What the #@&% Is That?

June 20, 2016
Uses of the title in dialogue prove a flimsy peg on which to hang most of the 20 stories in this uneven horror anthology. It perfectly suits Seanan McGuire’s “#Connollyhouse #Weshouldntbehere,” which is related as a succession of ominous tweets posted in real time by a haunted-house investigator, and in Laird Barron’s “Mobility,” it’s the prelude to a series of increasingly surreal horrors that overwhelm its protagonist victim in retribution for a thoughtless act of childhood cruelty. Less successful is John Langan’s “What Is Lost, What Is Given Away,” the tale of a former student’s bizarre encounter with an ex-teacher at his high school reunion, in which the author tosses off the line as nonessential to the story’s plot. The book’s best stories, which include Gemma Files’s “Ghost Pressure” and Christopher Golden’s “The Bad Hour,” would work perfectly well without it. Taken as a compilation of horror tales with no thematic link, the book offers some chills—though perhaps not enough, given the dramatic exclamation of the title. Agent: Seth Fisherman, Gernert Company.

Starred review from September 15, 2016

From Hugo Award-winning anthologist Adams and editor/author Cohen come 20 short stories gathered under a provocative title. Cohen's brisk introduction chronicles the book's lineage from insider joke to losing--midstream--his original coeditor; mishearing Adams's title suggestion, and a finalized table of contents. This comical aside might strike horror/dark fantasy purists as fluff, but the quality of what is included will likely negate such objections. The editors' twofold theme--each story must contain (sans "grawlix," typographical symbols representing profanity) the phrase "What the #@&% is that?" and feature a monstrous entity. The authors were free to use any four-letter expletive, but the craft and dark intensity of the tales themselves belies this gag. Laird Barron's "Mobility" explores deep geological time by forcing a man to endure its visionary horrors and transcendent truth. "The House That Love Built" is Grady Hendrix's lacerating take on the power of guilt and its consequences. "#CONNOLLYHOUSE #WESHOULDNTBEHERE" by Seanan McGuire uses formal audacity to pull off the seemingly impossible: dread building to cosmic terror through a series of tweets (140 characters or fewer). VERDICT This anthology's fusion of literary horror and emotional/psychological depth will appeal to readers tired of formulaic genre fiction. [See Eric Norton's SF/Fantasy Genre Spotlight, "Imagined Multiverses," LJ 8/16.--Ed.]--William Grabowski, McMechen, WV

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