Looking Back on Some Bad Influences
Here you’ll find a slew of wild, goofy, unpredictable and absolutely first rate reading.
OPEN GRAVE
Another fine volume of old school horror stories by Jeani Rector, following her terrific debut collection AFTER DARK (2006).
ONE FOR THE ROAD
One of the more memorable entries in King’s collection NIGHT SHIFT.
NULL IMMORTALIS
As a summation of all things Nemonymous I’m unsure how this volume rates (not having read the first seven installments), but as an example of the ineffable strangeness that defines these books it’s first rate.
THE NEW DEAD
I wish I could say this zombie-themed anthology was the landmark it so desperately wants to be
Necroscope: Harry and the Pirates
In HARRY AND THE PIRATES Harry is back in the driver’s seat. The book overall is far from the best of Lumley’s fiction, Necroscope related or otherwise, but is an enjoyable enough bit of old-fashioned cosmic horror.
MISS TAMARA, THE READER
Like many of Zivkovic’s other books it’s extremely short, but, also like much of Zivkovic’s fiction, contains enough richness and inspiration to fill several mainstream novels.
METROPHILIAS
A subtly deranged, obliquely beautiful oddity. The thirty six stories in this short and pointed compendium of urban neurosis span the globe and the centuries, with each set in and named after a different city.
THE MELANCHOLY DEATH OF OYSTER BOY & OTHER STORIES
Tim Burton’s unique imagination isn’t always optimized onscreen, but his distinctive vision definitely shines through in this collection of macabre poetry and drawings.
MEDUSA
This profusely illustrated limited edition 2010 hardcover (which is already a collector’s item) was promoted as the definitive edition of this “neglected masterpiece,” featuring a newly written introduction by Colin Wilson and 12 short stories and a nonfiction piece by Visiak.