|
Post by dem bones on Sept 22, 2010 11:43:40 GMT
Stephen Jones (ed.) - Mammoth Book Of Best New Horror #21 (28 October 2010) Vincent Chong Stephen Jones - Introduction: Horror in 2009
Michael Kelly - The Woods Joe Hill & Stephen King - Throttle Barbara Roden - Out And Back Ramsey Campbell - Respects Simon Stranzas - Cold To The Touch M. R. James & Reggie Oliver - The Game Of Bear Chris Bell - Shem-El-Nesime: An Inspiration In Perfume Michael Marshall Smith - What Happens When You Wake Up In The Night Nicholas Royle - The Reunion Simon Kurt Unsworth - Mami Wata Richard Christian Matheson - Venturi John Gaskin - Party Talk Terry Dowling - Two Steps Along The Road Mark Valentine - The Axholme Toll Robert Shearman - Granny's Grinning Rosalie Parker - In The Garden Stephen Volk - After The Ape Brian Lumley - The Nonesuch Michael Kelly - Princess Of The Night
Stephen Jones & Kinm Newman - Necrology: 2009
Useful Addresses Due around Halloween though, like the mighty Zombie Apocalypse, I gather it was pre-launched at FantasyCon? Other than a nose through the introduction, am setting this aside until I've finished ZA, but glad to see that Stephen Jones has finally taken to the Black Books. " The Fourth Black Book Of Horror and The Fifth Black Book Of Horror were an improvement over earlier volumes. These unashamed pastiches of The Pan Book Of Horror Stories featured some old-fashioned grue from Craig Herbertson, Paul Finch, Joel Lane, David A. Sutton, Gary McMahon, Reggie Oliver, Ian C. Strachen, Rosalie Parker, Gary Fry, David A. Riley and others, with one story by John Llewellyn Probert even referencing specific stories from the Pan series." A quick thumb-through reveals name-checks for JLP's Catacombs Of Fear and Dan McGachey's "thirteen very impressive Jamesian pastiches", They That Dwell In Dark Places. Both Paperback Fanatic and One Eyed Grey feature among the 'Selected Magazines', and am sure we'll spot some other old friends on delving deeper.
|
|
|
Post by David A. Riley on Sept 22, 2010 12:29:10 GMT
Of course I don't think Steve particularly liked the original Pan series. I could be wrong, but I have a feeling he didn't even turn up at the launch of the new edition of the first Pan Book of Horror at FantasyCon.
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on Sept 22, 2010 21:25:49 GMT
If that's the case, he maybe wasn't the right person to co-edit Dark Voices: The Best From The Pan Book Of Horror Stories (1990) with the late Clarence Padget. It might also explain why that selection is so unrepresentative of the series. Don't know how I missed this earlier but Mr. Jones's comments about Black Book are tempered with this opening salvo. "Advances in new printing technology meant that more print-on-demand (PoD) titles were being published than regular books. It appeared that the lunatics had finally taken over the asylum. From editor Charles Black's Pod imprint Mortbury Press .... etc. Still, I'm sure regular publishers would have said much the same about his early small press publications (surely the PoD equivalent of their day) and Charles should take it as a compliment that the Black Books are among a very few PoD titles Mr. Jones finds worthy of mention. What else? Paperback Fanatic comes out of it very well in the introduction proper. Have not checked but of the 500 pages, just over 300 are devoted to fiction which seems far less than in earlier editions? A considerable number of the stories weigh in at under fifteen pages which should make for a relatively painless read. This time Mr. Jones's kiss off is directed at ... "So when, exactly, did it become wrong to be honest about your views?" Seems he's come up against certain characters who don't take kindly to criticism. Does he name names? Well, Robinson's have been very kind and besides, I'm a sadistic little git so will leave you in suspense in the hope it will encourage you to borrow it from the library or even buy a copy. All I will say is, it's not a patch on his anti-Shocklines tirade in a recent volume ... Oh, this was in with the package, too. When I continue with dreadful review of same, will post the flip side so you can print it off and make your very own nice Zombie Apocalypse bookmark!
|
|
|
Post by David A. Riley on Sept 22, 2010 22:03:00 GMT
Damn you, Kev, I might have to buy this now unless someone tips me off about who this is. (I may have a few suspicions, though, which makes it worse.)
