The unreservedly recommended NIGHTMARES challenges preconceptions
A pair of new reviews and a favorable mention for Ellen Datlow’s NIGHTMARES: A NEW DECADE OF MODERN HORROR.
Ellen Datlow (credit: THIS IS HORROR)
For SEE THE ELEPHANT, Paul StJohn Mackintosh praises Datlow’s forthcoming anthology.
Ellen Datlow is a tremendously influential figure in horror circles, and this collection is one more significant milestone to be set among the score or so other titles and collections listed in its front matter. As Datlow writes in her introduction to the book, “NIGHTMARES: A NEW DECADE OF MODERN HORROR could be considered a sequel to DARKNESS: TWO DECADES OF MODERN HORROR, an anthology that covered the years 1985 to 2005.” PUBLISHERS WEEKLY called that “an anthology to be cherished and an invaluable reference for horror aficionados.” And as a follow-up, this doesn’t disappoint – given what we’ve seen in horror over the past decade, that’s no surprise. As Datlow also writes, with considerable understatement, “2005–2015 has been a great period for short horror fiction.” I’ve written elsewhere on why I think that is, but one contributing factor is surely Datlow herself.
Given how inclusive the collection is, confirmed horror aficionados may find many stories they’re already familiar with – accordingly, they should examine the contents list with care and make sure that it gives them value for money. But even they are likely to discover unfamiliar gems among the more well-worn stuff – Margo Lanagan’s “The Goosle,” for instance, came as a huge and welcome surprise to me. Novice horror fans, meanwhile, shouldn’t hesitate. This is a collection that delivers on its intention of showcasing the best in a decade of fantastically ambitious and creative dark and frightful fiction, as well as following up on a past classic. You couldn’t wish for better evidence for the contention that weird horror is the representative genre of our time. Unreservedly recommended.
Michael Collings on his COLLINGS NOTES reviews the book.
One approaches an anthology edited by Ellen Datlow with a number of assumptions. First, it will represent the wide reading and decades of experience that make Datlow a premier editor of all things dark. Second, it will tap into the most recent trends in dark fiction, demonstrating the shifting paradigms for narrative, characterization, themes, and language. And third, while all of the twenty-four tales (in this case) will have something to offer, among them there will be gems that trigger shivers and dread.
NIGHTMARES: A NEW DECADE OF MODERN HORROR fulfills these assumptions. Highlighting stories from 2005—the closing date for her previous DARKNESS: TWO DECADES OF MODERN HORROR—through 2015, the anthology provides glimpses into a period of accelerated change in the genre and in how it is viewed and accepted by a wider and wider readership. It acknowledges the increasing awareness of diversity, as challenge and as goal, and the role it plays within the genre. It gives place on the stage to a variety of approaches and treatments…not all of which will please all readers but all of which will give pause for thought and consideration.
Each story in NIGHTMARES: A NEW DECADE OF MODERN HORROR does indeed represent a “nightmare,” although the definition of that word shifts within each. Some deal with worlds like ours, twisted in one detail to force characters to face impossiblities. Others take place in fantastic worlds, where the impossible is an everyday event and horror, therefore, must must reach beyond to terrify. Readers will find sufficient entertainment, frequent enough moments of frisson, ample enough opportunities to challenge preconceptions, to make the book worth reading.
In an interview at A FANTASTIC LIBRARIAN, Alvaro Zinos-Amaro recommends NIGHTMARES.
