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Never Bet the Devil & Other Warnings
A WORLD JUST BEYOND KNOWING
By Orrin Grey
As a reader and writer, I love the economy and freedom of the short story form. When it comes to matters of the supernatural, short stories are particularly well-suited to delivering the inexplicable, the indefinable, the numinous, something still left unexplored, an edge of the map marked "Here, there be monsters."
I seek out these stories in anthologies, in films, and in comics like the old Warren Creepy and Eerie magazines, but my favorite way to read them is in a collection written by the vision of a single author. Collections let you see the stories all stacked up next to each other, see how the author changes from one story to the next, and how they stay the same. Whether it's Clive Barker's The Books of Blood or the ghost stories of M.R. James and E.F. Benson, a collection by a contemporary master or one of the billion-or-so compilations of tales by Lovecraft, Bradbury or Poe, there's no other kind of book I'd rather curl up with.
So when the opportunity presented itself for me to put together my first collection of stories, I jumped at the chance.
I must have drafted the table of contents for the book that would become Never Bet the Devil & Other Warnings at least a million times, trying to find just the right balance, the right combination. The title story is little more than a fragment, written for a contest that it didn't win, but I think it sets the right tone, invites you into the world that I'm building, one story at a time. A world made from old movies and horror comics and ghost stories, filled with golems and necromancers, cursed books and haunted houses, ghouls and jazz musicians and the skeleton of, well, something.
That's the real beauty of a short story collection: it lets you build a world that somehow always remains just beyond the reach of knowing, a house that's always full of cobwebs and dark corners. A short story collection is never just one ride, it's an entire dark carnival, a cabinet of curiosities that gives you a glimpse into a place of infinite strangeness, but never quite lets you see the whole picture.
- OG
By Orrin Grey
As a reader and writer, I love the economy and freedom of the short story form. When it comes to matters of the supernatural, short stories are particularly well-suited to delivering the inexplicable, the indefinable, the numinous, something still left unexplored, an edge of the map marked "Here, there be monsters."
I seek out these stories in anthologies, in films, and in comics like the old Warren Creepy and Eerie magazines, but my favorite way to read them is in a collection written by the vision of a single author. Collections let you see the stories all stacked up next to each other, see how the author changes from one story to the next, and how they stay the same. Whether it's Clive Barker's The Books of Blood or the ghost stories of M.R. James and E.F. Benson, a collection by a contemporary master or one of the billion-or-so compilations of tales by Lovecraft, Bradbury or Poe, there's no other kind of book I'd rather curl up with.
So when the opportunity presented itself for me to put together my first collection of stories, I jumped at the chance.
I must have drafted the table of contents for the book that would become Never Bet the Devil & Other Warnings at least a million times, trying to find just the right balance, the right combination. The title story is little more than a fragment, written for a contest that it didn't win, but I think it sets the right tone, invites you into the world that I'm building, one story at a time. A world made from old movies and horror comics and ghost stories, filled with golems and necromancers, cursed books and haunted houses, ghouls and jazz musicians and the skeleton of, well, something.
That's the real beauty of a short story collection: it lets you build a world that somehow always remains just beyond the reach of knowing, a house that's always full of cobwebs and dark corners. A short story collection is never just one ride, it's an entire dark carnival, a cabinet of curiosities that gives you a glimpse into a place of infinite strangeness, but never quite lets you see the whole picture.
- OG
226 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2012
3 people are currently reading
200 people want to read
About the author
Orrin Grey
104 books351 followersOrrin Grey is a skeleton who likes monsters. When asked, he claims to mostly write oubliettes.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 19, 2013
The first thing apparent while reading any story from this book is how much fun Orrin had writing them. His interests are apparent, without even having to read the About Author page. His love of old horror film, the occult, comic books, Lovecraft, and Mike Mignola's works is readily apparent.
Some of his stories have a comic-book or B-movie feel to them, making for easy, fun reads. And fun is the key word here, because although these stories are horror, and deal with horror elements, they lean toward the fun end of the spectrum as opposed to the terrifying (see: Hellboy, Beetlejuice).
Another wonderful thing about this book that warrants mention is the inclusion of author notes. At the end of each story are notes from the author which explain the inspirations and ideas behind the stories. I've always loved when short story collections or anthologies included something of this sort. Sometimes it offers clarification on some story concepts, but often I just find it interesting to see what the authors thought process was when creating a certain story.
