Author: Mario Guslandi

Shirley Jackson ,one of the more famous and influential authors of the twentieth century, is the inspiration for the latest anthology edited by distinguished, widely known editor Ellen Datlow.

The volume assembles eighteen brand new storie penned by writers attempting to recreate,somehow, the atmospheres and the themes of Jackson’s fictional work.

I won’t pretend to be so well acquainted with that author’s body of work, to be able to detect echoes of her stories and novels in each tale featured in the present book. Thus I will simply judge these new stories as they are on the basis of their intrinsic value.

Here’s my personal list of favorites.

“For Sale by Owner” by Elizabeth Hand is an excellent, perceptive story revolving around an empty cabin in the woods, where three women decide to spend a night, while Karen Heuler’s

“Money of the Dead” is an off beat tale where dead people are called back by their relatives or friends only to disappoint and hurt their callers.

“Take Me, I Am Free” by Joyce Carol Oates is a very short, quite disturbing piece about the difficult relationship between a mother and her little girl. The last line will give you the creeps.

The strong, vivid “ Hag” by Benjamin Percy takes place in a forsaken island surrounded by a voracious sea demanding human nourishment, while the quite enjoyable “A Trip to Paris” by Richard Kadrey portrays an apparently nice lady hiding terrible secrets.

In “Refinery Road” by the prolific Stephen Graham Jones past family tragedies return to haunt the present, and in the superb “ The Door in the Fence” by the always dependable Jeffrey Ford an old woman undergoes an astonishing transformation due to the tainted water from  her garden.

To me the highlight of the volume is the absolutely outstanding “Skinder’s Veil” by Kelly Link, a mesmerizing,unforgettable sort of long, dark fable.

Other contributors are : M. Rickert, Seanan McGuire, Carmen Maria Machado, Cassandra Khaw, John Langan, Paul Tremblay, Gemma Files, Josh Malerman, Genevieve Valentine, Laird Barron.

In short, another great anthology assembled by Ellen Datlow.

Available from  Bookshop and Amazon.

This hefty anthology starts with a quotation by Neil Gaiman “Have  you ever been in love? Horrible, isn’t it?”, which sets the tone for the following twenty stories, collected by editor AR Ward and illustrated by Ashley Van Elswick, apt to demonstrate the many faces of love. Or,to be precise, of twisted love.

Love is a feeling, a passion, which can take horrible routes, from cruelty to madness, from betrayal to murder, from degradation to violence, from stalking to vengeance, from obsession to death.

The various aspects of deviant love have been covered by the following authors: Kelly Piner, Lindz McLeod, Meg Sipos, Ashley Van Elswyk, Paige Johnson, Shannon Scott, Adam Down, Joshua Robinson, Antonia Rachel Ward, Matias Traviezo-Diaz, Caitlin Marceau, Simone leRoux, Cara Mast, Jenna Junior, Emma Kathryn, CM Lowry, Jelena Dunato, Julie Sevens, Andrew Joseph White and Allyson Floyd.

Commenting upon each story is an impossible task, so I will focus on the contributions which seem more accomplished to me. Alhough the book doesn’t include any actual masterpieces, the average quality is good enough and the following stories are, in my opinion, the best ones.

“Fade into You” by Meg Sipos is a body horror tale that investigats the hidden needs in a sex relationship. “Bumped” by Shannon Scott is an offbeat piece featuring a young woman simulating a non-existent pregnancy.

Antonia Rachel Ward contributes “Lilac Wine”, a rather predictable, yet engrossing tale of seduction and death. Matias Travieso-Diaz provides “Rosalba”, a gentle ghost story about jealousy and murder.

In Emma Kathryn’s “Sister Smoke” we meet another kind of ghost, that of a burned woman, playing a role in the attempt of a girl to find a new life by getting rid of his former husband.

The best story in the volume is perhaps “The Bloom” by Jenna Junior, the insightful analysis of a woman’s attraction for another woman and her final vengeance for being used but not loved.

I was not familiar with most of the authors featured in this anthology, but I’m going to keep an eye on some of the above names and on their next work.

3 /5 stars

Available from  Amazon and Bookshop.

I haven’t had many opportunities in recent years to get acquainted with the work of Australian horror writers, whose names (with the exception of editor Deborah Sheldon, Jack Dann, Kaaron Warren, and Sean Williams, who are among the contributors to the present anthology) are mostly unknown to me. Which is a shame because, as this book proves, there are many Australian authors deserving a wider recognition beyond their country’s borders.

The volume collects twenty-three stories addressing the unusual theme in a variety of angles, atmospheres, and tones. Commenting upon each single tale is clearly impossible, hence I will mention the ones which seem the more accomplished.

“A Good Big Brother” by Matt Tighe is a tense, apocalyptic story where people are transformed by a mysterious disease, and a young boy must learn how to protect his mother and his baby brother. 

“The Still Warm” by Paul Mannering is a powerful example of graphic horror portraying the horrible fate of a pregnant woman surviving a hanging and finding herself buried alive inside a coffin.

The unsettling “Beneath the Cliffs of Darknoon Bay” by Rebecca Fraser takes place in the lonesome atmosphere of a lighthouse and depicts how the sheer madness of a pregnant woman gets tragically loose.

Robyn O’ Sullivan’s “Expel the Darkness” is the vivid description of an ill-fated pregnancy ending with a terrifying labor at home, while Deborah Sheldon’s “Hair and Teeth” is a disquieting tale of medical horror featuring a woman with uterine troubles.

In the well-crafted “Mother Diamond” by Janeen Webb a woman is haunted in many ways by the spirit of her late, domineering mother.

Charles Spiteri contributes “The Remarkable Compass for Finding the Departed”, a gentle, sad but disturbing tale revolving around a restless stillborn child, while JM Merryt pens “Gravid”, a dark, subtly unnerving fairy tale (contrary to what the narrator declares…)

All in all, an interesting anthology of horror fiction, graced by some little gems apt to effectively entertain and disquiet the reader.

4/5 stars

Available from  Amazon.