As a book
reviewer, I’m all about the book enabling; I can’t help but want
to make people read all the good books out there. But I can always
use help. What are your top recommendations of books we should look
out for in the coming months?Long live book
enabling! Time Travel: A History by James Gleick. Fashion, Faith, and
Fantasy in the New Physics of the Universe by Roger Penrose. The
second edition of Adam Roberts’ THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE FICTION
(Palgrave Histories of Literature series). BRIDGING INFINITY, edited
by Jonathan Strahan. Joyce Carol Oates’ SOUL AT THE WHITE HEAT:
INSPIRATION, OBSESSION, AND THE WRITING LIFE. By Ursula K. Le Guin:
THE COMPLETE ORSINIA (The Library of America), and WORDS ARE MY
MATTER, and THE FOUND AND THE LOST: THE COLLECTED NOVELLAS OF URSULA
K. LE GUIN. Ellen Datlow’s NIGHTMARES: A NEW DECADE OF MODERN
HORROR. SIX SCARY STORIES by Stephen King. OUT OF THE DARK by Steve
Rasnic Tem. Jad Smith’s study of ALFRED BESTER (Modern Masters of
Science Fiction) and, in the same series, Gerry Canavan’s OCTAVIA
E. BUTLER. SPACESHIPS: AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF THE REAL and the
IMAGINED by Ron Miller. INVISIBLE PLANETS: CONTEMPORARY CHINESE
SCIENCE FICTION IN TRANSLATION edited by Ken Liu. I’m going to stop
here because I have to stop somewhere.
For more info about NIGHTMARES: A NEW DECADE OF MODERN HORROR, visit the Tachyon page.
Cover by Nihil
Design by Elizabeth Story
For more info about DARKNESS: TWO DECADES OF MODERN HORROR, visit the Tachyon page.
Cover by Ann Monn
And the winner of a signed copy of Michael Swanwick’s NOT SO MUCH, SAID THE CAT is…
Two weeks ago we offered a chance to win a SIGNED copy of Michael Swanwick’s eclectic, charming, and moving new collection NOT SO MUCH, SAID THE CAT by posting a pic of a cat (living or stuffed) with any Tachyon or Swanwick with the hashtag #gimmethecat to Twitter or Facebook
The lucky winner is Stephen Gold, who posted this pic on Facebook.
Congrats to Stephen and thanks to everyone who entered.
For more information on NOT SO MUCH, SAID THE CAT, visit the Tachyon page.
Cover design by Elizabeth Story
Mary Shelley, writer of the first science fiction novel FRANKENSTEIN; OR, THE MODERN PROMETHEUS, was born 219 years ago
Mary Shelley’s portrait by Richard Rothwell
The daughter of political philosopher William Godwin and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, writer Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was born on August 30, 1797. Her seminal work FRANKENSTEIN; OR, THE MODERN PROMETHEUS (1818), often considered the very first science fiction story, created the iconic mad scientist-monster tale.
“Frontispiece to Frankenstein 1831” by Theodore Von Holst (1810-1844) – (Tate Britain. Private collection, Bath. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons)
Though best remembered for her archetypal creation, Shelley wrote six other novels most notably the historicals VALPERGA; OR, THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF CASTRUCCIO, PRINCE OF LUCCA (1823) and THE FORTUNES OF PERKIN WARBECK (1834) and the apocalyptic THE LAST MAN (1826). Her many short stories have been collected in MARY SHELLY: COLLECTED TALES AND STORIES and THE MORTAL IMMORTAL: THE COMPLETE SUPERNATURAL SHORT FICTION. She penned numerous poems, travel narratives and children’s books and also contributed several entries to THE LIVES OF THE MOST EMINENT LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC MEN, which comprised ten volumes of DIONYSIUS LARDNER’S 133-VOLUME CABINET CYCLOPAEDIA (1829–46).
For more info about THE MORTAL IMMORTAL: THE COMPLETE SUPERNATURAL SHORT FICTION, visit the Tachyon page.
More praise for Bruce Sterling’s wonder-romp PIRATE UTOPIA
Gwyneth Jones, Nick Mamatas, and Paul Di Filippo join Michael Moorcock in his praise for Bruce Sterling’s forthcoming alt history, dieselpunk adventure PIRATE UTOPIA.
“A splendidly illustrated Futurist romp, reminiscent of the comedic elements in Pynchon’s GRAVITY’S RAINBOW, PIRATE UTOPIA riffs on real, recondite modern history to truly bizarre effect.”
—Gwyneth Jones, author of LIFE and THE GRASSHOPPER’S CHILD
“I don’t know why a little weirdo like me is blurbing a demigod like Bruce Sterling, but listen, little weirdos: the PIRATE UTOPIA is calling for you! Build the future before it gets built for you; read this book.”