Never Bet The Devil & Other Warnings is Orrin Grey's first collection, and contains ten stories. The shortest one is one page, while the longest one is novella length.
The title story, Never Bet The Devil, is a short description of a twist on a common carnival contraption. It was written for a contest to get into an anthology of fictional bizarre items, and serves as a nice way to set the stage for the collection. If anything it makes me wish to see the item in a story!
Count Brass, the second story of the collection, toys with the trope of the musician selling his soul to the devil. A woman keeps encountering the name Count Brass in reference to her musician grandfather, and starts to figure out that maybe he didn't come across his musical success in a legitimate manner. My favorite part of this story was Count Brass himself, as Orrin took a common figure and really made him physically unique.
One of the best stories of the collection, and one I encountered previously in The Book of Cthulhu II, is Black Hill. Black Hill tells the story of an oil field atop something that is much more complex than simple oil. Orrin took the idea of oil being made up of organic matter, and really ran with it, adding a liberal dose of cosmic horror into the mix.
The Devil In The Box is another entertaining story. A man obsessed with a cult painter acquires most of his art collection, his old house, and a mysterious box said to be the artist's inspiration. The story is told from the point of view of his partner watching their relationship disintegrate.
Another stand-out story for me was Nature vs. Nurture. The story takes place in a world where ghouls are a reality, and they are hunted as animals. When a young one is found, the narrator shows mercy and takes it in, attempting to raise and train the creature. It's a great story.
The Barghest was my least favorite story of the collection. I think the narrative style used in the story weakened it, although the plot and story ideas were pretty solid. I always struggle with a story narrated by someone talking to someone else and explaining things that the listener already knows, while constantly pointing that fact out ("But you already knew that, didn't you"). I thought the concept of being able to be "infected" with lycanthropy from the skeleton of such a monster was really cool, and I wonder why it hasn't been explored more often.
One of my other favorites of the collection is The Seventh Picture. As a film love myself, I always love a story that mixes horror/the weird with film, and Orrin does it so well here. The story itself is told in the found-footage format, and follows a documentary film crew as they explore the abandoned mansion of an old horror film director in search of knowledge on his incomplete, missing final film. Orrin's film buffness is on display here, and where I found the narrative style in the previous story lacking, I found it to be completely on point with this one. Also this story was the closest one to pure horror in the collection. The story should be of special note to fans of Chambers' King in Yellow stories.
On the heels of the creepy The Seventh Picture follows the light-hearted The Reading Room, another great story. The age old concept of using a book to summon something from beyond is turned on it's head here, as the protagonist must keep reading books in order to keep the same something imprisoned. As clever as this twist is, the love story that is the backbone of this story makes for a nice counterpart to the dark Seventh Picture. Would be a great story to kick off an anthology of weird romantic comedy.
Nearly Human is another top-notch story built around another clever idea. The story serves as a nod to old haunted house stories, and comes together quite satisfactory in the end.
As good as all the other stories are, it's the powerhouse novella at the end that stands above all the rest. The Mysterious Flame is an impressive homage to Mignola, and an immensely entertaining read. The story itself is rather pulpy, and would seem completely in place in a comic book (for the record, I'd love to see a comic version done, so someone please call Mignola in to illustrate it). Orrin weaves a tale of a golem searching for more and the obsessed lich who's out to capture him. The story is the most complex in the book, shifting viewpoints between Barnabus the golem and Joy, a young girl who somehow got stuck as the lich's human "servant". The story features plenty of action, humor, and some genuinely creepy moments. Definitely the highlight of this fine anthology.
Orrin Grey should be very proud of his first collection. The stories cover a nice variety of weird territory, and do so in a very light, pulpy, and fun manner. This reviewer plans to keep an eye on this author, because if this collection is anything indicative of things to come, then we readers are in store for some spectacular things.
Originally appeared on my blog, The Arkham Digest.
Some of his stories have a comic-book or B-movie feel to them, making for easy, fun reads. And fun is the key word here, because although these stories are horror, and deal with horror elements, they lean toward the fun end of the spectrum as opposed to the terrifying (see: Hellboy, Beetlejuice).
Another wonderful thing about this book that warrants mention is the inclusion of author notes. At the end of each story are notes from the author which explain the inspirations and ideas behind the stories. I've always loved when short story collections or anthologies included something of this sort. Sometimes it offers clarification on some story concepts, but often I just find it interesting to see what the authors thought process was when creating a certain story.
Never Bet The Devil & Other Warnings is Orrin Grey's first collection, and contains ten stories. The shortest one is one page, while the longest one is novella length.
