TC editors advertising (I refuse to use the term “pimping”) their personal literary items for sale has a long history here on the blog. Check out this post by Leo Grin (and several subsequent).
Times are dire here in serpent-haunted SEK. Musing on such, a decision was reached by yours truly. Time to lighten the load for the journey into the future.
Author John Pelan, editor of Centipede’s Conversations with the Weird Tales Circle, has included Robert E. Howard “Pigeons from Hell,” H.P. Lovecraft‘s “The Outsider,” C.L. Moore‘s “Shambleau,” Clark Ashton Smith‘s “The Dark Eidolon,” Fritz Leiber‘s “Horrible Imagings,” Lord Dunsany’s “Thirteen at Table,” H. G. Wells “The Valley of the Spiders,” Karl Edward Wagner‘s “Sticks“ and Ray Bradbury’s “The Jar” in The Century’s Best Horror Fiction.
This massive (one hundred stories, nearly sixteen hundred pages and over seven hundred thousand words of fiction!) two-volume set anthology by Cemetery Dance Publications is heading to the printer this summer. John Pelan did only one selection per author and has chosen one tale per each year of the twentieth century (1901-2000) as the most notable story of that year. Robert E. Howard’s masterpiece fits right in.
On SF Signal, John DeNardo asked the questions below to ten science-fiction and fantasy writers and editors:
What are some of the best sword and sorcery stories? What makes them so good?
Martha Wells, Steven Brust, Mercedes Lackey, James Enge, Mary Robinette Kowal, Mark Chadbourn, P.C. Hodgell, Gail Z. Martin, Brandon Sanderson and Lou Anders have all replied. Unsurprisingly, tales by our favorite Texan author, Fritz Leiber and Michael Moorcock are among several authors’ favorites. Clark Ashton Smith, C.L. Moore and Leigh Brackett as well as TC‘s friend –and most excellent writer– Charles R. Saunders‘ stories are cited too.
As John O’Neill put it over at the Black Gate blog, the list is well worth reading since “you’re sure to find more than a few good recommendations, whether you’re new to S&S or an old sword-brother.” That’s true, though one omission made me cringe: the ludicrous absence of the immense Karl Edward Wagner, who wasn’t listed by any writer and is only mentioned in the comments below the blog entry…
I just read the newest entry from Ryan Harvey, one of the ace bloggers over at Black Gate. It concerns Cornell Woolrich’s 1938 novella, ”Jane Brown’s Body.” From the sound of it, it’s a fine little science-fictional horror tale. The plot can be briefly summarized: a scientist revives the newly-dead body of a beautiful young woman. Later, a young gangster abducts the woman from the scientist who he believes has “enslaved” her. Action and horror ensue.
Now, as someone who has read his share of Karl Edward Wagner’s works, but very little of Woolrich’s, I have to say that the plot outlined by Ryan Harvey seems to possess some likeness to that of KEW’s ”Undertow.” That tale is a short story in the ”Kane” series written by Wagner in 1977, about forty years after “Jane Brown’s Body.” For those who fear spoilers, my advice would be to stop reading about now.
It has been quite a month for fans of Karl Edward Wagner. For days following the dawn of October 13, there were memorial pieces posted all over the Internet, testifying to KEW’s continuing, vibrant legacy. We here at The Cimmerian did our part.
As a colder-than-normal October wanes into November, the Light Half of the year gives way to the Dark Half of the year (as they would say in old Ireland), with a hunter’s moon on the rise.
Karl Edward Wagner chose to attend the University of North Carolina largely because he would be able to meet one of his favorite writers, Manly Wade Wellman. Wellman had been a writer for the old Weird Tales pulp, among many others, though he no longer wrote fantasy or horror. As they became fast friends, Karl convinced Manly to return to the fold. Frances Wellman wrote that Karl became a loving friend for the rest of his life.
Considering that Karl’s relationship with his own somewhat distant father was strained –and what father would want his son to give up medicine for writing, as Karl intended to do and eventually did? — it seems likely inevitable that Manly would become both mentor and father-figure to the “big Dutchman”, as he called him. Conversely, Manly’s own son Wade seems likely to have been a disappointment to him, as David Drake reports he was living in a “charity hostel” because of substance abuse issues at the time of his mother’s death. Not that Karl was free of substance abuse issues himself, of course.
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Horror fiction has held a universal appeal throughout the ages. Every culture has had its myths of demons and ghosts and were-beasts. If Stephen King is read by millions today, so did Victorian readers line up in the streets to buy the latest chapters of the penny-dreadfuls, and eighteenth century readers shivered beside their candles over the pages of the newest Gothic novel. People like to be frightened, whether by a movie or a book or just a good spooky story told by firelight.
—Karl Edward Wagner, Introduction to The Year’s Best Horror Stories: Series X
There are many reasons to admire the horror anthology, among them the strong argument that horror fiction works best in the short form. There’s something to be said for the slowly simmering terror of novels like Peter Straub’s Ghost Story, but the nasty, bloodletting jabs and hard, short, terrifying hooks of Stephen King’s “The Boogeyman” and Ray Bradbury’s “The Crowd” are just plain icy fun.
In addition, I’ve always admired the utility of the anthology, which serves to gather the best material from a daunting range of publications and publish it in one place, saving readers an enormous amount of time and effort (and money) from having to track it all down.
Though my collection of The Year’s Best Horror Stories is incomplete, I have enough volumes on my bookshelf to state that the late Karl Edward Wagner did some fine work during his time at the helm. KEW took over editorship of The Year’s Best Horror Stories in 1979, starting with series VIII. He remained as its editor for 15 issues until his death in 1994, when the anthology ceased its run with series XXII. Though he loved swords and sorcery, KEW had an obvious passion and erudite eye for horror as well.
Over on the REHupa blog, Morgan Holmes has written a fine essay about Karl Edward Wagner. Returning the serve, Scott Oden, author of the upcoming Lion of Cairo, has posted this in remembrance of the Man From Knoxville and his most famous creation, Kane, on his “Echoes of Forgotten Ages” blog. In addition, fantasy author, David J. West, reports an interesting KEW-related dream over on his blog. (Continue reading this post)
It’s amazing how fine the line between comedy and terror can be. So frequently a horror film intending to thrill and chill its audience is met with howls of laughter rather than wails of fright, through a failure of special effects or subpar acting pedigree. It’s sometimes disarming to think that Plan 9 From Outer Space was truly intended to be a science fiction chiller. Yet oddly, the reverse can be true: something designed to be cheerful and fun, perhaps friendly for children, can result in abject fear if presented improperly. How many children closed their eyes at the twisted, disturbing “Pink Elephants” sequence in Dumbo, or the manic surreality of Alice in Wonderland? One of the finest examples of something that should be ludicrous and schlocky being utterly horrific is Karl Edward Wagner’s much-reprinted horror “Sticks.”
Deuce Richardson informed me of the fifteenth anniversary of Karl Edward Wagner’s death, and I agreed that the occasion deserved observation and celebration. As I was wanting to discuss this particular tale, I couldn’t think of a better time than today. Beware, for in my analysis I will scour through the story in great detail: I implore anyone who has not already read “Sticks” to postpone reading this post until they do. It’s one of those stories that I feel every horror aficionado should read without the contamination of prior knowledge. (Continue reading this post)