—Nick Mamatas, author of SENSATION and I AM PROVIDENCE
“Bruce Sterling maintains that J. G. Ballard was the most accurate and brilliant prophet ever to arise from the ranks of science fiction. I have to disagree, and hereby nominate Sterling himself for that honor. Although his newest, PIRATE UTOPIA, a rigorously gonzo counterfactual, is not one of the thickly detailed futures he has often previously imagined, it nonetheless captures the feelings and vectors and strange attractors of the present day in a most startling and entertaining fashion. As politics, culture and individual lifestyles warp and mutate and shatter around us, dynamic individuals learn how to assemble new and more satisfying outlaw lives from the shards. Sterling’s intimate acquaintance with modern Europe powers this compact powerhouse of a book, and his insights into the human soul enliven the vivid, heterogenous cast. Using the powers consecrated by my ethnicity, I hereby dub Sterling an honorary Italian, and a worthy successor to our Futurist heritage!”
—Paul Di Filippo, author of A PALAZZO IN THE STARS
The PIRATE UTOPIA revolution happens this November!
For more info on PIRATE UTOPIA, visit the Tachyon page.
Cover and images by John Coulthart
SLIPPING is a dizzying array of the incomparable Lauren Beukes’ stories
For STARBURST, Jennie Bailey enjoys Lauren Beukes’ debut collection SLIPPING: STORIES, ESSAYS, & OTHER WRITING.
SLIPPING is a
dizzying array of stories, a “greatest hits” from a prolific and
imaginative writer. There’s a mash of scenarios and genres from
alternative histories to Manga, cyberpunk to feminist fairy tale.
It’s kick-ass speculative fiction with brains and heart.While the short
stories outbalance the non-fiction pieces, Beukes’s journalism has
a zippy, thoughtful, and compelling style to it. Her passion for
social justice shines through in her articles about South Africa and
women. (I defy you not to get all the feelings when you read the
letter to her five-year-old daughter.) This section also demonstrates
underlying themes that inform MOXYLAND, ZOO CITY, THE SHINING GIRLS,
and recent novel BROKEN MONSTERS. For budding writers this will give
you a valuable insight into the writing process; you can see how
non-fiction seeps into fiction and how short stories can be developed
into longer pieces. (If you’re inspired you should definitely slip
on the muse-skin gloves from the opening story and try typing!)
Beukes’ writing is
incomparable, however, if you haven’t read her work and love
writers like Jeff Noon (VURT, AUTOMATED ALICE), William Gibson
(NEUROMANCER) mixed with the unflinching ballsiness of writers like
Emma Jane Unsworth (ANIMALS) then you’ll absolutely love Lauren
Beukes.
Richard Kadrey,
author of the SANDMAN SLIM series and THE EVERYTHING BOX, praises the collection.
Lauren Beukes is one
of the most talented writers working today. Moving from witty to sad
to horrifying, she makes it all seem effortless. We’re lucky to
finally have her short work in one place.
For more information about SLIPPING: STORIES, ESSAYS, & OTHER WRITING, visit the Tachyon page.
Cover art by Clara Bacou
Design by Elizabeth Story
HAP AND LEONARD is a good introduction to the eccentric characters
(Photo: Karen Lansdale)
Bev Vincent of ONYX REVIEWS enjoyed Joe R. Lansdale’s HAP AND LEONARD.
This brief collection opens with an appreciation of the author by fellow novelist Michael Koryta and closes with a couple of non-fiction pieces: one in which Lansdale interviews his two main characters and an essay from Lansdale about the genesis and evolution of the series. In between are a baker’s half-dozen stories.
The collection opens with one of the longest pieces, “Hyenas,” the perfect introduction to the stories of these unlikely amigos. It is a classic Hap & Leonard tale, starting with Leonard getting himself into some trouble with some bad guys and, by extension, the local law enforcement, with Hap being summoned to try to calm the situation. Hap and Leonard aren’t detectives or lawyers, but they do often find themselves being hired to get people out of sticky situations, and that’s just what they do here when they agree to help a guy prevent his brother from getting in trouble. The course of their little schemes never does run smooth, of course, and their loved ones oftentimes become collateral damage, although they usually do come out the other side successful if slightly scathed.
