I’m not a big fan of themed anthologies and What the #@&% is That?: The Saga Anthology of the Mounstrous and the Macadbre is a good example why. As Douglas Cohen explains in his “introduction,” he got the idea of a collection of stories where somewhere in each story a character would say, “What the #@&% is that?” Or words to that effect. Sadly, most of the stories in What the #@&% is That? concentrate too much on trying to build to that moment when someone actually says “What the #@&% is that” instead of telling an interesting story. Most of the stories in this anthology are gory. Gory is NOT macabre or monstrous. The only story in this book I can recommend is “The Sound of Her Laughter” by Simon R. Green. It’s about the quest for immortality. But the rest of the stories weren’t very good. GRADE: C-
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction by Douglas Cohen
MOBILITY by Laird Barron
FOSSIL HEART by Amanda Downum
THOSE GADDAM COOKIES by Scott Sigler
THE SOUND OF HER LAUGHTER by Simon R. Green
DOWN IN THE DEEP AND THE DARK by Desirina Boskovich
ONLY UNCLENCH YOUR HAND by Isabel Yap
LITTLE WIDOW by Maria Dahvana Headley
THE BAD HOUR by Christopher Golden
WHAT IS LOST, WHAT IS GIVEN AWAY by John Langan
NOW AND FOREVER by D. Thomas Minton
#CONNOLLYHOUSE #WESHOULDNTBEHERE by Seanan McGuire
THE HOUSE THAT LOVE BUILT by Grady Hendrix
WE ALL MAKE SACRIFICES by Jonathan Maberry
GHOST PRESSURE by Gemma Files
THE DAUGHTER OUT OF DARKNESS by Nancy Holder
FRAMING MORTENSEN by Adam-Troy Castro
THE CATCH by Terence Taylor
HUNTERS IN THE WOOD by Tim Pratt
WHOSE DROWNED FACE SLEEPS by An Owomoyela & Rachel Swirsky
CASTLEWEEP by Alan Dean Foster
The only authors I’ve heard of in that anthology are Nancy Holder, and maybe Simon Green. That’s not surprising as I don’t read much in that genre, but I do know names of some writers in the genre. I’m guessing maybe in collections like that many of the writers are formerly mostly self-published
Maggie, I agree with you. I’ve read several short story collections and antholgies this Summer. This one is the weakest of them all.
Too bad, because I like the title. I’ve read a lot of Green’s books and like them. On the other hand, I’ve had trouble getting into Seanan McGuire’s books, under a couple of different names.
Jeff, I’m with you on the concept of this anthology. It could have been fun. But…it wasn’t.
Otto Penzler’s anthologies are always good, and they are so huge you are bound to find something you like, but in general I agree with you. Most theme anthologies just don’t work very well.
Jeff, I’ve read a number of Otto’s anthologies and enjoyed them all.
The ones that work have a lot of leeway–like a locked room anthology or one associated with a holiday. Plus they have better writers. I thought the DAMN NEAR DEAD ones were terrific.
Patti, you’re right about better writers. They make a good anthology. In this case there weren’t enough of them.
Thanks for the warning, though it’s highly unlikely I’d have read it anyway.
Rick, I had high hopes for this anthology, but I ended up disappointed.
Big fan of John Langan and Laird Barron. A couple of others I have liked in the past such as Gemma Files and Adam Troy Castro. A few I have never heard of.