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verkisto's review
3.0
The next book in my Abyss project is Post Mortem, an anthology of short stories. I'm not particularly fond of anthologies. I'll usually find a few gems, but, save for the rare exceptions like The Best of Pulphouse, I've never read an anthology where I find more good stories than bad ones. The good news is that ghost stories tend to work best as short stories, since they tend to leave off with the main character being haunted, and don't need lengthy conclusions.
The opening story, "Each Night, Each Year" by Kathryn Ptacek, is the perfect opener, as it was evocative and personal. Gary Brandner's "Mark of the Loser" follows, and it felt more gratuitous and pointless, and was too predictable. It didn't leave me with the kind of feeling Ptacek's story did, but it helped set the stage for what kinds of stories were to come.
Charles de Lint's "Timeskip" feels a little forced at first, but when I looked back on it, I found it was organic. De Lint defines his world, populates it, and sets the rules, and then lets the story play out as it will. That it's spooky is just the icing on the cake. Steve Rasnic and Melanie Tem's "Resettling" follows, and was, of course, top notch. They understand horror well, and balance personal relationships with ghosts remarkably well, and not just with this story.
"Servitor" by Janet Fox was a bit more on the gratuitous side, but was more thematic. Thomas Tessier's "Blanca" was the same, though it's more brooding and cultural. It reminded me somewhat of "Ma Qui" by Alan Brennert. "Nine Gables" by James Howard Kunstler was another story where personal relationships parallelled the haunting, but I didn't find it to be as effective as the Tems' story.
Charles L. Grant's "The Last Cowboy Song" was the one I most wanted to read, and I wasn't disappointed. Aside from being a quiet horror story, it was more about the positivity of ghosts, instead of about being haunted. It runs counter to "The Ring of Truth" by Thomas F. Monteleone, where the ghosts are hunters with a vengeance.
"Eyes of the Swordmaker" by Gordon Linzer was the outcast of the book, for being set in ancient Japan, and for being the most evocative of all the stories. It's genuinely spooky, and it makes the hauting a personal choice. This might be my favorite of them all. Ramsey Campbell's "The Guide", on the other hand, just doesn't make sense to me. I feel like I should appreciate Campbell more, but I never can figure out what's happening in his stories, or what's supposed to make them frightening.
P.W. Sinclair's "Getting Back" was decent, but nothing spectacular. The same could be said about "Walkie-Talkie" by Donald R. Burleson, "Major Prevue Here Tonight" by William F. Nolan, and "Brothers" by David B. Silva, which is a shame, since these stories made up a large part of the end of the book. Melissa Mia Hall's "The Brush of Soft Wings" was a nice, moody respite, and the final story, Robert R. McCammon's "Haunted World", is a vivid, concerning story, even if it's not really about being haunted. I remember this story from the first time I read this anthology, and I think it also showed up in Blue World.
The book concludes with an essay by Dean Koontz about ghosts, which is a shame, since I don't consider Koontz to be an authority on horror. Yes, I know he got famous for writing it, but his horror fiction has never scared me, and never made much sense to me. He's a fine enough writer, but horror? Please. He's more a suspense writer than anything. I guess they couldn't get Stephen King to write it.
Post Mortem bucks the trend for me by being an anthology with more good stories than bad. Plus, considering how bad some of the other Abyss books are, the book also stands out for being one of the better books from the line. Overall, I'd recommend it to readers who like decent ghost stories, though it's still a bit of a mixed bag.
The opening story, "Each Night, Each Year" by Kathryn Ptacek, is the perfect opener, as it was evocative and personal. Gary Brandner's "Mark of the Loser" follows, and it felt more gratuitous and pointless, and was too predictable. It didn't leave me with the kind of feeling Ptacek's story did, but it helped set the stage for what kinds of stories were to come.
Charles de Lint's "Timeskip" feels a little forced at first, but when I looked back on it, I found it was organic. De Lint defines his world, populates it, and sets the rules, and then lets the story play out as it will. That it's spooky is just the icing on the cake. Steve Rasnic and Melanie Tem's "Resettling" follows, and was, of course, top notch. They understand horror well, and balance personal relationships with ghosts remarkably well, and not just with this story.
"Servitor" by Janet Fox was a bit more on the gratuitous side, but was more thematic. Thomas Tessier's "Blanca" was the same, though it's more brooding and cultural. It reminded me somewhat of "Ma Qui" by Alan Brennert. "Nine Gables" by James Howard Kunstler was another story where personal relationships parallelled the haunting, but I didn't find it to be as effective as the Tems' story.
Charles L. Grant's "The Last Cowboy Song" was the one I most wanted to read, and I wasn't disappointed. Aside from being a quiet horror story, it was more about the positivity of ghosts, instead of about being haunted. It runs counter to "The Ring of Truth" by Thomas F. Monteleone, where the ghosts are hunters with a vengeance.
"Eyes of the Swordmaker" by Gordon Linzer was the outcast of the book, for being set in ancient Japan, and for being the most evocative of all the stories. It's genuinely spooky, and it makes the hauting a personal choice. This might be my favorite of them all. Ramsey Campbell's "The Guide", on the other hand, just doesn't make sense to me. I feel like I should appreciate Campbell more, but I never can figure out what's happening in his stories, or what's supposed to make them frightening.
P.W. Sinclair's "Getting Back" was decent, but nothing spectacular. The same could be said about "Walkie-Talkie" by Donald R. Burleson, "Major Prevue Here Tonight" by William F. Nolan, and "Brothers" by David B. Silva, which is a shame, since these stories made up a large part of the end of the book. Melissa Mia Hall's "The Brush of Soft Wings" was a nice, moody respite, and the final story, Robert R. McCammon's "Haunted World", is a vivid, concerning story, even if it's not really about being haunted. I remember this story from the first time I read this anthology, and I think it also showed up in Blue World.
The book concludes with an essay by Dean Koontz about ghosts, which is a shame, since I don't consider Koontz to be an authority on horror. Yes, I know he got famous for writing it, but his horror fiction has never scared me, and never made much sense to me. He's a fine enough writer, but horror? Please. He's more a suspense writer than anything. I guess they couldn't get Stephen King to write it.
Post Mortem bucks the trend for me by being an anthology with more good stories than bad. Plus, considering how bad some of the other Abyss books are, the book also stands out for being one of the better books from the line. Overall, I'd recommend it to readers who like decent ghost stories, though it's still a bit of a mixed bag.
iamastraythought's review
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
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