The title story, Never Bet The Devil, is a short description of a twist on a common carnival contraption. It was written for a contest to get into an anthology of fictional bizarre items, and serves as a nice way to set the stage for the collection. If anything it makes me wish to see the item in a story!
Count Brass, the second story of the collection, toys with the trope of the musician selling his soul to the devil. A woman keeps encountering the name Count Brass in reference to her musician grandfather, and starts to figure out that maybe he didn't come across his musical success in a legitimate manner. My favorite part of this story was Count Brass himself, as Orrin took a common figure and really made him physically unique.
One of the best stories of the collection, and one I encountered previously in The Book of Cthulhu II, is Black Hill. Black Hill tells the story of an oil field atop something that is much more complex than simple oil. Orrin took the idea of oil being made up of organic matter, and really ran with it, adding a liberal dose of cosmic horror into the mix.
The Devil In The Box is another entertaining story. A man obsessed with a cult painter acquires most of his art collection, his old house, and a mysterious box said to be the artist's inspiration. The story is told from the point of view of his partner watching their relationship disintegrate.
Another stand-out story for me was Nature vs. Nurture. The story takes place in a world where ghouls are a reality, and they are hunted as animals. When a young one is found, the narrator shows mercy and takes it in, attempting to raise and train the creature. It's a great story.
The Barghest was my least favorite story of the collection. I think the narrative style used in the story weakened it, although the plot and story ideas were pretty solid. I always struggle with a story narrated by someone talking to someone else and explaining things that the listener already knows, while constantly pointing that fact out ("But you already knew that, didn't you"). I thought the concept of being able to be "infected" with lycanthropy from the skeleton of such a monster was really cool, and I wonder why it hasn't been explored more often.
One of my other favorites of the collection is The Seventh Picture. As a film love myself, I always love a story that mixes horror/the weird with film, and Orrin does it so well here. The story itself is told in the found-footage format, and follows a documentary film crew as they explore the abandoned mansion of an old horror film director in search of knowledge on his incomplete, missing final film. Orrin's film buffness is on display here, and where I found the narrative style in the previous story lacking, I found it to be completely on point with this one. Also this story was the closest one to pure horror in the collection. The story should be of special note to fans of Chambers' King in Yellow stories.
On the heels of the creepy The Seventh Picture follows the light-hearted The Reading Room, another great story. The age old concept of using a book to summon something from beyond is turned on it's head here, as the protagonist must keep reading books in order to keep the same something imprisoned. As clever as this twist is, the love story that is the backbone of this story makes for a nice counterpart to the dark Seventh Picture. Would be a great story to kick off an anthology of weird romantic comedy.
Nearly Human is another top-notch story built around another clever idea. The story serves as a nod to old haunted house stories, and comes together quite satisfactory in the end.
As good as all the other stories are, it's the powerhouse novella at the end that stands above all the rest. The Mysterious Flame is an impressive homage to Mignola, and an immensely entertaining read. The story itself is rather pulpy, and would seem completely in place in a comic book (for the record, I'd love to see a comic version done, so someone please call Mignola in to illustrate it). Orrin weaves a tale of a golem searching for more and the obsessed lich who's out to capture him. The story is the most complex in the book, shifting viewpoints between Barnabus the golem and Joy, a young girl who somehow got stuck as the lich's human "servant". The story features plenty of action, humor, and some genuinely creepy moments. Definitely the highlight of this fine anthology.
Orrin Grey should be very proud of his first collection. The stories cover a nice variety of weird territory, and do so in a very light, pulpy, and fun manner. This reviewer plans to keep an eye on this author, because if this collection is anything indicative of things to come, then we readers are in store for some spectacular things.
Originally appeared on my blog, The Arkham Digest.
January 13, 2013
As I was reading through this book, I was trying to figure out exactly how to convey what I wanted to say about it. I've shelved it as horror, among other things, and I wasn't entirely sure this is a collection of horror stories. It has horror stories, yes, and there's not a single story without a horrific element (oh dear god there really isn't). But there's more to them, and I was struggling with the precise words, and rather worried about this review.
Fortunately, I found a solution in the afterword. Perhaps I should have read it first. Grey mentions Robert Westall (who is going on my list of people to look up), and shares a quote about how it was "the infinite strangeness of the supernatural that fascinated Robert Westall, not the horror."
