I’d say that in August, I was mostly reading books by Tej Turner; with the exception of an absolutely huge anthology that is celebrating its quarter century this year. Strictly speaking, I didn’t finish it until mid September, but I read most of it in August, and if I leave it out, my August reading doesn’t look brilliant.
Let’s get ‘999: New Stories of Horror and Suspense’ edited by Al Sarrntonio, out of the way first. I was reading this all month, dipping into other books for light relief. It’s been on the shelves since I first read it on publication, and I’ve been giving it the side eye for about ten years now, wondering if I’d ever get round to reading it again. Anyway, I did. Whew! This is a big book. I bought it when it first came out, as a collection of horror and suspense stories that was issued to celebrate the millennium. Hence the 999, for 1999. Also, I guess, for the UK emergency number, although this is a very US centric collection.
There are a lot of stories in this book. It’s a huge book. It’s massive, and heavy, and that’s probably why it took me so long to re-read it. It’s also surprisingly archaic in places, and also male author heavy, as many surprisingly recent anthologies are. I know, 25 years old isn’t ‘surprisingly recent’ unless you’re in late middle age and remember buying it on publication, but still …
Let’s tackle these notes in some kind of order. First, the ‘short novel’, by William Peter Blatty. ‘Elsewhere’ is a ghost story that is screaming out for a film or TV adaptation. It reads more like a screenplay than a novel, and is dialogue heavy. It’s a nice idea, but I found it a long read for a short novel.
Then there are the three novellas. ‘The Ruins of Contracoeur’ by Joyce Carol Oates is the first in the book and is one of only three stories by a female writer in the book, out of a total of twenty nine. It has, of course, all the grace and skill that you’d expect of the author, with a hint of something that is never quite revealed. David Morrell’s ‘Rio Grande Gothic’ is a tense story that drew me in and did not disappoint. ‘Mad Dog Summer’ is a Bram Stoker Award winning tale from Joe R Lansdale. I loved this Harper Lee meets Stephen King story about a series of murders and the free range kids of busy but honourable parents. The landscape is truly another character in this story.
On to the eight novelettes. Kim Newman’s “Amerikanski Dead at the Moscow Morgue” is exactly what you’d expect of a late 20th century Kim Newman story. It’s got zombies, black humour and a morally dubious protagonist. I loved it. On to Stephen King’s ‘The Road Virus Heads North’, which was also featured in King’s own anthology ‘Everything’s Eventual’. For me, this is a classic King story, with that sense of mounting dread and inescapable doom that he does so well. It still frightens me, a quarter of a century later. “Good Friday” by F. Paul Wilson is a lovely vampire apocalypse story that could well serve as an origin story for a vampire hunter. “An Exaltation of Termagants” by Eric Van Lustbader is a nice story with a predictable ending. Ramsey Campbell’s ‘The Entertainment’ is classic Campbell, drawing us into the dank and shadowy grotesque world of the story with no mercy at all. “The Shadow, The Darkness” by Thomas Ligotti is a stylish and dark story that left me with an impression of a place and time but, three weeks after reading it, I can’t remember the plot at all. I do remember enjoying it though. Gene Wolfe’s ‘The Tree is my Hat” is a lovely disconnected ghost story and one of the highlights of the collection. Finally, for the novelettes, “Rehearsals” by Thomas F. Monteleone is a rather sweet redemption story, which doesn’t quite belong in this collection, but does provide some relief from the darkness.
So, on to the short stories. I’d forgotten how much I love Thomas M Disch stories, but ‘The Owl and the Pussycat’ reminded me. This story alone would make the anthology worth buying, it’s just perfect. “Keepsakes and Treasures: A Love Story” by Neil Gaiman is about a boy’s love for his mother, kind of. “Growing Things” by T.E.D. Klein is a fascinating story that keeps everything in the subtext, I enjoyed it. It may grow on you. “Excerpts from the Records of the New Zodiac and the Diaries of Henry Watson Fairfax” by Chet Williamson is one of only two stories that I remembered reading the first time round, a quarter of a century ago. If anything, it’s become a little too plausible to be classed as horror. I absolutely loved ‘Itinerary’ by Tim Powers, it’s exactly my kind of weird, and gets the ‘I wish I’d written this story’ award of the anthology. The second story in this book written by a woman is “Catfish Gal Blues” by Nancy A. Collins, and doesn’t it just make you wish there were many, many more. It’s funny, cutting and has a great payoff. I loved it. “ICU” by Edward Lee is a revenge gore short story, brutish and straightforward. “The Grave” by P.D. Cacek is the last story from a woman, and is a creepy little story about someone who should really, really, never have been a mother. Rick Hautala’s ‘Knocking’ is a claustrophobic horror about coping or not coping with the fall of civilisation. “Des Saucisses, Sans Doute” by Peter Schneider fills the gap until the next story, “Angie” by Ed Gorman. “Angie” is another nasty little tale that shows that we don’t need anything supernatural to invoke horror, the banality of self serving evil is more than enough. Being the work of the editor and anthologist gives “The Ropy Thing” by Al Sarrantonio a secure spot in the book. This story is pure Twilight Zone, being the tale of something eldritch taking over the planet. Creepy. Ed Bryant’s ‘Styx and Bones’ is a fun tale of witchcraft and revenge that I liked a lot. “Hemophage” by Steven Spruill is a really nice vampire story that deserves a longer treatment, I’d read the hell out of the novel. “The Book of Irrational Numbers” by Michael Marshall Smith is kinda the B side of Stephen King’s recent novella ‘‘Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream’ which was written twenty five years later. What can I say, it’s MMS, and I loved it. Bentley Little’s ‘The Theater’ is an odd little story about a hidden theatre with some very odd inhabitants; it’s well written and really drew me into the story. “Darkness” by Dennis L. McKiernan is the last short story in the book, and is expertly written, I enjoyed it.
So much for the HUGE anthology, and on to the smaller stuff.
Tej Turner’s ‘Janus’ has been on my to buy list since it came out, and I got round to it at last. Turner is an anthology mate of mine in Hic Dragones ‘Impossible Spaces’ collection, and in this book, he has created another impossible space. Janus is a club, a building, a concept. We first come across it as a place that’s one step up from a rave, a breathing space and refuge for people who don’t fit into conventional spaces. With time, the club becomes more popular, more successful, and distinctly less of a refuge. The book is presented as a series of short vignettes which introduce a cast of characters who occasionally reference each other, but don’t seem to be connected. It’s not until the end of the book that everything comes together, in an emotionally satisfying way that serves as an introduction to Turner’s next novel.
I enjoyed this story, and recommend it.
The sequel, ‘Dinnusos Rises’ was my last read of August. We meet again the characters and places from Janus, and follow their experiences, bafflement and acts of courage as they become caught up in plots and plans laid by shadowy figures on both sides of a societal change.
I did enjoy this, the characters are appealing and sympathetic, and whilst I know that Turner has left this universe behind, I’d love to read more stories about these people.