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timtellsstories's review
5.0
Disclosure: I received a no-obligation ARC as a previous supporter of Gamut and Richard Thomas.
When I reflect on the stories in this anthology, I’m conflicted. Let me explain.
The book contains what I feel are prime examples of a new movement in horror, a new generation pushing the boundaries and innovating the potential of a well-trodden genre that still exists in the shadow of Stephen King (whom I love, don’t get me wrong). In a lot of ways, I think the work Gamut did in its 2017 inaugural year went against the grain, subverting expectations for not only what a horror story can do but what it’s supposed to do.
You see, Gamut was a digital literary mag dedicated to dark fiction. I’m not sure the minds behind it would have pigeon-holed it into the horror genre, but it seems to be sucked into that orbit. Speculative fiction, yeah, yeah, sure, but is it scary?
I would answer that question with a definitive “yes.” The stories in this anthology are absolutely terrifying, the finest emotion according to Stephen King.
But why am I conflicted? If this book demonstrates a new movement in contemporary dark fiction, there’s an overwhelming breadth of variety, diversity, and perspective that would make this new generation difficult to define.
I think that’s a good thing. I think it means horror, dark fantasy, whatever you want to call it, is growing up, and it’s continuing to evolve, and I think this anthology will be an important book in the library of its historical traditions. I think it’s a collection of the risk takers and the experimenters in dark fiction, the ones that challenge convention and do it all with grace. The ones who make it look easy when such original creation surely isn’t.
Which is to say there are a lot of big swings in this anthology. Not all of them will connect for all readers, but different ones will.
I think any anthology worth anything will be an experience in variety. I think the mark of a good anthology is one you can find two, maybe three, stories to take with you when you put the book on the shelf. That’s two or three new writers to follow, new voices to listen to.
With that in mind, I connected most with Michael Wehunt’s “An Ending (Ascent)” and Kate Dollarhyde’s “The Arrow of Time.” In my view, both are impeccable, if not perfect, stories. In the former, a man finds himself just 38 days too old to take a new drug that stops aging, effectively granting humans immortality. Everyone else in his life will live forever, and he processes the grief of understanding they all will live long enough to forget him. This story gripped my heart on an existential level. It keyed into fundamental anxieties I have about legacy, about who remembers us when we’re gone. When asked what happens after we die, the great Keanu Reeves said the only thing he knew for sure was those who love us will miss us. What if not even that is true?
In the former, Dollarhyde explores much about grief and loss, but this story exists in anger and resentment. In a climate-change-ravaged world, a woman’s brilliant mom has invented a time machine, but there is a twist and a cost to using it. It’s interesting to me, this combination of tropes, because time machine stories invariably involve a plot for changing a dire future. But what if you can’t change it? What if you can only use the time machine to visit our world when it was beautiful, the world we spoiled? For my money and all things considered, it is a perfect story about our collective loss and our individual losses. Man, what a beautiful piece.
There are many others in this anthology I would love to write about, but I tend to be long-winded. Apologies to the other 13 writers, all of whose work I deeply appreciate. This book truly is the best of Gamut’s first year.
This book, though, is not only a chronicle of the best that Gamut Magazine had to offer in 2017, but it’s also a celebration. Gamut, it turns out, wasn’t dead. It was just sleeping a while. It’s back now as House of Gamut—a literary magazine, a book publisher, and an academy with online classes for writers.
As a writer in the speculative space, I’m excited and eager to see what House of Gamut does to push dark speculative fiction forward, as this book demonstrates it did in just one year as a literary magazine.
Recommended for readers who tend toward dark speculative fiction and want to see diverse writers pushing boundaries and taking risks.
When I reflect on the stories in this anthology, I’m conflicted. Let me explain.
The book contains what I feel are prime examples of a new movement in horror, a new generation pushing the boundaries and innovating the potential of a well-trodden genre that still exists in the shadow of Stephen King (whom I love, don’t get me wrong). In a lot of ways, I think the work Gamut did in its 2017 inaugural year went against the grain, subverting expectations for not only what a horror story can do but what it’s supposed to do.
You see, Gamut was a digital literary mag dedicated to dark fiction. I’m not sure the minds behind it would have pigeon-holed it into the horror genre, but it seems to be sucked into that orbit. Speculative fiction, yeah, yeah, sure, but is it scary?
I would answer that question with a definitive “yes.” The stories in this anthology are absolutely terrifying, the finest emotion according to Stephen King.
But why am I conflicted? If this book demonstrates a new movement in contemporary dark fiction, there’s an overwhelming breadth of variety, diversity, and perspective that would make this new generation difficult to define.
I think that’s a good thing. I think it means horror, dark fantasy, whatever you want to call it, is growing up, and it’s continuing to evolve, and I think this anthology will be an important book in the library of its historical traditions. I think it’s a collection of the risk takers and the experimenters in dark fiction, the ones that challenge convention and do it all with grace. The ones who make it look easy when such original creation surely isn’t.
Which is to say there are a lot of big swings in this anthology. Not all of them will connect for all readers, but different ones will.
I think any anthology worth anything will be an experience in variety. I think the mark of a good anthology is one you can find two, maybe three, stories to take with you when you put the book on the shelf. That’s two or three new writers to follow, new voices to listen to.
With that in mind, I connected most with Michael Wehunt’s “An Ending (Ascent)” and Kate Dollarhyde’s “The Arrow of Time.” In my view, both are impeccable, if not perfect, stories. In the former, a man finds himself just 38 days too old to take a new drug that stops aging, effectively granting humans immortality. Everyone else in his life will live forever, and he processes the grief of understanding they all will live long enough to forget him. This story gripped my heart on an existential level. It keyed into fundamental anxieties I have about legacy, about who remembers us when we’re gone. When asked what happens after we die, the great Keanu Reeves said the only thing he knew for sure was those who love us will miss us. What if not even that is true?
In the former, Dollarhyde explores much about grief and loss, but this story exists in anger and resentment. In a climate-change-ravaged world, a woman’s brilliant mom has invented a time machine, but there is a twist and a cost to using it. It’s interesting to me, this combination of tropes, because time machine stories invariably involve a plot for changing a dire future. But what if you can’t change it? What if you can only use the time machine to visit our world when it was beautiful, the world we spoiled? For my money and all things considered, it is a perfect story about our collective loss and our individual losses. Man, what a beautiful piece.
There are many others in this anthology I would love to write about, but I tend to be long-winded. Apologies to the other 13 writers, all of whose work I deeply appreciate. This book truly is the best of Gamut’s first year.
This book, though, is not only a chronicle of the best that Gamut Magazine had to offer in 2017, but it’s also a celebration. Gamut, it turns out, wasn’t dead. It was just sleeping a while. It’s back now as House of Gamut—a literary magazine, a book publisher, and an academy with online classes for writers.
As a writer in the speculative space, I’m excited and eager to see what House of Gamut does to push dark speculative fiction forward, as this book demonstrates it did in just one year as a literary magazine.
Recommended for readers who tend toward dark speculative fiction and want to see diverse writers pushing boundaries and taking risks.
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