figured I might enjoy The Black Gondolier.
I found The Black Gondolier to be, as we so often say when reviewing a story collection, “a mixed bag.” I love Leiber’s style in all of these stories — he’s got a great ear and I love the way he uses language.
November 19th, 2012. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Fritz Leiber | Audio, Horror, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
It’s not the magazine that’s horrible; it’s that the magazine contains horror fiction. A perfect mood setter for Halloween!
Because Wednesday is Halloween, here’s another serving of the new magazine Nightmare, edited by John Joseph Adams. The second issue of this new online magazine makes me think we’ve got something special going here: the fiction is excellent, the nonfiction informative, the art compelling.
The first story in this issue is “Construction Project” by Desirina Boskovich. The married couple who tell this story in first person plural believe that a creature is waiting for them should they drop their guard for even a moment.
October 29th, 2012. Terry Weyna | Joe Haldeman, John Langan, Peter Straub | Horror, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Bethany’s Sin by Robert McCammon
Robert McCammon originally published Bethany’s Sin in 1980. Subterranean Press is reissuing it just in time for Halloween. This horror novel covered familiar territory even in 1980, with its “perfect little village with a dark secret,” but McCammon’s good characterization managed to make it fresh, and there are a few twists along the way.
The book opens with an archeological dig in Turkey, where an unnamed woman makes an extraordinary discovery. The next section deals with an American soldier,
October 15th, 2012. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3 | Robert McCammon | Horror | SFF Reviews | no comments |
If you read a horror magazine on a Monday, maybe Monday won’t seem so horrible. Unless, of course, your average Monday involves vampires or insect attacks.
There are five stories in Issue 29 of Black Static, and every reader is likely to find one that at least makes her uncomfortable, if not scare the wits out of her.
The first is Nina Allan’s “Sunshine,” a new take on vampires. Beginning with a quotation about medicinal leeches that was itself enough to make me shudder,
October 8th, 2012. Terry Weyna | Horror, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The magazine isn’t horrible; it’s in the horror genre. Perhaps reading about a great magazine — and then reading the magazine itself — will make your Monday more bearable!
John Joseph Adams, editor of the well-regarded science fiction and fantasy e-journal, Lightspeed, as well as numerous excellent anthologies, has launched a new horror e-zine, Nightmare. It will feature two reprint stories along with two original stories each month, along with in-depth interviews, short interviews with each author whose story is featured in the issue,
October 1st, 2012. Terry Weyna | Genevieve Valentine, John Langan, Jonathan Maberry, Laird Barron, Peter Straub | Horror, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary by M.R. James
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary contains eight tasty little nuggets of supernatural horror that I found very satisfying. In each of them the story is told second or even third hand by a genial narrator whose acquaintances, who are themselves of a decidedly scholarly bent, have been the victims of supernatural intrusion into our world. Often the stories revolve around an ancient artifact able to invoke the otherworldly that is discovered by these particularly luckless individuals (though they often feel themselves lucky indeed when they first make their discoveries).
September 24th, 2012. Terry Lago´s rating: 4 | M.R. James | Horror, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
No, it’s not a horrible magazine; it’s a horror magazine, and a fine one at that. It’s only the Monday that’s horrible.
Cemetery Dance is published irregularly, usually three to four issues per year, and covers the entire field of horror, from film to comics to novels. It is heavy on the nonfiction, with excellent reviews and multiple interviews. There are six stories in this issue, all of them excellent. Issue 66 impressed me so much that I’ve already ordered the next, and am likely to subscribe.
The first story,
September 17th, 2012. Terry Weyna | Ellen Datlow, Jonathan Maberry, Joseph Nassise, Stephen King | Horror, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Call of Cthulhu and Other Stories by H.P. Lovecraft
“In his house at R’lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.”
Ask any writer of horror, fantasy, or weird fiction who their influences were and H.P. Lovecraft’s name is almost sure to come up, especially if they’re over the age of 50. For this reason alone, all true fans of these genres must experience H.P. Lovecraft’s work for themselves. Think of it as “required reading.” Even if you don’t read horror or weird tales, Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos pops up regularly in fantasy literature,
September 17th, 2012. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | H.P. Lovecraft | Horror | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
In The Stand, Stephen King basically wrote the book on contemporary post-apocalyptic settings. However, one of the few things that 1000+ page novel missed was zombies. King corrects that omission in Cell, a novel in which cell phones turn users into zombies.
Unlike in The Stand, King wastes no time assembling his heroes. Clayton Riddell, who is, of course, from Maine, writes graphic novels. Clay barely has a moment to enjoy his first big break in publishing before the world is ending after the “pulse.” Amidst the ruin,
September 10th, 2012. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 3 | Stephen King | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Previous SFF Author: Anthony Horowitz
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