I could feel something click, when I read that. There's horror here, yes, but that's not all that's important here; Never Bet the Devil would be an impressive but rather cold book if it was. The infinite strangeness of the supernatural, that was what I was having trouble defining, and a love for the strange and supernatural elements of the genre.[1] The stories, taken together, are stories of horror, and loneliness, and madness, and mystery. And they still manage to convey a sense of wonder. Not overwhelmingly so; I don't think it's possible to come away from them thinking cheerful thoughts. But dammit, reading stories like this, stories that have these things in them... this book makes me happy, and the reading has improved my days.
I was thinking of doing reviews of all the individual stories, but I honestly could not seem to manage it on a few without either over-explaining and ruining them, or coming in with spoilers, and honestly, I think I am coming close to the point where I'm in danger of bogging down in my words. So, of the ten stories in the book, a small handful of quick thoughts:
---
[1] I count the strange and the supernatural as distinct, there are two stories that I could comfortably argue have nothing supernatural in them--although there are... well, non-human things seen as monsters?--and a couple of others I'd be willing to debate.
Fortunately, I found a solution in the afterword. Perhaps I should have read it first. Grey mentions Robert Westall (who is going on my list of people to look up), and shares a quote about how it was "the infinite strangeness of the supernatural that fascinated Robert Westall, not the horror."
I could feel something click, when I read that. There's horror here, yes, but that's not all that's important here; Never Bet the Devil would be an impressive but rather cold book if it was. The infinite strangeness of the supernatural, that was what I was having trouble defining, and a love for the strange and supernatural elements of the genre.[1] The stories, taken together, are stories of horror, and loneliness, and madness, and mystery. And they still manage to convey a sense of wonder. Not overwhelmingly so; I don't think it's possible to come away from them thinking cheerful thoughts. But dammit, reading stories like this, stories that have these things in them... this book makes me happy, and the reading has improved my days.
I was thinking of doing reviews of all the individual stories, but I honestly could not seem to manage it on a few without either over-explaining and ruining them, or coming in with spoilers, and honestly, I think I am coming close to the point where I'm in danger of bogging down in my words. So, of the ten stories in the book, a small handful of quick thoughts:
"The Devil in the Box" - possibly the coldest story in the book. The colour and the detail are too well-done for me to go so far as to call it grim (which I imagine you could also say about the paintings featured in the story), but by the end, I can safely say that even if the narrator's wrong, things have been pretty throughly ruined. I can definitely see the Barker influence, too.I haven't gone into "Count Brass", or "Black Hill", or the understated oddness of "Never Bet the Devil", or the gleeful weirdness of "The Barghest". I haven't broken down "Nearly Human" or "The Mysterious Flame". But they're very much worth reading, and while you may already have a story or two by Orrin Grey in one of your other anthologies, Never Bet the Devil is a damn good collection for any fan of monsters, horror, and a supernatural that is actually strange to add to their shelves.
"Nature vs. Nurture" - while I can't say it's the best-written story--to my mind, that goes to "The Seventh Picture"--it was, for me, the most affecting. I found myself wanting very badly for things to go well for Charlie and the narrator, and the ending was all that I could rightly expect.
(Wants and expectations are not the same thing. We know this.)
"The Seventh Picture" - you know, it's horribly plausible that someone in old Hollywood would have tried to adapt the story in question to the movies... A found footage piece describing a documentary. The writing moves smoothly between interview quotes and film description without ever feeling stilted (a trap that I find a lot of stories in this format fall into). It's beautifully evocative of both the cinema of the time and the events of the story; I've read this before, in Candle in the Attic Window, and I'm always surprised by how short it actually is. I'd love to see this one made into a short film sometime.
"The Reading Room" - the story that comes closest to upbeat, I think, and a much-appreciated variation on the idea that reading books summons unspeakable horrors. My only regret is that it's missing the afterword that I saw in the Kindle version (a brief description of nine volumes from Robert de la Court's library); I found that added a pleasantly creepy note that rounded out the events of the story.
---
[1] I count the strange and the supernatural as distinct, there are two stories that I could comfortably argue have nothing supernatural in them--although there are... well, non-human things seen as monsters?--and a couple of others I'd be willing to debate.
December 13, 2013
A very respectable first collection.
My favorite pieces tended to be the shorter ones. The longer one, I felt, could have been tuned up a bit. Mr. Grey is mostly interested in making monsters, which is a bold way for an author to distinguish himself. I'm very interested in seeing him explore his themes in greater depth in future stories.
