Necromancies and Netherworlds: Uncanny Stories

by Darrell Schweitzer

Darrell Schweitzer, author of The Mask of the Sorcerer and editor of Weird Tales collaborates with macabre artist-writer Jason Van Hollander on a series of remarkable fantasies, variously grotesque, horrific, ethereal, and darkly comic. Several of these form a cycle set in as-yet undiscovered countries where the common men have thrown down the gods and decadent nobles reach new heights of ecstasy and terror with the drug hanquil. You'll also encounter a wrenching yet romantic ghost story set in the American Southwest, an intimately personal tale of the Cthulhu Mythos and the lingering legacy of Dunwich; plus a dance of death; and a house haunted by the terror of eternal life. Here are all the stories Schweitzer and Van Hollander have written together, a unique blending which makes these two the most successful collaborative team since Burke and Hare.

Hardcover

First published August 1, 1999

About the author

Darrell Schweitzer is an American writer, editor, and essayist in the field of speculative fiction. Much of his focus has been on dark fantasy and horror, although he does also work in science fiction and fantasy.

Schweitzer is also a prolific writer of literary criticism and editor of collections of essays on various writers within his preferred genres.

Reviews

[Isidore · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent collection. It contains dark fantasy somewhat reminiscent of Clark Ashton Smith, as well as weird tales with modern settings; of the former, my favourite is "The Caravan of the Dead" (bizarre, unformulaic, and wonderfully imaginative), while among the latter "The Throwing Suit" borders on greatness, its outlandishness and potent atmosphere marred only by a slightly over-explicit "explanation" of its uncanny events.

Schweitzer's Seken-Re stories are ridiculously underappreciated. This collaboration with Van Hollander also does not appear to have received anything like its due from admirers of weird fiction.