Poe's Children

Starred review from September 8, 2008
Anyone concerned about the future of horror will find plenty of reassurance in this outstanding reprint anthology showcasing short fiction by today's best writers in the genre. Straub (The Throat
) skillfully varies tempo and style, mixing stories of psychological terror with more traditional ghostly tales. Thomas Tessier puts a fresh spin on the empty old house theme in the memorable “In Praise of Folly,” in which the lonely protagonist pursues his fascination with bizarre structures to the Adirondacks. Tessier subtly raises chills even as the tale proceeds to its inevitable and dark conclusion. Another winner is Dan Chaon's “The Bees,” a powerful account of a man haunted by mistakes of the past. Ramsey Campbell's terrifying “The Voice of the Beach” echoes Algernon Blackwood's classic “The Willows,” with its account of two friends' fateful encounter with a remote beach that may be an entry point to another dimension. Aimed at a general audience, this volume also includes works by Stephen King, Elizabeth Hand, Kelly Link and Joe Hill.

September 15, 2008
With an introduction by the much honored Straub ("Ghost Story"), this collection can be dubbed New Wave horror, considering that most of its 24 stories were published fairly recently and it includes contributions by celebrity horror writers. The tales mostly eschew buckets of blood, instead employing mood and suggestion in the manner of Edgar Allan Poe. "Little Red's Tango," Straub's lengthy quasigospel of a record-collecting obsessive, complete with beatitudes and a seductive demon, ably represents the editor's definition of New Wave horror. All the stories honor Poe, like the moody, contagious delusions of Stephen King's "The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet." The genre can be literary, as exemplified by Tia V. Travis's vengeful "The Kiss," Thomas Tessier's surprising "In Praise of Folly," and, probably the most demonstrably Poe-like, Ramsey Campbell's "The Voice of the Beach," featuring a neurasthenic narrator, suffocating suggestibility, and nearly palpable imagery. Brian Evenson's creepy "Body" and Dan Chaon's touching "The Bees" culminate in the horror of bad deeds catching up. The other stories included are without exception excellent. Recommended for all libraries.Jonathan Pearce, California State Univ.-Stanislaus, Stockton

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2008
In this sumptuous, 25-story anthology, horror veteran Straub eschews the genres common macabre trimmings in favor of literary style. The authors featured represent Poes legacy with a level of craftsmanship equal to that of the best writers in contemporary literature. Most of themthe likes of Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Ramsey Campbell, and Straub himselfare already familiar to horror fans, while a few, such as Dan Chaon and Brian Evenson, may be more recognizable to mainstream readers. The selections include Kings early The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet, about an editor whose typewriter is infested with crumb-eating elves called Fornits; Melanie and Steve Rasnic Tems award-winning The Man on the Ceiling, a faux-autobiographical account of the uncommon terrors haunting a family; and Ben Percys eerie Unearthed, describing the madness afflicting an amateur archaeologist when he digs up an Indian corpse. Full of unusual themes and finely nuanced prose, this is a collection to spend time with and savor slowly.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)