This collection is a good introduction to the eccentric characters who feature in ten novels and now the television series. The stories are full of trademark repartee, violence and shenanigans.
For WRITER’S BONE, Sean Tuohy interviews Lansdale.
ST: You have written for TV, film, and comics. Does your process or writing style change between the three formats?
JRL: Well, the format is the change, but you always write as well as you can, and you write to the strengths of the medium. Each as different, but you try and do them all as well as you can. I find I sometimes need a day to get comfortable doing something other than prose, but then the method comes back to me, and I’m into it.
ST: Your novel COLD IN JULY was turned into a film and your long running Hap and Leonard series was turned into a TV show. How does it feel to see your work translated into another form?
JRL: It’s fun, but always a little nerve-wracking. You always see stuff they left out, or changed, but my experiences so far have been really good. Enough things get made, I’m sure to have one I really hate. But again, so far, way good.
Lansdale discusses the classic film THE HAUNTING on the SCREAM ADDICTS podcast.
This week on SCREAM ADDICTS, special guest Joe R. Lansdale drops by to chat one of his favorite films- Robert Wise’s chilling 1963 horror classic THE HAUNTING.An author of numerous novels, short stories, teleplays and comic books, Mr. Lansdale discusses the first time he saw THE HAUNTING, its impact on the genre, Shirley Jackson’s original novel, and the film’s subtle, classy approach to its horror.It’s an enlightening chat with a fantastic guest, and one you’ll need to hear if you’re a fan of THE HAUNTING, Mr. Lansdale, or the horror genre in general.
For more info on HAP AND LEONARD, visit the Tachyon page.
Cover by Elizabeth Story
For more info on COLD IN JULY, visit the Tachyon page.
Cover design by Elizabeth Story
And the winner of Beelzebub and a signed copy of Michael Swanwick’s NOT SO MUCH, SAID THE CAT is…
Beelzebub is all packed for his next adventure.
Attendees of MidAmeriCon II, the 74th WorldCon in Kansas City, KA were able to participate in this…
Timothy C. Ward went above and beyond in winning these prizes with not just a video of Michael Swanwick reading from the collection but also an interview with publisher Jacob Weisman about the book!
Congrats to Tim and thanks to everyone who entered.
For more information on NOT SO MUCH, SAID THE CAT, visit the Tachyon page.
Cover design by Elizabeth Story
The groundbreaking and influential James Tiptree, Jr. was born 101 years ago
Alice B. Sheldon (James Tiptree, Jr.)
Born in Chicago, IL on August 24, 1915, Alice B. Sheldon (née Bradley) was the daughter of lawyer and naturalist Herbert Bradley and Mary Hastings Bradley, a popular and prolific writer of fiction and travel books. Young Alice traveled the world with her parents including 1921-22 trip to Africa, which influenced some of her more famous work. A graphic artist and a painter, Sheldon, under the name “Alice Bradley Davey” was an art critic for the CHICAGO SUN between 1941 and 1942.
Young Alice with the kikuyus, a native tribe from Africa
After her first marriage ended, Alice joined the United States Army Air Forces and worked in photo-intelligence group. Near the end of the war, while stationed in Paris, she met her second husband Huntington (Ting) Sheldon, future Director of the Office of Current Intelligence for the CIA. Returning to the States, Alice, as “Alice Bradley,” published her first short story “The Lucky Ones” in THE NEW YORKER (November 16, 1946). In 1952 she joined the CIA, but resigned in 1955 to return to college. Alice Sheldon eventually got a Bachelor of Arts degree at American University (1957–59) and a doctorate at George Washington University in Experimental Psychology in 1967.
