Ellen Datlow’s acclaimed anthology THE CUTTING ROOM: DARK REFLECTIONS OF THE SILVER SCREEN  is a Kindle Daily Deal for Tuesday, May 31st.

For today only, the ebook is available for just $1.99!

A Kirkus Excellent Horror Read for October

“This themed anthology revolves around the idea that the separation between what is real and what we see on film is not as clear as we’d like to think it is. What if, for example, the Wicked Witch of the West didn’t stay in Oz? What if James Dean got a second chance at life? These are just some of the weird-but-cool ideas explored in this tempting volume of stories from renowned editor Ellen Datlow, who collects 23 scary tales by the likes of Peter Straub, Genevieve Valentine, Robert Shearman, Laird Barron and more.”
—Kirkus

A Publishers Weekly Book of the Week

STARRED REVIEW “Superstar editor Datlow makes no missteps in this reprint collection of dark tales involving movies and moviemaking. The one original piece, Stephen Graham Jones’s “Tenderizer,” is a haunting exploration of tragedy on both a personal and national level. A.C. Wise’s “Final Girl Theory,” about a cult film that’s an “infection, whispered from mouth to mouth in the dark,” is disturbing and gory without fetishizing its horrors. Kim Newman’s brilliant “Illimitable Dominion” tells an alternate history of Edgar Allen Poe, Roger Corman, and American International Pictures that’s particularly suited to film buffs who will probably spot the (initially) subtle changes to the time line. Film critic and author Genevieve Valentine provides both an entertaining story (“She Drives the Men to Crimes of Passion!”) and an enlightening introduction, while even Douglas E. Winter’s “Bright Lights, Big Zombie”—the literary target of which has long faded—still holds up reasonably well. Strong stories by Gary McMahon and Gary A. Braunbeck, as well as poems by Lucy A. Snyder and Daphne Gottlieb, are also worth noting, but really, the entire volume is outstanding.”
—Publishers Weekly

The credits have rolled, but the lights are still off. Something is lurking on the other side of the screen. There are dark secrets, starving monsters, and haunted survivors who refuse to be left on the cutting room floor. But that’s okay, right? After all, everybody loves the movies…. Here are twenty-three terrifying tales, dark reflections of the silver screen from both sides of the camera. James Dean gets a second chance at life—and death. The Wicked Witch is out of Oz and she’s made some unlucky friends. When God decides reality needs an editor, what—and who—gets cut? These award-winning, bestselling authors will take you to the darkest depths of the theater and beyond.

“This collection of 23 stories should appeal to fans of horror and SF primarily, though noir and hard-boiled-mystery readers should feel welcome too…. Definitely worth checking out.”
—Booklist

“It’s pretty much a given that an Ellen Datlow anthology will at least be good, if not great… ‘The Cutting Room’ is no exception.”
—Bookshots

“Horror cinephiles and bibliophiles will have extra cause to rejoice this Halloween: The Cutting Room, a literary anthology, is an October treat.”
—Diabolique

Table of Contents

• Introduction by Genevieve Valentine
• Preface by Ellen Datlow
• “The Cutter” by Edward Bryant
• “The Hanged Man of Oz” by Steve Nagy
• “Deadspace” by Dennis Etchison
• “Cuts” by F. Paul Wilson
• “Final Girl Theory” by A. C. Wise
• “Lapland, or Film Noir” by Peter Straub
• “The Thousand Cuts” by Ian Watson
• “Occam’s Ducks” by Howard Waldrop
• “Dead Image” by David Morrell
• “The Constantinople Archives” by Robert Shearman
• “each thing I show you is a piece of my death” by Gemma Files & Stephen J. Barringer
• “Cinder Images” by Gary McMahon
• “The Pied Piper of Hammersmith” by Nicholas Royle
• “Filming the Making of the Film of the Making of Fitzcarraldo” by Garry Kilworth
• “Onlookers” by Gary A. Braunbeck
• “Recreation” by Lucy A. Snyder
• “Bright Lights, Big Zombie” by Douglas E. Winter
• “She Drives the Men to Crimes of Passion!” by Genevieve Valentine
• “Even the Pawn” by Joel Lane
• “Tenderizer” by Stephen Graham Jones
• “Ardor” by Laird Barron
• “Final Girl II: the Frame” by Daphne Gottlieb
• “Illimitable Dominion” by Kim Newman

“I personally feel that short fiction is the ideal format for horror and dark fantasy literature and the theme of film/film-making is absolutely brilliant and Datlow collects a very nice assortment.  This collection is highly recommended.”
—Looking for a Good Book

“The Cutting Room is a ton of fun….”
—LitReactor

“Horror stories about the cinema in some capacity. There was no way I wouldn’t like this book, regardless of whether I was a horror and film buff or not. Datlow’s pretty much the master of the anthology, and it shows here.” —LitReactor‘s favorite reads of 2014

For more info about THE CUTTING ROOM: DARK REFLECTIONS OF THE SILVER SCREEN, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Josh Beatman