My favorite pieces tended to be the shorter ones. The longer one, I felt, could have been tuned up a bit. Mr. Grey is mostly interested in making monsters, which is a bold way for an author to distinguish himself. I'm very interested in seeing him explore his themes in greater depth in future stories.
November 16, 2017
In Nathan Ballingrud's introduction (which is pretty cool in its own right), he uses the phrase "...a genre of one" to describe Orrin Grey's work. I agree with that, if sadly so, because I wish there were more stories like these. There are influences, to be sure (Mike Mignola, Hammer Film Productions, Eerie and Creepy Magazines, etc.), but it's Orrin Grey's own particular stew. I can't narrow it down, not exactly, but it always reminds me of how I felt when I was a kid, watching a good monster movie.
There are eleven short stories here, ranging from a single paragraph ("Never Bet the Devil" - but it's a really good single paragraph), to several pages in length, and, one novella ("The Mysterious Flame"). I enjoyed everything, but if I had to pick just one, it would probably be "The Seventh Picture," and its documentary crew, probing around the mystery of a lost film, or, the haunted house of "Nearly Human." There are also notes from the author after each story, which is fun.
Content is what matters (obviously), but it's nice when the packaging is worth a mention, too. And, to that end, the illustrations, layout, and hardcover with foil - all by (I think?) M.S. Corley - are great stuff as well.
Highly recommended.
There are eleven short stories here, ranging from a single paragraph ("Never Bet the Devil" - but it's a really good single paragraph), to several pages in length, and, one novella ("The Mysterious Flame"). I enjoyed everything, but if I had to pick just one, it would probably be "The Seventh Picture," and its documentary crew, probing around the mystery of a lost film, or, the haunted house of "Nearly Human." There are also notes from the author after each story, which is fun.
Content is what matters (obviously), but it's nice when the packaging is worth a mention, too. And, to that end, the illustrations, layout, and hardcover with foil - all by (I think?) M.S. Corley - are great stuff as well.
Highly recommended.
January 5, 2018
It feels like Orrin is writing stories crafted specifically for me. I am a sucker for tortured artists, uncompleted cult films, and monster stories. Orrin delivers these with excellent pacing and tension in “The Devil in the Box”, “The Seventh Film”, and “The Barghest” respectively. “Count Brass” is a great depiction of the devil, and shows what can be accomplished in a very compact space. “Nearly Human” is an excellent haunted house story. “The Mysterious Flame” strongly evokes Mike Mignola, and the entire novella played out in my head like a graphic novel. “Goblins” is a glorious tribute to Halloween and the torments children will wreak on the old couple down the street in the creepy house.
Orrin riffs on the Cthulhu Mythos in a fresh and modern fashion. “The Devil in the Box” riffs on Pickman’s Model while being wholly its own story. The collection is infested with ghouls crawling underneath the surface.
One of the most significant examples of this modern response is “Black Hill” which presents oil as the castings of things which are not dead, yet lie eternally. My most recent reading of this story also made me think about “The Horse Lord” by Lisa Tuttle (both of these stories are available for free listens over on PseudoPod). Both of these include the scared sites of Native Americans, but instead using this to develop a revenge story, we are presented with bold warnings. Yet no one remains to interpret them, and are thus ignored. This brings revenge home in a different fashion, as all of this could have been prevented if we just knew how to listen, if there were anyone left to tell us. This lands a punch closer to home of the impacts of genocide. And I love how one takes the anxiety around non-renewable resources and capitalism, while the other explores the anxieties at home in the nuclear family.
I can’t encourage you strongly enough to pick this collection up.
I read the Strix hardcover edition with interior art and a couple extra stories.
Orrin riffs on the Cthulhu Mythos in a fresh and modern fashion. “The Devil in the Box” riffs on Pickman’s Model while being wholly its own story. The collection is infested with ghouls crawling underneath the surface.
One of the most significant examples of this modern response is “Black Hill” which presents oil as the castings of things which are not dead, yet lie eternally. My most recent reading of this story also made me think about “The Horse Lord” by Lisa Tuttle (both of these stories are available for free listens over on PseudoPod). Both of these include the scared sites of Native Americans, but instead using this to develop a revenge story, we are presented with bold warnings. Yet no one remains to interpret them, and are thus ignored. This brings revenge home in a different fashion, as all of this could have been prevented if we just knew how to listen, if there were anyone left to tell us. This lands a punch closer to home of the impacts of genocide. And I love how one takes the anxiety around non-renewable resources and capitalism, while the other explores the anxieties at home in the nuclear family.
