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Darker Than Weird: Fourteen Tales of Horror
From celebrated fantasist John R. Fultz comes a collection of dark and varied tales of horror. As did his 2021 fantasy collection, Worlds Beyond Worlds, Darker Than Weird showcases Fultz's talent for creating compelling characters and stories in fantastic and inventively horrifying worlds.
Dark science fiction, Lovecraft-inspired terrors, strange apocalypses and other dooms abound in these pages—a true delight for the horror devotee. Behind the torn facade of the living world lurks a realm of vivid darkness. Strange currents ebb and flow in the stellar void, spawning monsters, ghosts, and abominations beyond human understanding.
Darker Than Weird collects ten years of weird fiction that defies and sometimes utterly destroys the boundaries of genre. From dystopic nightmares to gruesome science fiction, modern terrors to ancient gods, horror is the common thread in this dark tapestry of tales. Fourteen unsettling explorations of the supernatural, the ghastly, and the existentially grotesque. Read them at your own risk.
With a foreword by Don Webb and illustrations by Dan Sauer.
Dark science fiction, Lovecraft-inspired terrors, strange apocalypses and other dooms abound in these pages—a true delight for the horror devotee. Behind the torn facade of the living world lurks a realm of vivid darkness. Strange currents ebb and flow in the stellar void, spawning monsters, ghosts, and abominations beyond human understanding.
Darker Than Weird collects ten years of weird fiction that defies and sometimes utterly destroys the boundaries of genre. From dystopic nightmares to gruesome science fiction, modern terrors to ancient gods, horror is the common thread in this dark tapestry of tales. Fourteen unsettling explorations of the supernatural, the ghastly, and the existentially grotesque. Read them at your own risk.
With a foreword by Don Webb and illustrations by Dan Sauer.
198 pages, Paperback
Published April 1, 2023
3 people are currently reading
21 people want to read
About the author
John R. Fultz
57 books70 followersJohn R. Fultz lives in the Bay Area, California, but is originally from Kentucky. His fiction has appeared in Weird Tales, Black Gate, and Space & Time, as well as the comic book anthologies Zombie Tales and Cthulhu Tales. His graphic novel of epic fantasy, Primordia, was published by Archaia Comics. John’s literary heroes include Tanith Lee, Thomas Ligotti, Clark Ashton Smith, Lord Dunsany, William Gibson, Robert Silverberg, and Darrell Schweitzer (not to mention Howard, Poe, and Shakespeare). When not writing stories, novels, or comics, John teaches English Literature at the middle/high school level and plays a mean guitar. In a previous life he made his living as a wandering storyteller on the lost continent of Atlantis.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 24, 2023
Amazing collection of dark fantasy/horror tales that are haunting and even gorily grotesque at times. Beyond the pulpy/horror appeal there is some real depth here, with recurring themes that touch on isolation, loss of body/mind control and the feeling of being "other" or alienated from society.
The Urbille sub-collection of stories I think really stood out as a kind of steampunk themed dystopia, depicting a world with stark class divisions where people's humanity has been leeched away by the wholesale replacing of body parts with robotic parts until the only thing that remains is the brain. Other standouts include The River Flows to Nowhere, a detective noir set in the ruins of a city now rife with mutants, and Love in the Time of Dracula, a tale of romance in the face of a worldwide zombie like vampire plague.
Throughout all there are dark settings and nefarious undertones through which the heroes struggle. Make no mistake, they are all doomed, but they can still manage a measure of vengeance or satisfaction in some form, despite the price being their body, soul or both. And that can be damned sweet.
The Urbille sub-collection of stories I think really stood out as a kind of steampunk themed dystopia, depicting a world with stark class divisions where people's humanity has been leeched away by the wholesale replacing of body parts with robotic parts until the only thing that remains is the brain. Other standouts include The River Flows to Nowhere, a detective noir set in the ruins of a city now rife with mutants, and Love in the Time of Dracula, a tale of romance in the face of a worldwide zombie like vampire plague.
Throughout all there are dark settings and nefarious undertones through which the heroes struggle. Make no mistake, they are all doomed, but they can still manage a measure of vengeance or satisfaction in some form, despite the price being their body, soul or both. And that can be damned sweet.
August 30, 2023
John R Fultz is a cult writer whose work I greatly enjoy. This compendium is a collection a variety of horror tales he’s written over the years.
It’s segmented into 3 division. One is Lovecraftian themed. These are enjoyable little nuggets. There is also a section of random stories. Some of these have a more literary quality, others a more gothic, or even sci-fi bent. I like the opening story The River Flows to Nowhere. It felt like cyberpunk without actually being cyberpunk. Also, if you’ve ever felt uncomfortable in part of a city this story is amplification of that feeling. It gives the city itself a fair presence like a menacing ghost.
I think where Fultz shines is the Urbille portion of the collection. It’s only 3 stories. It’s a brilliant urban fantasy. It’s darkly imaginative and the setting is like a fever dream. Each story is horrific but touches at the deeply human. Its like cyberpunk with its bizarre body transformations, but also nothing like it at the same time. It’s a wonderful setting and the world building is so captivating. If you enjoy Fultz this is where his brilliance shines.
Check it out!
Hope it does well and perhaps we get a full length Urbille novel.
It’s segmented into 3 division. One is Lovecraftian themed. These are enjoyable little nuggets. There is also a section of random stories. Some of these have a more literary quality, others a more gothic, or even sci-fi bent. I like the opening story The River Flows to Nowhere. It felt like cyberpunk without actually being cyberpunk. Also, if you’ve ever felt uncomfortable in part of a city this story is amplification of that feeling. It gives the city itself a fair presence like a menacing ghost.
I think where Fultz shines is the Urbille portion of the collection. It’s only 3 stories. It’s a brilliant urban fantasy. It’s darkly imaginative and the setting is like a fever dream. Each story is horrific but touches at the deeply human. Its like cyberpunk with its bizarre body transformations, but also nothing like it at the same time. It’s a wonderful setting and the world building is so captivating. If you enjoy Fultz this is where his brilliance shines.
Check it out!
Hope it does well and perhaps we get a full length Urbille novel.
July 21, 2025
Exquisitely written, sickeningly dark tales. The language varies from hardboiled noir to haunting and poetic. But the images they dredge up are from worst parts of our psyche.
I would persist with Fultz's fantasy. But as far as his horror is concerned, I'm done.
I would persist with Fultz's fantasy. But as far as his horror is concerned, I'm done.
November 28, 2023
A number of entertaining stories out of the total count with a noir detective/weird fiction story that is particularly good.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews