robert shearman Archives - Tachyon Publications

March 10, 2016

Cover and contents for the new Ellen Datlow anthology NIGHTMARES: A NEW DECADE OF MODERN HORROR

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized anna taborska, anthology, Brian Hodge, Caitlín R. Kiernan, dan chaon, Ellen Datlow, garth nix, Gemma Files, Gene Wolfe, horror, John Langan, kaaron warren, Laird Barron, lisa tuttle, livia llewellyn, m. rickert, margo lanagan, mark samuels, nathan ballingurd, nicholas royle, nightmares, nightmares: a new decade of modern horror, nihil, ray cluley, reggie oliver, richard kadrey, robert shearman, simon bestwick, stephen graham jones, steve duffy

Shallaballah by Mark Samuels
Sob in the Silence by Gene Wolfe
Our Turn Too Will One Day Come by Brian Hodge
Dead Sea Fruit by Kaaron Warren
Closet Dreams by Lisa Tuttle
Spectral Evidence by Gemma Files
Hushabye by Simon Bestwick
Very Low-Flying Aircraft by Nicholas Royle
The Goosle by Margo Lanagan
The Clay Party by Steve Duffy
Strappado by Laird Barron
Lonegan’s Luck by Stephen Graham Jones
Mr Pigsny by Reggie Oliver
At Night, When the Demons Come by Ray Cluley
Was She Wicked? Was She Good? by M. Rickert
The Shallows by John Langan
Little Pig by Anna Taborska
Omphalos by Livia Llewellyn
How We Escaped Our Certain Fate by Dan Chaon
That Tiny Flutter of the Heart I Used to Call Love by Robert Shearman
Interstate Love Song (Murder Ballad No. 8) by Caitlín R. Kiernan
Shay Corsham Worsted by Garth Nix
The Atlas of Hell by Nathan Ballingrud
Ambitious Boys Like You by Richard Kadrey

NIGHTMARES: A NEW DECADE OF MODERN HORROR haunts your dreams in Fall, 2016.

Cover by Nihil

Design by Elizabeth Story

October 27, 2014

THE CUTTING ROOM coming attraction: “The Constantinople Archives” by Robert Shearman

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized 1453, anthology, constantinople, doctor who, Ellen Datlow, excerpt, Halloween, horror, josh beatman, robert shearman, short story, The Constantinople Archives, the cutting room, the cutting room: dark reflections of the silver screen

Over the next two weeks, in celebration of Halloween and the new anthology The Cutting Room: Dark Reflections of the Silver Screen, Tachyon and editor Ellen Datlow present excerpts from a selection of the volume’s horrifying tales.

Today’s selection comes from “The Constantinople Archives” by Robert Shearman.

We can speculate, and we can speculate, but the probability is that few of the silent movies made during the siege of Constantinople in 1453 were very good. And there are clear reasons for this, both political and cultural.

On the one hand, we have to bear in mind the extremely trying circumstances under which the movies were being filmed. In attacking Constantinople, the Ottoman Turks were also attacking the last bastion of the Roman Empire (if only in symbolic form), a direct line of power that stretched back some two thousand years. It was also the seat of the Orthodox Christian Church, a force equal and opposite to the Catholic Church in Rome. Expansionist wars were two a penny in the fifteenth century, but this was no run-of-the-mill example, it was already rife with meaning, and no doubt the Byzantines under threat would have been only too aware of that. Besides which, on a purely practical level, the constant cannoning of the city walls must surely have been a distraction. Even making silent movies, surely, some peace and quiet is required for concentration’s sake.

On the other hand, and perhaps more pertinently, Byzantine art had always defined itself by a certain flat austerity. Their mosaics and paintings that we can study today are colourful, but there’s a grim functionality to all that colour; the lines are severely drawn and make the characters depicted seem two-dimensional and undramatic. It would be foolish to expect that in the creation of an entire new art form that several centuries of engrained Byzantine culture would be abandoned overnight. It is unfair to imagine that the clowns who pratfalled and danced and poked each other in the eyes in Constantinople cinema were other Chaplins, or Keatons, even other Fatty Arbuckles. The conditions were wrong. Their genius could not have flowered.

And yet, of course, we remain fascinated by those movies from the Byzantine age. And again, partly this will be because they were the pioneers, the history of cinema begins here with these shadowy figures by the Bosporus doomed to be killed or enslaved by the Muslim potentate. But I hope our fascination is not purely academic. That we honour not merely the historical significance of what was invented, but that, with care and study, and an open mind, we try to appreciate the art on its own terms.

For information on The Cutting Room: Dark Reflections of the Silver Screen, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Josh Beatman.

October 3, 2014

We’re celebrating Halloween by giving away Ellen Datlow’s new anthology THE CUTTING ROOM

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized /film, a c wise, anthology, david morrell, dennis etchison, douglas e. winter, edward bryant, Ellen Datlow, f. paul wilson, garry kilworth, gary a. braunbeck, gary mcmahon, Gemma Files, genevieve valentine, giveaway, goodreads, horror, howard waldrop, ian watson, joel lane, lucy a. snyder, movies, nicholas royle, peter straub, robert shearman, short stories, stephen graham jones, stephen j. barringer, steve nagy, the cutting room

With the help of the fine folks over at Goodreads, we’re celebrating Halloween with a giveaway of an ARC of The Cutting Room: Dark Reflections of the Silver Screen, the new anthology from the award-winning, superstar editor Ellen Datlow.

Visit Goodreads for the full details and to enter.

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.

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

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

For information on The Cutting Room: Dark Reflections of the Silver Screen, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Josh Beatman.

February 27, 2014

Tachyon 2014 Fall Preview: THE CUTTING ROOM

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized a c wise, anthology, cutting room, daphne gottlieb, david morrell, dennis etchison, douglas e. winter, edward bryant, Ellen Datlow, f. paul wilson, garry kilworth, gary a. braunbeck, gary mcmahon, Gemma Files, genevieve valentine, howard waldrop, ian watson, joel lane, josh beatman, Kim Newman, Laird Barron, Lucy Snyder, movies, peter straub, preview, robert shearman, short stories, stephen graham jones, stephen j. barringer, steve nagy

This week, we’re previewing the Tachyon publications scheduled for Fall, 2014.

The Cutting Room: Dark Reflections of the Silver Screen

Edited by Ellen Datlow

What happens after the closing credits and before the lights go out? When you turn off your TV, but still aren’t able to sleep? Cancel your Netflix. Sometimes only the written word will do.

These twenty-two terrifying tales are a chilling homage to the silver screen. Discover that James Dean may well have lived beyond the grave, a trip to Oz is a one-way ticket, and zombies were behind the corporate greed of the 1980s. Learn how reality is edited (and found overly long) and how the Final Girl, a horror film’s sole survivor, emerges victorious and with a captive audience. Join award-winning and bestselling authors from Neil Gaiman to Peter Straub in a journey to the darkest depths of the theater.

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 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

Trade paperback/ebook * $16.95/$9.99 * October 2014 * 978-1-61696-167-1

Cover by Josh Beatman