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monster librarian

November 9, 2016

Recommended, haunting NIGHTMARES terrifies

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized Ann Monn, contest, darkness, darkness: two decades of modern horror, elizabeth story, Ellen Datlow, giveaway, maximum pop, monster librarian, nightmares, nightmares: a new decade of modern horror, nihil, review

Not only does MAXIMUM POP include Ellen Datlow’s NIGHTMARES: A NEW DECADE OF MODERN HORROR among THE 6 SCARIEST BOOKS YOU NEED IN YOUR LIFE THIS WINTER but also is giving away copies of the acclaimed anthology.

Terrifying? Haunting? Bound to make you think twice about turning that light out? Yep, yep and double yep. But it’s also such a THRILL. Tachyon publishing have really gone all out with this one. And including great authors like Garth Nix, what’s not to love?

U.S. based MP!ers: Want to win a copy? Here’s how…

1. Follow us @maximumpopbooks
2. RT the tweet below.

MONSTER LIBRARIAN praises the book.

NIGHTMARES is a collection of stories chosen by Ellen Datlow as the best stories of 2005-2015. It is a companion volume to DARKNESS, a previously published anthology of stories chosen by her as the best stories written between 1985 and 2005. Not being as widely read in contemporary short horror fiction as Datlow is, I can’t say whether I agree with her choices or not, but I can say that the stories she chose do live up to the book’s title: in one way or another, they are all nightmares.

Datlow chose stories that take a variety of approaches to instilling horror, from the understated to over-the-top: you’ll find weird fiction, cosmic horror, twisted fairy tales, disturbing family secrets, ghosts and hauntings, Gothic horrors, body horror, incestuous relationships, and more than enough blood and gore. As a reader who prefers creepy and atmospheric writing to graphic descriptions, I found this book to be emotionally, mentally, and even physically exhausting. I received it as an ebook from NetGalley and am not sure how long it actually was, but it required several days for me to read it through. However, as a sampler of well-done short fiction in the horror genre, I think it is successful. Certainly, I have found that several stories have stuck with me even though a few weeks have passed since I finished it.

For those horror readers who enjoy variety in their short fiction, NIGHTMARES is an excellent way to discover authors they may not have tried out before. With her choices for this collection of short fiction from the past decade, despite her disclaimer, Ellen Datlow continues to show not just her enthusiasm as a fan of the horror genre, but her excellence as an anthologist. Recommended.

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

April 29, 2016

Tachyon tidbits featuring Jacob Weisman, Nalo Hopkinson, Joe R. Lansdale, and W. P. Kinsella

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized anthology, audiobook, baseball, charleston gazette-mail, chuma hill, collection, deadman's road, elizabeth story, falling in love with hominids, far fetched fables, goro fujita, horror, invaders, invaders: 22 tales from the outer limits of literature, jacob weisman, joe lansdale, Joe R. Lansdale, monster librarian, nalo hopkinson, octavia butler, review, science fiction, shelf talk, suzy mcginley, the essential w. p. kinsella, Thomas Canty, Travis J. Elston, w. p. kinsella, western

The latest reviews and mentions of Tachyon titles from around the web.

Jacob Weisman, Nalo Hopkinson, Joe R. Lansdale (Karen Lansdale), W. P. Kinsella (Ed Steer)

MONSTER LIBRARIAN recommends Jacob Weisman’s INVADERS: 22 TALES FROM THE OUTER LIMITS OF LITERATURE.

If you are looking for a straightforward collection of stories about first contact and alien invasions, this anthology will not be your cup of tea. If you are hoping to find science fiction/horror hybrids, you will find a few– “Escape From Spiderhead” and “Fugue State” are both pretty terrifying, and “Monstro” has some frightening moments. The best audience for this collection, though, is the curious reader interested in seeing what “literary” writers produce as science fiction. It might not convince dedicated science fiction readers to join the literary mainstream, but it could be that readers of some of these more mainstream, contemporary authors, might be convinced to stick a toe into the deep waters of science fiction. For that reason, large public libraries will want to consider it, and shelve it in the regular fiction collection. Recommended.

Veronica H of the Seattle Public Library’s SHELF TALK highlights Nalo Hopkinson as one of the authors who are following in Octavia Butler’s “footsteps and changing the definitions of science fiction and fantasy.”

Nalo Hopkinson has been writing in the genre for almost two decades, with Brown Girl in the Ring and Midnight Robberbeing perhaps her most well-known books. She also edited, along with Uppinder Mehan, a 2004 anthology of post-colonial science fiction and fantasy titled So Long Been Dreaming that features an amazing collection of short stories by writers of color from all over the world. Her most recent work is a collection of short stories titled FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS.

FAR FETCHED FABLES shares an audio version of Joe R. Lansdale’s “The Dark Down There” from his collection DEADMAN’S ROAD.

In her survey of baseball fiction, Suzy McGinley of the CHARLESTON GAZETTE-MAIL includes THE ESSENTIAL W. P. KINSELLA.

In the realm of fantasy baseball, there’s one story that is known by almost everyone: “Shoeless Joe,” this 1982 novel by W. P. Kinsella became the wonderful movie “Field of Dreams.”

“THE ESSENTIAL W. P. KINSELLA” includes 31 of his best and eclectic short stories. These stories include an encounter with the deceased Roberto Clemente as well as the escapades of some members of Canada’s First Nations.

For more info about INVADERS: 22 TALES FROM THE OUTER LIMITS OF LITERATURE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Goro Fujita

Design by Elizabeth Story

For more information on FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Chuma Hill

Design by Elizabeth Story

For more on DEADMAN’S ROAD, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art “The Quick and the Undead” by Travis J. Elston

Design by Elizabeth Story

For more info about THE ESSENTIAL W. P. KINSELLA, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Thomas Canty

Cover design by Elizabeth Story