Alchemy Press editors interviewed

Editors of The Alchemy Press Book of Horrors, Peter Coleborn and Jan Edwards, have been interviewed by Jenny Barber:

Besides the very general theme ‘horror’ the book has no theme. I feel that stories in themed anthologies, especially tightly themed ones, can become too similar. I enjoy variety. I enjoy coming across something unexpected. In this I mirror the views expressed by Mark Morris, editor of the wonderful New Fears series.

I use the word ‘horror’ as a wide catch-all net. What you will find between the covers is 25 well-written yarns that will hopefully chill you, or at the least make you go: wow, I didn’t expect that. Weird stories. Creature features. There are stories that may have been at home in The Pan Book of Horror Stories, perhaps in New Terrors (edited by Ramsey Campbell), or in one of Stephen Jones & David Sutton’s anthologies. Other anthologies are available.

Read the full interview on Jenny’s website.

 

New crop of anthologies

The writer/editor Paul Finch covers a number of new and recent horror anthologies and short stories:

For whatever reason, these dull, dark and soundless days in the autumn of the year start to make us think ghosts and goblins. I’ve addressed the possible explanations for this many times before on this blog, so I won’t try to get all scholarly on you now. Who knows why we do it? Deep fears of the unknown embedded into us from time immemorial and rekindled by the withering of the land and dwindling of the light? The undying pagan myths wrapped about the season’s most ancient and beloved festivals, Halloween, Christmas etc? The mere tradition of it – the fact that our ancestors had nothing to do once the crops were all in except sit around fires and tell each other tall tales?

Visit Paul’s blog to read the full article.

 

 

Celebrity Frankenstein

The way I read collections and anthologies is to pick and mix. I may read just one story from a book before looking elsewhere – and I have many, many books on the go at any one time. In order to share my reading pleasure I will, from time to time, highlight a particularly strong story in a thread I’ve termed Tell Tales.

Stephen Volk is one of the finest writers of short horror stories (or weird fiction, whatever) writing today. His latest collection, The Parts We Play, was published by PS last year. The first story is “Celebrity Frankenstein”, and a very good story it is.

Continue here.

 

Tell Tales

The way I read collections and anthologies is to pick and mix. I may read just one story from a book before looking elsewhere – and I have many, many books on the go at any one time. In order to share my reading pleasure I will, from time to time, highlight a particularly strong story in a thread I’ve termed Tell Tales.

“Tower of Babylon” by Ted Chiang can be found in his collection Stories of Your Life and Others (Picador £8.99). This is the lead story in the book and was originally published in Omni in 1990. Like almost all stories from Omni (the ones I’ve read, anyway), it is an outstanding and powerfully written tale. As one would expect, coming from such a publication. Read more here.

 

Rag & Bones edited by Melissa Marr & Tim Pratt

Rags & Bones, the paperback edition, is out in a week or so (Headline £7.99). I always say that any short story collection or anthology is a blessing:

“There are some stories that will always be told, tales as timeless as they are gripping. There are some authors who can tell any story. In Rags & Bones, award-winning and best-selling authors retell classic fairy tales and twisted tales in the way that only they can. With magic and love, they bring these stories – whether much loved or overlooked – back to life.

Read ‘Sleeping Beauty’ as only Neil Gaiman can tell it. See ‘Rumpelstiltskin’ through the eyes of Kami Garcia. And learn of Rudyard Kipling’s ‘The Man Who Would Be King’ from the inimitable Garth Nix.”

This fine-looking anthology includes twelve stories in all. In addition to the aforementioned writers, you get tales from Gene Wolfe, Kelley Armstrong and Holly Black amongst others. Add to this a number of beautiful drawings by Charles Vess, and you have a superb book.