I'm saddened to see those comments about Charles's Black Books. They're a cut above the average in my view, though I could be biased.
Of course there are a lot more POD books than there used to be, but whose fault is that, when mainstream publishers show so little interest in anthologies or short story collections these days?
|
|
|
Post by Dr Terror on Sept 22, 2010 22:31:11 GMT
It appeared that the lunatics had finally taken over the asylum. Maybe i should change my name to Dr Starr...
|
|
|
Post by marksamuels on Sept 23, 2010 0:07:58 GMT
I can only imagine what Steve's said... I love him to bits. But, by way of standing my ground, and telling him he'd overlooked some genuine talents, I like to think I might have been instrumental in Paul Finch and Reggie Oliver finally, and belatedly, getting into BNH ... Coda: I think Mark Valentine and Ros Parker did it without any prompting (which is now annoying since I wish I'd thought of claiming credit there too ) Mark S.
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on Sept 23, 2010 6:35:30 GMT
ah, but i never said he mentioned anyone by name though, did i? and to spoil all this great fun before it's even started (told you i'm a sadistic little git), i've no idea who got upset but it wasn't, apparently, anyone on the Brit "scene" (hands up who'd just had their prime suspect(s) ruled out!). i'm sure Mr. Riley for one will want to know what Mr. Jones found fit to write about Prism under its previous editor, and this time i'm not saying! also, as far as i can tell, those comments aren't directed at Charles's series - and, of course, Mr. Jones reprints Rosalie Parker's In The Garden from #5! - it's more a case that the entry on the Black Books follows on immediately after the generalisation about PoD's. and, before i forget, part two of your cut-out-and-keep Zombie Apocalypse bookmark. Vault - they're giving it away!, etc.
|
|
|
Post by David A. Riley on Sept 23, 2010 9:31:02 GMT
"I'm sure Mr. Riley for one will want to know what Mr. Jones found fit to write about Prism under its previous editor, and this time I'm not saying!" Nothing worse than what I've said, I'm sure. Of course, I'll be more interested in his remarks about me in twelve months time. Though there has been the suggestion of cutting printing costs by adding Prism on the end of Dark Horizons and New Horizons as a supplement - a pretty big supplement if that's the case. I can't be too hard on Steve, though. He did give me a beautiful copy of a new Russian version of The Mammoth Book of Zombies, which he brought to FantasyCon for me. It's a gorgeous hardcover completely in Cyrillic with gilt on its spine and cover which doesn't unfortunately show through on this scan:
|
|
|
Post by David A. Riley on Sept 23, 2010 9:41:25 GMT
I would add that the cover is by the brilliant - but not often heard of nowadays - Martin McKenna.
|
|
|
Post by andydecker on Sept 23, 2010 11:50:20 GMT
Nice cover, the russian one, I mean. In the last years I mostly bought Best New Horror for the news and the obituaries, I have to confess. I guess a lot of people find this the most uninteresting parts but it is really a highlight for me. Even in the age of google which is saying a lot. Heh, I can´t fault him for his remarks about PoD. The game of publishing your fan-fiction in a lot of cases has changed fundamentally. I can remember the time when one really had to be obsessed with your work to sink a lot of money into self-publishing and a cellar full with your own unsold books. On the other hand, PoD is like another of those throw away science fiction concepts which became reality, where the hero gets a print-out from the vaultlike spaceships library to be thrown into the trash later. It is a practical idea whith one big obstacle - distribution and advertising. Sometimes I wonder if such ventures are just cementing the niches further. A lot of writers don´t share the sentiment, but successful writing is IMHO also a collaborative effort - if the publisher is any good - which a spellcheck alone can´t replace.
|
|
|
Post by David A. Riley on Sept 23, 2010 12:01:06 GMT
I agree. You have to be choosy about the collections, anthologies and novels you buy these days from all these POD publishers. There is definitely some bad stuff out there.
I tend to stick to those POD publishers who have built up a good reputation.
Of course, not all small press are POD. I think PS Publishing would be appalled to be linked in with that.
On the other hand, I have a great admiration for people like Charles Black, who is a meticulous and hard working editor.
