Absolute Horror Book Forum

To ALL short story writers of Horror, Dark Fantasy, and Suspense, this book is a MUST HAVE.

Within this Great tome - 828 pages are stories form twenty-nine of the top writers in the field today.

These are not just short stories, there's a Novel, Novellas, and Novelettes too boot: The breakdown is such,

A Short Novel by William Peter Blatty (Exorcist and Legion author)

Novellas by Jor R Lansdale; David Morrell; Joyce Carol Oates.

Novelettes by Ramsey Campbell; Stephen King; Thomas Ligotti; Eric Van Lustbader; Thomas F Monteleone; Kim Newman; F Paul Wilson; Gene Wolf.

Short Stories by Edward Bryant; P D Cacek; Nancy A Collins, Thomas M Disch; Neil Gaiman; Ed Gorman; Rick Hautala; T E D Klein; Edward Lee; Bentley Little; Dennis L McKiernan; Tim Powers; Al Sarrantonio; Peter Schneider; Michael Marshall Smith; Steven Spruill; Chet Williamson.

I must say I loved most of the tales in this book, and the ones I didn't I really liked, and that is unusual because the more differing content you put together usually leads to at least a couple of duff stories - not here though. I even enjoyed the dark fantasy tales, though I am usually averse to this genre (usually with one or two exceptions like Raymond E Feist's "Faerie Tale")

It was also nice to reread the Stephen King's "The Road Virus Heads North".

More to the point what you have in this book is a load of very different styles and content and this makes the book more than entertaining it brings it alive.

I always found that with short stories by the same author ala "Skeleton Crew" by Stephen King. That after awhile the motivation to read more wore a little thin. That is also true of the anthologies of a certain type "Vampyre", "Werewolf", etc. With these books I'll read two or three stories and then get into a novel. Once the novel is read then another two or three from the collection.

Though with "999" I read straight through and loved it. It was particularly nice to read another William Peter Blatty story Elsewhere. I've read "The Exorcist" and "Legion" which I also highly recommend to readers out there. Even though it doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out the twist in the tale - I'd figured it out about twenty pages in - Blatty's style is so nice to read, and I enjoyed his telling of the tale.

The Nancy A Collins tale Catfish Gal Blues is a kind of modern day fable told in a lilting style and was one of my favourites in the book. Though I will also admit to being a Collin's fan and pushing her novel "Sunglasses After Dark" which I've read three times and the sequels. I believe this was the first book (before the plethora which followed) of a Vampire who killed Vampires.

Another fave was "Rio Grande Gothic" by David Morrell (an author I'd previously not read - now I'll have to search out some of his work). Though it's basically a thriller the writing style and the content make this story, as well as the growth of it's main character. Again if you're on the ball you'll see the twist though, like Blatty's it won't stop you reading.

I go along with Stephen King and his premise that reading will also help a writer with their writing in general. This is a very good place to start if you are thinking about seeing how it's done. This book should not let you down.

9/10

Come join me - We ALL Float Down Here.

PENNYWISE Stephen

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