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A review by ctgt
Year's Best Weird Fiction, Vol. 1 by Laird Barron
3.0
These stories were good not great and it's probably more about my expectations than anything else. With Barron running the show I anticipated mind bending and spectacular but none of these tales really reached those heights for me.
There were moments here and there;
The Nineteenth Step by Simon Stranzas had a bit of a House of Leaves vibe
In her tired state, she thought she saw the steps move ever so slightly, as though they had settled into place only as she'd turned the corner.
Furnace by Livia Llewellyn had the weirdest feel to it;
-I don't see anything different, my mother said.-Everything looks the same as I remember. This is the way it should be.
-I know,the young man said. -It all looks the same on the outside. It always has. You have to look underneath.
-How can one look underneath? I asked.
-You just do. You just know.
And my favorite story A Terror by Jeffrey Ford imagining a weird moment in Emily Dickinson's life.
"Why a poet?"
"The spell has to be undone. I'm not sure how, but word magic, I'm guessing, can best be subdued with words. You know, I almost decided to snatch Walt Whitman instead."
Emily winced. "The man's pen has dysentery."
Eventually she lifted the pen and drew ink. The first line came strong to the paper, and there was a pause-a moment, a day, a year-before she hesitantly began the second line. Slowly, the poem grew.
A solid but undewhelming collection.
6/10
There were moments here and there;
The Nineteenth Step by Simon Stranzas had a bit of a House of Leaves vibe
In her tired state, she thought she saw the steps move ever so slightly, as though they had settled into place only as she'd turned the corner.
Furnace by Livia Llewellyn had the weirdest feel to it;
-I don't see anything different, my mother said.-Everything looks the same as I remember. This is the way it should be.
-I know,the young man said. -It all looks the same on the outside. It always has. You have to look underneath.
-How can one look underneath? I asked.
-You just do. You just know.
And my favorite story A Terror by Jeffrey Ford imagining a weird moment in Emily Dickinson's life.
"Why a poet?"
"The spell has to be undone. I'm not sure how, but word magic, I'm guessing, can best be subdued with words. You know, I almost decided to snatch Walt Whitman instead."
Emily winced. "The man's pen has dysentery."
Eventually she lifted the pen and drew ink. The first line came strong to the paper, and there was a pause-a moment, a day, a year-before she hesitantly began the second line. Slowly, the poem grew.
A solid but undewhelming collection.
6/10