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on Sept 23, 2010 16:47:18 GMT
In the last years I mostly bought Best New Horror for the news and the obituaries, I have to confess. I guess a lot of people find this the most uninteresting parts but it is really a highlight for me. Trust me, you are not alone in this, Mr. D! Over the years Mr. Jones has ran several 'best' stories of a given year which just make me wonder whether (a) we inhabit the same planet or (b) if i've not misunderstood the term "horror story" all along, but the introductions and (sadly) the Necrology's are indispensable. Have repeated it to the point of tedium but - Zombie Apocalypse aside (which seems very different, perhaps even groundbreaking in that it's ambitious but still recognisably HORROR) - I think he's at his most effective away from the Best New Horrors with the Mammoth Wolf Men/ Zombies/ New Terrors & Co. where he mixes the contemporary with neglected minor masterpieces from the past thirty years and throws in some vintage pulp here and there to good advantage. Perhaps one day, someone with great patience will read all 21 of the Best New Horrors in order and report back on whether they feel such-and-such stories were really all that great or merely fashionable for the particular year they were included. But, like he says, nowadays you don't have to have achieved anything in the field to be a critic, and that sure goes for me so better i keep my stupid mouth zipped!
|
|
|
Post by andydecker on Sept 23, 2010 18:03:24 GMT
given year which just make me wonder whether (a) we inhabit the same planet or (b) if i've not misunderstood the term "horror story" all along I have half (?) of BNH and still havn´t read any of them from first to last page. For every story I discover I like there are two which are at best ho-hum. On the other hand I am not that big a fan of modern short storys and operate here more on the like/dislike factor than on knowing what makes a good short story tick. But a lot of the stuff in BNH strikes me as rather mellow and not always in a good way. But you can discover interesting work here. I became a big fan of Philip Macaulys ghost detective, a writer whose SF I found truly boring. But, like he says, nowadays you don't have to have achieved anything in the field to be a critic, and that sure goes for me so better i keep my stupid mouth zipped! You know, this argument is older than the ghost-story, and while "everybody is a critic" has become a catch-phrase of the media-society, it is not true. So you have to sell a novel or two before you are allowed to criticise a work of fiction? Come on. ;D
|
|
|
Post by David A. Riley on Sept 23, 2010 18:29:39 GMT
"You know, this argument is older than the ghost-story, and while "everybody is a critic" has become a catch-phrase of the media-society, it is not true. So you have to sell a novel or two before you are allowed to criticise a work of fiction? Come on. "
Too true.
I couldn't produce a bottle of wine to save my life, but I can certainly tell you if one is crap.
In some respects the worst critics on the horror scene in Britain today are writers. They have too much to lose by being critical of any of their peers. For true impartiality you really need to listen to readers.
|
|
stephenbacon
Crab On The Rampage
www.stephenbacon.co.uk
Posts: 78
|
Post by stephenbacon on Sept 24, 2010 20:08:29 GMT
I think Stephen Jones has a good point to make, though I wouldn't say he was particularly being disrespectful to Charlie Black. He's often advocating the need for professionalism in the genre. If you think about it, there is a lot of the small press that needs improving. Pete Tennant on the TTA forum (and in Black Static) often highlights typos, poorly-edited prose, errors with typesetting, etc in the books he reviews. We do need to strive for higher standards.
I don't think Mortbury Press has a great deal to worry about. Work from the Black Books has appeared in Ellen Datlow's Best Horror of the Year, and various times in the honourable mentions list. Rosalie Parker's story appears in the current edition of Steve Jones's Best New Horror series. There is no doubt that the contributors involved can certainly write, even if the stories aren't always to Steve's taste. The Black Books seem to be attracting a fantastic range of writers; arguably rising in profile as they go on. In my opinion, Charlie gives POD and the small presses a more favourable image than some of the other publishers/writers.
The part of the small press that annoys me is the stupid politics and back-biting that goes on. It is a smallish scene, so some personal clashes are bound to occurr, but I think we should all do our best to remain as professional as possible.
I have all the Best New Horrors, both the Best Horror of the Year books, and all the Best Fantasy and Horror of the Year. As a whole I don't think you can knock them too much. Steve Jones's series certainly have a distinct feel to them. I suppose that's his taste. It's probably true to say his selections are less varied than Ellen Datlow's, but to me, that's half the appeal.
|
|