Just in time for Halloween, Ellen Datlow’s Screams From the Dark presents 29 “scary” stories for readers to shudder about. My favorite stories, not surprisingly, come from “name” writers. Joyce Carol Oates takes us to the horrors of a pre-Civil War southern planation in rural Alabama in “‘The Father of Modern Gynecology’: J. Marion Syms, M. D. (1713–1883.”
Richard Kadrey, author of the Sandman Slim series, delivers a disturbing story with “What Is Love But the Quiet Moments After Dinner.” Two stories feature creepy islands: “The Island” by Norman Partridge and “Flaming Teeth” by Garry Kilworth. Partridge’s island is a living thing who controls most of the elements around it. A couple of vampires enter the island’s sphere of influence and mayhem results. Kilworth’s island isn’t on any maps and when a yacht with three couples explore the secret island, they find something that deserves to stay hidden.
I’ve read over a dozen Ellen Datlow anthologies and enjoyed them all. Screams From the Dark will get you in the mood for the Halloween season. GRADE: B
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction by Ellen Datlow — 1
You Have What I Need by Ian Rogers — 4
The Midway by Fran Wilde — 20
Wet Red Grin by Gemma Files — 39
The Virgin Jimmy Peck by Daryl Gregory — 59
The Ghost of a Flea by Priya Sharma — 82
The Atrocity Exhibitionists by Brian Hodge — 100
“The Father of Modern Gynecology”: J. Marion Syms, M.D. (1813-1883) by Joyce Carol Oates — 120
Here Comes Your Man by Indrapramit Das — 134
Siolaigh by Siobhan Carroll — 148
What Is Love But the Quiet Moments After Dinner? by Richard Kadrey — 165
The Island by Norman Partridge — 182
Flaming Teeth by Garry Kilworth — 202
Strandling by Caitlín R. Kiernan — 216
The Special One by Chikodili Emelumadu — 232
Devil by Glen Hirshberg — 241
Crick Crack Rattle Tap by A. C. Wise — 260
Children of the Night by Stephen Graham Jones — 278
The Smell of Waiting by Kaaron Warren — 289
Now Voyager by Livia Llewellyn — 306
The Last Drop by Carole Johnstone — 327
Three Mothers Mountain by Nathan Ballingrud — 342
Widow-Light by Margo Lanagan — 359
Sweet Potato by Joe R. Lansdale — 368
Knock, Knock by Brian Evenson — 379
What is Meat with No God? by Cassandra Khaw — 392
Bitten by Himself by Laird Barron — 397
Burial by Kristi DeMeester — 411
Beautiful Dreamer by Jeffrey Ford — 420
Bloedzuiger by John Langan — 432
About the Authors — 473
About the Editor –479
The story by Joyce Carol Oates was probably the strongest story here. I liked the Joe Lansdale one a lot also and the one by Prya Sharma. The only story i didn’t care for was the Norman Partridge one.
Steve, Ellen Datlow anthologies usually include a clunker or two.
Sounds right up my alley.
Jerry, I’m sure you would enjoy many of the stories in SCREAMS FROM THE DARK!
These sound good. I will see if my library has it.
Patti, both of our local Libraries have SCREAMS FROM THE DARK so it must be popular. And, it also has Halloween appeal!
I have this on hold at the library. My problem is, I have way too many library books at the moment.
Jeff, I had over a dozen Library books stacked up before BOUCHERCON. I’ve whittled the stack down to TWO books! But, now the Review Books are mounting!
I just picked up four MORE books today!
Jeff, I feel your pain!
Datlow, a friendly acquaintance, is perhaps the most “bankable” horror anthologist active today, and any of her volumes is likely to pop up in any given public library…and with good reason. Any anthology or collection is likely to have something not to one’s taste…but the concept of the Partridge story does sound tricky to pull off (I haven’t yet read the book).
I was rather saddened when Datlow wrote on my blog that the long delay in publication (a year’s) between her Shirley Jackson tribute anthology and Maxim Jakubowski’s Cornell Woolrich tribute volume was a matter of the publisher’s policy…the assumption being no line could Handle two similar projects in the same season…or year, without the two books cutting into each other’s audience. Gah.
Todd, the publishers are ruled by Marketing. If the Marketing staff says that sales will be affected, that’s the hammer that molds corporate decisions.
Yup, and everyone’s terror of quarterly and annual reports, not an improvement on the bad old days of simple snobbery among the less endangered (and less-subsidiary) firms.
Channeling Joe, I went to a panel on Mystery and Horror at Bouchercon.
One of the participants raved about Stephen Graham Jones; I’d never heard of him before.
What did you think of his story?
I haven’t read this story, Beth, but I read two of his novels. Intense is one word I’d use.
Beth, I’ve found Stephen Graham Jones’s stories to be…uneven.
I’d agree.
This sounds like the perfect anthology for this season, but this the type of story I avoid.
Tracy, I read all kinds of stories. Horror stories consist of a minor part of my overall reading.