I can’t encourage you strongly enough to pick this collection up.
I read the Strix hardcover edition with interior art and a couple extra stories.
December 20, 2017
The first time I encountered Orrin Grey’s work, it wasn’t even his fiction! He wrote the introduction to the Valancourt edition of J.B. Priestley’s 1927 novel Benighted, and I was struck then with his knowledge and insight into classic horror. Since then, I’ve been following his work with interest and enjoyment, and was delighted to support the Kickstarter for a reprint and expansion of his original short story collection, Never Bet the Devil and Other Warnings (2012). Last night, on a flight back from Minneapolis, I devoured the entire collection in one go!
This is really such a lovely book, both in contents and presentation! It features a cover and illustrations by artist M.S. Corley, who Grey also collaborated with on the charming haunted house chapbook Gardinel’s Real Estate (2014). The book overall has an atmosphere that really makes it a great little book of creepy stories to read at night, in bed, with a fire in the fireplace and a chill wind whistling outside.
Read the whole review.
This is really such a lovely book, both in contents and presentation! It features a cover and illustrations by artist M.S. Corley, who Grey also collaborated with on the charming haunted house chapbook Gardinel’s Real Estate (2014). The book overall has an atmosphere that really makes it a great little book of creepy stories to read at night, in bed, with a fire in the fireplace and a chill wind whistling outside.
Read the whole review.
December 27, 2013
It was Christmastime and I felt like reading about monsters: this fit perfectly. I enjoyed all the stories and liked that each one had a little "Author's Notes" blurb.
The style is clever and subtle. I got the same, 'yaay, this is creepy!' from each, but they were all quite different. I didn't start to "expect" anything (plot-wise) and I didn't find myself trying to guess at the ending in the middle of reading, either.
The style is clever and subtle. I got the same, 'yaay, this is creepy!' from each, but they were all quite different. I didn't start to "expect" anything (plot-wise) and I didn't find myself trying to guess at the ending in the middle of reading, either.
May 12, 2014
This is a great little collection of short stories. Overall I'd give it 4.5 stars and there are a few stories that I want to go back and read again. In my opinion the standout stories are Black Hill, The Seventh Picture, The Reading Room and The a Mysterious Flame. Grey provides a fresh take on weird tales and they're very engaging. The internal art by Bernie Gonzalez is also great and I enjoyed all of the author's notes at the end of each story. I highly recommend this book.
January 4, 2018
My acquisition of Orrin Grey's debut collection, Never Bet the Devil, started to feel like I was in my own little cliched plotline of obtaining a forbidden text. Out of print for some time, the only copy I could find on ebay failed to turn up. The seller was nice enough to refund me, and coincidentally the Kickstarter for this fancy re-printing went up about the same time and I was able to plough the same funds back into it.
So for all that, was it worth it? Yes. Yes, it was. Physically, it's a beautiful book, being an unusually-sized tall but thin hardcover in gorgeous red with an impressive gold-coloured gilded design and evocative new black-and-white illustrations for every story. It also features an additional story and afterword as compared to the original.
As to the stories, these read as someone unashamedly playing with influences from classic Gothic, supernatural and monster tales of page and screen, including the usual suspects like Lovecraft and Hammer Horror. There's a certain joy and enthusiasm which contrasts with the dark subject matter in a way rarely found among Grey's comparable cosmic horror contemporaries. It creates a sense of fun in the spirit of Halloween even as characters are doomed to horrible monster-related fates.
All would be moot in the absence of competent writing of course, and thankfully Grey's style is highly engaging. Provided, that is, one is comfortable with certain genre cliches of form, such as commencing with a narrator cryptically hinting at the dangerous esoteric knowledge they've uncovered, before detailing the same.
In all, this is definitely worthwhile for any enthusiast of classic monster stories - including less common ones such as the barghest and golem - and I'm glad I held off on his second collection in order to read this first.
So for all that, was it worth it? Yes. Yes, it was. Physically, it's a beautiful book, being an unusually-sized tall but thin hardcover in gorgeous red with an impressive gold-coloured gilded design and evocative new black-and-white illustrations for every story. It also features an additional story and afterword as compared to the original.
As to the stories, these read as someone unashamedly playing with influences from classic Gothic, supernatural and monster tales of page and screen, including the usual suspects like Lovecraft and Hammer Horror. There's a certain joy and enthusiasm which contrasts with the dark subject matter in a way rarely found among Grey's comparable cosmic horror contemporaries. It creates a sense of fun in the spirit of Halloween even as characters are doomed to horrible monster-related fates.
