Synopses & Reviews
From the incomparable master of horror and suspense comes an electrifying collection of contemporary literary horror, with stories from twenty-five writers representing today’s most talented voices in the genre.
Horror writing is usually associated with formulaic gore, but New Wave horror writers have more in common with the wildly inventive, evocative spookiness of Edgar Allan Poe than with the sometimes-predictable hallmarks of their peers. Showcasing this cutting-edge talent, Poe’s Children now brings the best of the genre’s stories to a wider audience. Featuring tales from such writers as Neil Gaiman and Jonathan Carroll, Poe’s Children is Peter Straub’s tribute to the imaginative power of storytelling. Each previously published story has been selected by Straub to represent what he thinks is the most interesting development in our literature during the last two decades.
Selections range from the early Stephen King psychological thriller “The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet,” in which an editor confronts an author’s belief that his typewriter is inhabited by supernatural creatures, to “The Man on the Ceiling,” Melanie and Steve Rasnic Tem’s award-winning surreal tale of night terrors, woven with daylight fears that haunt a family. Other selections include National Book Award finalist Dan Chaon’s “The Bees”; Peter Straub’s “Little Red’s Tango,” the legend of a music aficionado whose past is as mysterious as the ghostly visitors to his Manhattan apartment; Elizabeth Hand’s visionary and shocking “Cleopatra Brimstone”; Thomas Ligotti’s brilliant, mind-stretching “Notes on the Writing of Horror: A Story”; and “Body,” Brian Evenson’s disturbing twist on correctional facilities.
Crossing boundaries and packed with imaginative chills, Poe’s Children bears all the telltale signs of fearless, addictive fiction.
Review
"[S]umptuous...Straub eschews the genres common macabre trimmings in favor of literary style....Full of unusual themes and finely nuanced prose, this is a collection to spend time with and savor slowly." Booklist
Review
"The tales mostly eschew buckets of blood, instead employing mood and suggestion in the manner of Edgar Allan Poe....[W]ithout exception excellent." Library Journal
Synopsis
Featuring tales from such writers as Neil Gaiman and Jonathan Carroll, Poe's Children is Straub's tribute to the imaginative power of storytelling.
About the Author
Peter Straub is the author of seventeen novels, including Ghost Story and Koko, as well as two collaborations with Stephen King. Winner of eight Bram Stoker Awards, two International Horror Guild Awards, two World Fantasy Awards, and both a Lifetime Achievement Award and election as a Grand Master from the Horror Writers Association, he lives in New York City.
Table of Contents
Introduction
• Peter Straub
The Bees • Dan Chaon
Cleopatra Brimstone • Elizabeth Hand
The Man on the Ceiling • Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem
The Great God Pan • M. John Harrison
The Voice of the Beach • Ramsey Campbell
Body • Brian Evenson
Louise's Ghost • Kelly Link
The Sadness of Detail • Jonathan Carroll
Leda • M. Rickert
In Praise of Folly • Thomas Tessier
Plot Twist • David J. Schow
The Two Sams • Glen Hirshberg
Notes on the Writing of Horror: A Story • Thomas Ligotti
Unearthed • Benjamin Percy
Gardener of Heart • Bradford Morrow
Little Red's Tango • Peter Straub
The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet • Stephen King
20th Century Ghost • Joe Hill
The Green Glass Sea • Ellen Klages
The Kiss • Tia V. Travis
Black Dust • Graham Joyce
October in the Chair • Neil Gaiman
Missolonghi 1824 • John Crowley
Insect Dreams • Rosalind Palermo Stevenson
Credits
About the Authors