Scan barcode
jdcorley's review
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Although Bartlett is best in small doses, amply supported by any excuse to go into a rambling, homicidally hallucinogenic monologue, it's rare that he hits exactly in the bullseye of how long the story should be and how much it should be a story. If you're like me you'll find the first few stories (and the last one) just a phantasmagorical slog, but in between there's more than one which is a real delight that balances the need for the spew of horrific images with the desire for an actual character or even a comprehensible event. It's pretty much as good as you're gonna get.
markthulhu's review against another edition
5.0
Each story is a wild ride in the dark, with glimpses of strange and terrifying things passing by on the roadside. This is no round trip; there’s nowhere safe to stop and rest. Just an unsettling feeling of needing to get to the end, as dreadful as it may be. The car stops and unseen hands thrust you into a strange world that was there all along. Nothing to do but hail the next dark ride that comes along.
dokushoka's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
wpsmith17's review
4.0
4 to 4.5 for this hallucinatory, fever dream collection. Matthew M. Bartlett is a damn fine writer who just blows the doors off of the typical horror conventions. His writing reminds of a lava lamp, where shapes rise and fall, coalescing and changing into something you just can't look away from.
The last half of the collection of "No Abiding Place on Earth," "Kuklalar," "The Stay-awake Men," and "The Beginning of the World," are seared into my brain for good. He's the type of writer I will tell anyone I can about.
The last half of the collection of "No Abiding Place on Earth," "Kuklalar," "The Stay-awake Men," and "The Beginning of the World," are seared into my brain for good. He's the type of writer I will tell anyone I can about.
jdhacker's review against another edition
5.0
Like many fans of Matthew Bartlett's work, I've read a considerable amount of what he has set to paper. If you find you're someone who his dense, hallucinatory, unpredictable nightmare prose appeals to, you likely don't ever get tired of feverishly stumbling through his world. However, I have by and large not read his work in anything resembling publication order. Owing that mostly to my habit of binge buying/reading whole bodies of work at once with sometimes sizable breaks in between. Consequently, I came to Stay-Awake Men, one of his earlier books, long after digesting much later iterations of his work. Which is a travesty, as barring some of the 'fun' examples his bizarre vision of the world, this is likely one of my favorite collections. I think it is probably also one of the easiest entry points for new readers of Bartlett, save possibly for one off stories appearing in anthologies with other authors' work.
I easiest entry point, though not necessarily the most rewarding for all readers. Long-time fans of Bartlett likely know him for his Leeds/WXXT work, and while there are mentions of and connections to Leeds here, these are mostly stand alone stories. While Leeds has its appeal, jumping feet first into that body of work can be disorienting and confusing, with what feels like definitive world-building that you're never quite in on all the details of with the feeling that things both dangerous and incomprehensible may lurk in those holes in your knowledge. Stay-Awake Men by contrast will give new readers a good taste of Bartlett's rock solid authorial talent, without quite yet setting them adrift in that red sargasso sea full of, well...its definitely not seaweed...
We have a glowing introduction from Scott Nicolay, well known in weird fiction, lavishing on well deserved praise for Bartlett. This is followed by 'Carnomancer of The Meat Manager's Prerogative' which like the later 'Following You Home' gives us both a narrator and world so unreliable that we may never know what part of the madness is external and what part internal. 'Spettrini' falls between them, and is one of my favorites of the collection. Its trappings of illusion and true, terrifying magic are reminiscent of Barker's 'Last Illusion' without a D'Amour (or Scott Bakula) to protect our fragile world and sanity. 'No Abiding Place on Earth' feels like an apocalypse tale swirled round with bits of folklore spanning centuries and an elderly protagonist, something I always love. 'Kuklalar', which is tied with 'Spettrini' for possibly my favorite entry here, along with 'Stay Awake Men' give us a little us a little less hallucinatory insight into how aspects of Leeds and WXXT may fit into our larger world. While I suspect this isn't meant as world building per se, its an intriguing and different approach to the material that has become a cornerstone of Bartlett's body of work.
I easiest entry point, though not necessarily the most rewarding for all readers. Long-time fans of Bartlett likely know him for his Leeds/WXXT work, and while there are mentions of and connections to Leeds here, these are mostly stand alone stories. While Leeds has its appeal, jumping feet first into that body of work can be disorienting and confusing, with what feels like definitive world-building that you're never quite in on all the details of with the feeling that things both dangerous and incomprehensible may lurk in those holes in your knowledge. Stay-Awake Men by contrast will give new readers a good taste of Bartlett's rock solid authorial talent, without quite yet setting them adrift in that red sargasso sea full of, well...its definitely not seaweed...
We have a glowing introduction from Scott Nicolay, well known in weird fiction, lavishing on well deserved praise for Bartlett. This is followed by 'Carnomancer of The Meat Manager's Prerogative' which like the later 'Following You Home' gives us both a narrator and world so unreliable that we may never know what part of the madness is external and what part internal. 'Spettrini' falls between them, and is one of my favorites of the collection. Its trappings of illusion and true, terrifying magic are reminiscent of Barker's 'Last Illusion' without a D'Amour (or Scott Bakula) to protect our fragile world and sanity. 'No Abiding Place on Earth' feels like an apocalypse tale swirled round with bits of folklore spanning centuries and an elderly protagonist, something I always love. 'Kuklalar', which is tied with 'Spettrini' for possibly my favorite entry here, along with 'Stay Awake Men' give us a little us a little less hallucinatory insight into how aspects of Leeds and WXXT may fit into our larger world. While I suspect this isn't meant as world building per se, its an intriguing and different approach to the material that has become a cornerstone of Bartlett's body of work.
More...