All would be moot in the absence of competent writing of course, and thankfully Grey's style is highly engaging. Provided, that is, one is comfortable with certain genre cliches of form, such as commencing with a narrator cryptically hinting at the dangerous esoteric knowledge they've uncovered, before detailing the same.
In all, this is definitely worthwhile for any enthusiast of classic monster stories - including less common ones such as the barghest and golem - and I'm glad I held off on his second collection in order to read this first.
June 27, 2018
The first few stories in this collection channel a lot of Robert Bloch. If you know me, you know that's one of the highest compliments I can give. The latter channel Mike Mignola, and somehow all of this adds together in one of the most fun and original voices in weird literature.
Orrin Grey has earned a lot of accolades, and his debut collection is justification enough for such praise. This review is referring to the Strix Publishing edition, which is accompanied by some outstanding illustrations.
Orrin Grey has earned a lot of accolades, and his debut collection is justification enough for such praise. This review is referring to the Strix Publishing edition, which is accompanied by some outstanding illustrations.
Read
January 21, 2018This was cool, longer review coming later IY"H!
Source of the book: Bought with my own money
Source of the book: Bought with my own money
March 16, 2019
I enjoyed the stories I read, although I didn't get to read all of them before it was due back to the library.
December 22, 2020
Orrin is another of the great writers delivering excellent work from the heart of the Great Plains. Skeletons, presumably, don't mind the less than ideal climate in these parts. "Black Hill" is even set in these often bleak, flat plains, and has some echoes of Bierce's "The Damned Thing". I would also place him alongside Kenneth Hite in terms of how broadly and deeply knowledgable he is on a wide array of subjects, so whether its this collection or another, if you come across what appears to be an allusion or obscure reference, its certainly not accidental. "Count Brass" is a good example, with the title being a callout to one of the still living greats of romanticism influenced epic fantasy, and plenty of references throughout to be appreciated by jazz/blues fans. I believe my exact words about him when I had the opportunity to share his work with Patton Oswalt were, 'He's one of the most erudite people working in horror that I've had the pleasure to talk to.' Oh yeah, and he loves his monsters. "A Night for Mothing" and "Goblins" are some great examples in this collection of his unique, sometimes sympathetic, takes on 'monsters'.
I love a good deal with the devil story, and you will definitely find those here, though the devils in question may be varying degrees of literal. This is one the first of Orrin's collections, and you're going to get a pretty wide range here. Whether its the titular fragment, "Never Bet the Devil", or the near novella length mashup of Mike Mignola comics, universal studios horror, and jewish folklore, "The Mysterious Flame" the pacing in tone and length are not what one might expect but rather the ideal rollercoaster of ups and downs to keep the reader moving along without ever knowing what to expect.
As I haven't yet mentioned it, those looking for evidence of broader representation in modern horror will not want for it here. 'Protagonists' are not the authorial clones of the Lovecraft era. Ethnicity, religious belief, gender, and sexual orientation range widely, and are communicated deftly in a way that informs and enriches the work without making itself a dominant theme. The Barker influenced "Devil in the Box" gives us one such protagonist while reminding us of all those creepy jack in the boxes that those in their 40s-60s might remember from childhood. And "The Barghest", well, you decide what the narrator is.
"Nature vs. Nurture" gives us an interesting, and in some ways sympathetic, take on ghouls. I would love to see juxtaposed with some of McNaughton's ghoul stories in a themed collection someday. The atmosphere, as well as the different (though both masterful) ways in which action is depicted would make good side by side.
"The Seventh Picture" lets Orrin play in the world of what I suspect is his greatest love, cinema. I say cinema rather than a particular genre or era of film for two reasons. One, the love and attention paid to the process of film making itself is evident. Two, this brings together cinematic & literary influences as wide ranging as the gothic and found footage films.
"The Reading Room" is an interesting inversion of the relationship between books and the supernatural. It also should hold some appeal for all of us...after all, who loves to read and *doesn't* dream of having an entire floor of their house as dedicated library/reading space? As someone who loves to read, this has the same nightmare feel for someone like me as "Time Enough At Last" from The Twilight Zone.