Alice adopted her “James Tiptree, Jr.” persona to protect her academic reputation. As Tiptree, she garnered immense praise for her numerous tales that often stretched the boundaries of the genre by challenging the perceptions of gender. Her many awards include two Hugo (1974 novella, “The Girl Who Was Plugged In”; 1977 novella, “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?”), three Nebula (1973 short story, “Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death”; 1976 novella, “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?”; 1977 novelette, “The Screwfly Solution”), and a 1987 World Fantasy for the collection TALES OF THE QUINTANA ROO.
Alice with husband Ting
In 1977, her Tiptree identity was outed, which surprised many in the field. Sheldon continued writing as Tiptree until her tragic death in 1987. In 1991, Karen Joy Fowler and Pat Murphy established the James Tiptree, Jr. Award for works of science fiction or fantasy that expand or explore our understanding of gender.
Tiptree eventually penned the two novels UP THE WALLS OF THE WORLD and BRIGHTNESS FALLS FROM THE AIR. Tiptree’s numerous stories have been collected in many volumes including TEN THOUSAND LIGHT-YEARS FROM HOME, WARM WORLDS AND OTHERWISE, OUT OF THE EVERYWHERE AND OTHER EXTRAORDINARY VISIONS, THE STARRY RIFT, TALES OF THE QUINTANA ROO, CROWN OF STARS, and HER SMOKE ROSE UP FOREVER. Her poetry form the late 1940s and early 1950s were collected in NEAT SHEETS: THE POETRY OF JAMES TIPTREE, JR.
For more info about HER SMOKE ROSE UP FOREVER, visit the Tachyon page.
Cover by John Picacio.
For more info about NEAT SHEETS: THE POETRY OF JAMES TIPTREE, JR, visit the Tachyon page.
The stories in Michael Swanwick’s NOT SO MUCH, SAID THE CAT are wistful and weird
Reviews and recommendations for Michael Swanwick’s recently released collection NOT SO MUCH, SAID THE CAT keep tumbling in.
At THE WASHINGTON POST, Nancy Hightower recommends the collection.
Michael Swanwick shows his extraordinary range in NOT SO MUCH, SAID THE CAT (Tachyon) The 17 stories here blend and bend the science fiction and fantasy genres. “From Babel’s Fall’n Glory We Fled . . .”, a Hugo nominee, is narrated by Rosamund, a space suit A.I. Her lover, Quivera, is sent to an alien city of giant millipedes in an effort to form an alliance. The alien planet is attacked, and Quivera flees with a case he believes is their library, but soon he discovers it holds something even more important. “Goblin Lake” places us at the end of the Thirty Years War in 1646, when a young soldier named Jack discovers the magical world beneath the surface of a lake where people live as self-aware characters in fiction. Jack is given a difficult choice to make: live in messy reality with all of its tragedy and loss, or stay in a fictional one that would grant him eternal life. “The Man in Grey” plays with a similar theme as a young woman is saved from an accidental death only to discover her life is created, in part, by stagehands and props. Swanwick’s stories are wistful and weird, at times tragic yet still hopeful as the mythic and scientific intertwine.
Craig Clark at BOOKLIST praises the book.
Swanwick excels at satisfying conclusions
that cause readers to take pause and consider the actions of the characters. Thoughtful, witty, and, at times,
disturbing, this collection will appeal to those who enjoy short fiction, no matter the genre.
READCOMMENDATIONS reviews NOT SO MUCH, SAID THE CAT.
Wow, this man really knows how to write short fiction! Each story is exquisite, the perfect density of plot, carefully crafted, beautifully executed. I love these self contained universes that seem to extend beyond the small glimpse we see here, making me feel like I am both content with that I was given and yet dreaming of reading a full novel.
<snip>
The author frequently returns to the theme of colonization (which is why some of his fiction reminds of of Bradbury, I think). In quite a few stories, we are either colonizing or have been colonized: we’re either living with the colonists, or being them ourselves, for better or for worse. Not everyone is always happy with the outcome, and sometimes revenge can take years to emerge. I loved how the author presented so many facets of this heavy problem.
All in all, a fantastic collection. Some are more memorable than others, and some will stay with you forever. Definitely a fantastic read.
For more information on NOT SO MUCH, SAID THE CAT, visit the Tachyon page.
Cover design by Elizabeth Story