Poe's Children: The New Horror: An Anthology

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
From the incomparable master of horror and suspense comes an electrifying collection of contemporary literary horror, with stories from twenty-five writers representing today’s most talented voices in the genre.

Horror writing is usually associated with formulaic gore, but New Wave horror writers have more in common with the wildly inventive, evocative spookiness of Edgar Allan Poe than with the sometimes-predictable hallmarks of their peers. Showcasing this cutting-edge talent, Poe’s Children now brings the best of the genre’s stories to a wider audience. Featuring tales from such writers as Neil Gaiman and Jonathan Carroll, Poe’s Children is Peter Straub’s tribute to the imaginative power of storytelling. Each previously published story has been selected by Straub to represent what he thinks is the most interesting development in our literature during the last two decades.

Selections range from the early Stephen King psychological thriller “The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet,” in which an editor confronts an author’s belief that his typewriter is inhabited by supernatural creatures, to “The Man on the Ceiling,” Melanie and Steve Rasnic Tem’s award-winning surreal tale of night terrors, woven with daylight fears that haunt a family. Other selections include National Book Award finalist Dan Chaon’s “The Bees”; Peter Straub’s “Little Red’s Tango,” the legend of a music aficionado whose past is as mysterious as the ghostly visitors to his Manhattan apartment; Elizabeth Hand’s visionary and shocking “Cleopatra Brimstone”; Thomas Ligotti’s brilliant, mind-stretching “Notes on the Writing of Horror: A Story”; and “Body,” Brian Evenson’s disturbing twist on correctional facilities.

Crossing boundaries and packed with imaginative chills, Poe’s Children bears all the telltale signs of fearless, addictive fiction.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars

A great horror collection November 4, 2008
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

Poe's Children: The New Horror, an Anthology edited by Peter Straub is a terrific collection of short stories by a varied collection of authors. Straub includes one of his own stories, Little Red's Tango, a story that is sure to grab the reader's attention. I have to admit that I had a little difficulty getting into the rhythm of the story, but once I did I found Little Red's Tango to be truly worthwhile. Also included is a great story by Stephen King, The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet, another story dealing with an author who is convinced that his typewriter is possessed. I think this is King at is "short story" best.

I was also pleased to see that Neil Gaiman was included with his October in the Chair. Here's a list of all the stories included in Poe's Children:

The BeesDan Chaon
Cleopatra BrimstoneElizabeth Hand
The Man on the CeilingSteve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem
The Great God PanM. John Harrison
The Voice of the BeachRamsey Campbell
BodyBrian Evenson
Louise's GhostKelly Link
The Sadness of DetailJonathan Caroll
LedaM. Rickert
In Praise of FollyThomas Tessier
Plot TwistDavid J. Schow
The Two SamsGlen Hirshberg
Notes on the Writing of Horror: A StoryThomas Ligotti
UnearthedBenjamin Percy
Gardner of HeartBradford Morrow
Little Red's TangoPeter Straub
The Ballad of the Flixible BulletStephen King
20th Century GhostJoe Hill
The Green Glass SeaEllen Klages
The KissTia V. Travis
Black DustGraham Joyce
October in the ChairNeil Gaiman
Missolonghi 1824John Crowley
Insect DreamsRosilind Palermo Stevenson

Also included at the end is a brief biography of each of the authors.

I suspect that like many readers, I have just a wee bit of difficulty reading when the story/author changes. Authors write with their own cadence. It always takes me a page or two to get in step, but other than that, I look forward to new anthologies, especially in the horror genre.

The best story in the collection, in my opinion only has to be October in the Chair by Gaiman, followed closely by Cleopatra's Brimstone. Picking these over the others is really pretty arbitrary since all of the stories are grabbers.

All things considered, Poe's Children is a unique collection by a diverse group of authors.
I highly recommend.

5 out of 5 stars

A quality anthology of horror short stories October 26, 2008
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

Peter Straub selects 24 short stories that represent "the most interesting development in our literature during the last two decades." The crossover between works usually classified as fantasy, sci-fi, and horror genres and those considered to be literary, he asserts, "erases boundaries and blurs distinctions."

Two of the better tales are Stephen King's "The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet" (1984)--a story about the genesis of insanity, featuring a writer who suffers from the paranoid delusion that an imp inhabits his typewriter--and Elizabeth Hand's "Cleopatra Brimstone" (2001), a story about an entomologist who is sexually assaulted and wreaks her revenge on men by "collecting" them in bizarre fashion.

King and Hand, plus 22 other New Wave horror writers, exhibit telltale affinities with the spooky imagination of Edgar A. Poe.

If you are a fan of horror stories written by inventive wordsmiths, this quality work is just your cup of tea!

About the author: Peter Straub is the author of 17 novels, including Ghost Story and Koko, as well as two collaborations with Stephen King. Winner of eight Bram Stoker Awards, two International Horror Guild Awards, two world Fantasy Awards, and both a Lifetime Achievement Award and election as a Grand Master from the Horror Writers Association. He lives in New York City.

5 out of 5 stars

An excellent anthology November 21, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

What do you think of when someone mentions the Horror genre - vampires and zombies? Homicidal monsters shredding people's throats? Well, there is so much more to Horror than that. This interesting book brings together Horror short stories written by twenty-four different authors, each written in their own individual style.

Now, there are way too many stories in this book to give a synopsis all of them, and they are all so different. I really like The Bees, which I found to be the most horrifying of them all - so ripe with horror and regret. And The Two Sams was absolutely heart breaking.

Yeah, this is an excellent anthology. And, do you know what's the best thing about reading anthologies like this one? It allows you to discover wonderful authors that you have never read before. I really enjoyed this book, and don't hesitate to recommend it.

3 out of 5 stars

Short stories December 1, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful

If you like short stories you will love this. Peter has taken the "Poe" out of some great literates to showcase. I wish I had a review to read before buying it, as I like stories, books, novels and even epics as opposed to short stories. they have thier place, and these are good, but I want to read a good Peter Straub novel, not side dishes, short stories, so I have been reading alot of Clive Barker lately, even his earliest work is great, thanks to Peter's reviews. From side dishes I learned Mr. Straub disliked writing "Hellfire Club" one of my favorite books to date. Get depressed, and drink a little too much and let Dick Dart loose again.

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