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thomasroche's review
2.0
I was actually pretty disappointed in this reprint of a mid-70s horror anthology edited by Kirby McCauley. I mean, the dude is Roger Zelazny's agent, and his [b:Dark Forces|973196|Dark Forces|Kirby McCauley|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179925752s/973196.jpg|958093] is a legend in the field.
I found it interesting to see early entries from Brian Lumley, Dennis Etchison, and David Drake, all before they were famous outside of the horror cognoscenti -- even Ramsey Campbell is here, before he was a legend. There are also stories by Robert Bloch, John Jakes and more. In short, I thought it would be pretty bad-ass.
But maybe I'm just not that big a horror reader. While I could recognize the soft touch and admirable techniques of many of the stories, I found them all too slow and underdramatized except for the closing entry by Gahan Wilson, "End Game," a weird steampunky nightmare that I loved. Several of the rest of them all felt extremely suburban, and frankly I could give a shit about the suburbs. But mostly I just felt they didn't grab me -- too slow to get to the point, without vivid language. With some of the stories, my eyes were seriously glossing over.
The only ones that really made an impression on me at all were Lumley's "The Whisperer," Etchison's "It Only Comes Out at Night," the apocalyptic gypsy tale "Armaja Das" by Joe Haldeman, and the reprehensible (but at least effective) "The Kitten" by Poul and Karen Anderson, which I hated but at least it freaked me out. Crazy cat ladies, steer clear.
I must admit it was strange and someone disturbing to see the dark side of Poul Anderson.
The contributors are about 80% writers I've loved in the past, and nobody I've ever disliked, so I was surprised to disappointed. I really wanted to enjoy a horror anthology, so I guess I'll have to dig another one out of my stack. Maybe it's time for another [b:Cutting Edge|4738449|Cutting Edge|Dennis Etchison|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg|212468] reread...
Features an introduction by Fritz Leiber, and an afterword by McCauley.
I found it interesting to see early entries from Brian Lumley, Dennis Etchison, and David Drake, all before they were famous outside of the horror cognoscenti -- even Ramsey Campbell is here, before he was a legend. There are also stories by Robert Bloch, John Jakes and more. In short, I thought it would be pretty bad-ass.
But maybe I'm just not that big a horror reader. While I could recognize the soft touch and admirable techniques of many of the stories, I found them all too slow and underdramatized except for the closing entry by Gahan Wilson, "End Game," a weird steampunky nightmare that I loved. Several of the rest of them all felt extremely suburban, and frankly I could give a shit about the suburbs. But mostly I just felt they didn't grab me -- too slow to get to the point, without vivid language. With some of the stories, my eyes were seriously glossing over.
The only ones that really made an impression on me at all were Lumley's "The Whisperer," Etchison's "It Only Comes Out at Night," the apocalyptic gypsy tale "Armaja Das" by Joe Haldeman, and the reprehensible (but at least effective) "The Kitten" by Poul and Karen Anderson, which I hated but at least it freaked me out. Crazy cat ladies, steer clear.
I must admit it was strange and someone disturbing to see the dark side of Poul Anderson.
The contributors are about 80% writers I've loved in the past, and nobody I've ever disliked, so I was surprised to disappointed. I really wanted to enjoy a horror anthology, so I guess I'll have to dig another one out of my stack. Maybe it's time for another [b:Cutting Edge|4738449|Cutting Edge|Dennis Etchison|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg|212468] reread...
Features an introduction by Fritz Leiber, and an afterword by McCauley.
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