"Nearly Human" gives us Wuthering Heights (and really, if you haven't, make time to read such a classic ghost story) meets Matheson's "Hell House" (like Orrin, its also one of my favorite haunted house stories). If you love spooky old houses, secret passages, and the forgotten dead, you'll feel right at home here.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention the amazing artwork of M.S. Corley that accompanies each story, at least in the Strix Publishing edition (I'm assuming the original Worde Horde edition as well). Creepy with an edge of humor at times, just like Orrin's writing.
I love a good deal with the devil story, and you will definitely find those here, though the devils in question may be varying degrees of literal. This is one the first of Orrin's collections, and you're going to get a pretty wide range here. Whether its the titular fragment, "Never Bet the Devil", or the near novella length mashup of Mike Mignola comics, universal studios horror, and jewish folklore, "The Mysterious Flame" the pacing in tone and length are not what one might expect but rather the ideal rollercoaster of ups and downs to keep the reader moving along without ever knowing what to expect.
As I haven't yet mentioned it, those looking for evidence of broader representation in modern horror will not want for it here. 'Protagonists' are not the authorial clones of the Lovecraft era. Ethnicity, religious belief, gender, and sexual orientation range widely, and are communicated deftly in a way that informs and enriches the work without making itself a dominant theme. The Barker influenced "Devil in the Box" gives us one such protagonist while reminding us of all those creepy jack in the boxes that those in their 40s-60s might remember from childhood. And "The Barghest", well, you decide what the narrator is.
"Nature vs. Nurture" gives us an interesting, and in some ways sympathetic, take on ghouls. I would love to see juxtaposed with some of McNaughton's ghoul stories in a themed collection someday. The atmosphere, as well as the different (though both masterful) ways in which action is depicted would make good side by side.
"The Seventh Picture" lets Orrin play in the world of what I suspect is his greatest love, cinema. I say cinema rather than a particular genre or era of film for two reasons. One, the love and attention paid to the process of film making itself is evident. Two, this brings together cinematic & literary influences as wide ranging as the gothic and found footage films.
"The Reading Room" is an interesting inversion of the relationship between books and the supernatural. It also should hold some appeal for all of us...after all, who loves to read and *doesn't* dream of having an entire floor of their house as dedicated library/reading space? As someone who loves to read, this has the same nightmare feel for someone like me as "Time Enough At Last" from The Twilight Zone.
"Nearly Human" gives us Wuthering Heights (and really, if you haven't, make time to read such a classic ghost story) meets Matheson's "Hell House" (like Orrin, its also one of my favorite haunted house stories). If you love spooky old houses, secret passages, and the forgotten dead, you'll feel right at home here.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention the amazing artwork of M.S. Corley that accompanies each story, at least in the Strix Publishing edition (I'm assuming the original Worde Horde edition as well). Creepy with an edge of humor at times, just like Orrin's writing.
February 14, 2021
By completing this collection, I have now read all three (as of the time of this writing) of Orrin Grey’s short story collections and he has quickly become one of my favorite authors in the horror genre. Something about his stories are so comforting. Like wrapping yourself in a warm blanket of horror on a cold night. His description from the afterword hits the nail on the head of why I love his writing. “I write the kinds of stories I want to read, the kinds of stories that are fun are those dark houses, cobwebbed stairs, deep shadows, and of course, monsters.... Some of us get to be Hitchcock, and some of us get to be William Castle. The older I get, the more okay I am with just being William Castle.”
I grew up on Goosebumps and “Are you afraid of the dark” episodes. Grey’s work feel so much in tune with those stories. They are as much fun as they are scary. They really are what horror short stories should be in my opinion.
As for this particular collection, I loved it. The stand outs are “Never Bet the Devil”, “Count Brass”, “Black Hill”, “Nearly Human”, and by far my absolute favorite “The Reading Room.”
I should also mention that I read the super fancy Spansy edition from Strix Publishing. The edition is beautiful with fantastic artwork by M. S. Corley. This one and all of Orrin Grey’s work, I highly recommend with all of my being.
I grew up on Goosebumps and “Are you afraid of the dark” episodes. Grey’s work feel so much in tune with those stories. They are as much fun as they are scary. They really are what horror short stories should be in my opinion.
As for this particular collection, I loved it. The stand outs are “Never Bet the Devil”, “Count Brass”, “Black Hill”, “Nearly Human”, and by far my absolute favorite “The Reading Room.”
I should also mention that I read the super fancy Spansy edition from Strix Publishing. The edition is beautiful with fantastic artwork by M. S. Corley. This one and all of Orrin Grey’s work, I highly recommend with all of my being.
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