There is a school of thought (mainly peopled by Star Wars Extended Universe novelists) that one can never have too many colons in a title. This book is proof of that with it’s full title, Gothic Fantasy: Chilling Horror Short Stories: Anthology of New & Classic Tales.
It is the first in a new series of anthologies by Flame Tree Publications which hope to highlight major (short) works in the gothic fantasy genre. Other books in the series are Chilling Ghost Short Stories and Science Fiction Stories, the latter of which is apparently a bit warmer.
All jokes aside, the team at Flame Tree have produced a very handsome hardcover volume which really looks the business. You should never judge a book by its cover, of course, but the silver and gold scrollwork on this one really looks the business.
The gothic genre may have fallen out of favour for romance and literature, but its influence can still be seen today in modern horror. This is particularly true in the United States where American Gothic and Southern Gothic novels hold reasonable sway on the horror shelves of most bookshops. With that in mind it is interesting to see what particular stories the editor has chosen to include in what promises to be a collection of both old and new.
The relief is, the editor has chosen her stories well. In the classic camp we have some absolute highlights of the genre, including (but not limited to) Lovecraft’s The Dunwich Horror, and de Maupassant’s The Horla. There are the expected tales (Dracula’s Guest) but also some gems that have not seen the light of day for many years, such as The Watcher by the Threshold by John Buchan, The Three Strangers by Thomas Hardy, and The Rocking-Horse Winner by D H Lawrence.
Moving to the modern tales, there are some absolute crackers here as well. The Man in the Ambry by Gwendolyn Kiste deserves a special mention, while John H Dromey’s In Search of a New Wilhelm simply cannot be ignored. Rather than merely choosing some good stories in their own right, however, the editor has selected tales which add to our understanding of the gothic genre itself.
The only complaint regarding the book is the order in which the stories are presented. Times change, and storytelling conventions change with them. The modern stories are much quicker and punchier than their classic bookmates, and it feels as though little attention has been paid to how the stories flow into one another. There can be no good transition from the meandering prose of The Challenge from Beyond (a somewhat dull portmanteau story by Howard, Belknap Long, Lovecraft, Merritt and Moore) to the post-modern, one-sided correspondence narrative structure of The Man in the Ambry. If you’re a reader who reads several stories in one sitting, the effect is disconcerting. A good anthologist will take considerable pains to get these transitions right, linking themes and tone, and it is to be hoped that Flame Tree’s later releases will acknowledge this.
That said, this book serves as an excellent starting point for any reader who may have watched some of the more recent gothic TV shows (American Horror Story, The Walking Dead) and wants to learn more about the history and dimensions behind the stories they tell.
A deliciously creepy read.
Reviewed by D C White
Rating out of 10: 8
Released by: Flame Tree Publications
Release Date: December 2015
RRP: AU$29.04 hardcover through the Book Depository
Disclaimer: The article header image is from hbc333.com and is not associated with this book.
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