McSweeney's Issue 45: Hitchcock and Bradbury Fistfight in Heaven

McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern #45

by Dave Eggers (Editor), Cory Doctorow (Contributor), Jamie Quatro (Contributor)

An ancient meteor attempts to reassemble itself on the banks of Lake Michigan; a pig encounters the divine; and a couple discovers that their landlord owns a dollhouse inhabited by tiny people.

Culled from old anthologies edited by Alfred Hitchcock and Ray Bradbury, this quarterly features BRAIN-BLISTERING fiction from the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. These stories confound, astound, and hurtle toward the brink of UNREALITY.
Alongside these classics are four FRESH, contemporary stories that we believe Mr. Hitchcock and Mr. Bradbury would have regarded fondly. These tales cause TEETH TO CHATTER and HEARTS TO ARREST. Their authors are intrepid explorers, forever plumbing the ABYSS OF THE UNKNOWN. Their writing interrupts life’s complacent rhythms and reminds us of the MAGICAL, the INEXPLICABLE. Take this book. Wake up. The world is a dream all around you.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Science Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Fantasy, Anthologies, Mystery

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Dave Eggers is an American writer, editor, and publisher. He is best known for his 2000 memoir, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, which became a bestseller and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction. Eggers is also the founder of several notable literary and philanthropic ventures, including the literary journal Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, the literacy project 826 Valencia, and the human rights nonprofit Voice of Witness. Additionally, he founded ScholarMatch, a program that connects donors with students needing funds for college tuition. His writing has appeared in numerous prestigious publications, including The New Yorker, Esquire, and The New York Times Magazine.

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is why we need to have vigorous bookstores and libraries in every neighborhood. I stopped by my local independent bookseller to look for a list of books I was interested in. This book was not on my list, but it leapt off the shelf — the cover picture and title were irresistible. After browsing through it for a few minutes, and despite the fact that there were no reviews on either Goodreads or Amazon (gasp!), I went for it. And how much fun I've had since then!

The title, Hitchcock and Bradbury Fistfight in Heaven (used with Sherman Alexie's blessing), reveals the origin of this collection. Over the past few years, Dave Eggers came across two out-of-print anthologies: Alfred Hitchcock's 1965 Stories Not for the Nervous and Ray Bradbury's 1952 Timeless Stories for Today & Tomorrow. He pulled the best from each collection and mixed them together with a few bonus contemporary pieces.

I loved most of the pieces in here, and found myself sharing highlights with anyone who would listen. There are classic science fiction pieces like Roald Dahl's "The Sound Machine," where a guy invents a machine that can hear the language of plants, Ray Bradbury's "The Pedestrian," about a world where people never stop watching TV, and Julian May's "Dune Roller," about a spooky meteor in Lake Michigan. Then there's Jack Ritchie's hilarious "For All the Rude People," where Emily Post hooks up with Rambo. The opening of that story is so darkly delicious, I'll share it here:

 "How old are you?" I asked.
 His eyes were on the revolver I was holding. 
"Look, mister, there’s not much in the cash 
register, but take it all. I won’t make no 
trouble."
 "I am not interested in your filthy money. 
How old are you?"
 He was puzzled. "Forty-two."
 I clicked my tongue. "What a pity. From your 
point of view, at least. You might have lived 
another twenty or thirty years if you had just 
taken the slight pains to be polite."
 He didn’t understand.
 "I am going to kill you," I said, "because of 
the four-cent stamp and because of the 
cherry candy."
 He did not know what I meant by the cherry 
candy, but he did know about the stamp.
 Panic raced into his face. "You must be 
crazy. You can’t kill me just because of that."
 "But I can."
 And I did.

The longest piece in the book is "Sorry, Wrong Number," an expanded version of a famous Lucille Fletcher radio play about a bed-ridden woman making repeated phone calls to try and locate her missing husband. Although it had a bit too much exposition at times, I loved the premise and the ever-rising tension which, Bolero-like, sucked me into her mounting hysteria.

There are some unexpected names in here, too. Kafka's got a spot (dark, ornate, but also funny at times), along with Cheever (classic sci-fi thought piece), and a bizarre Steinbeck gem, "Saint Katy the Virgin," about a holy pig. High hilarity. Finally, there were the contemporary pieces by China Miéville, Brian Evenson, Benjamin Percy, and E. Lily Yu. My favorite was Miéville's "The Design," which grapples with one of the coolest ideas I've seen in a story in a long time. I can say no more without spoiling it.

Although this collection was all over the place, it felt coherent. Eggers does a great job in the brief introduction of explaining the guiding theme, and the book stayed true to it throughout. He also sets the reader up to anticipate the final story, describing it as "one of the creepiest things" he's read. Then he admonishes us not to jump ahead, "Whatever you do, make sure you read 'Don't Look Behind You' last." Throughout the book, I looked forward to the finale, savoring the promised creepiness. It was worth the wait.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

China Mieville's contribution--beautiful, subtle and strange--is worth the entire anthology.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Five stars for this cover

What's not to love about a mash-up of short story collections curated by Ray Bradbury and Alfred Hitchcock, plus three sharp additions by now-living writers, written “in the style" of the two masters of their craft?

No duds here, and only one story I had previously read somewhere else.

[Karl]

Culled from old anthologies edited by Alfred Hitchcock and Ray Bradbury, this quarterly features BRAIN-BLISTERING fiction from the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. Alongside these classics are four FRESH, contemporary stories that we believe Mr. Hitchcock and Mr. Bradbury would have regarded fondly. These tales cause TEETH TO CHATTER and HEARTS TO ARREST. Their authors are intrepid explorers, forever plumbing the ABYSS OF THE UNKNOWN. Their writing interrupts life’s complacent rhythms and reminds us of the MAGICAL, the INEXPLICABLE. Take this book. Wake up. The world is a dream all around you.

Table of Contents:

006 - Letters from Cory Doctorow, Jamie Quatro, Benjamin Percy, and Anthony Marra
019 - Introduction by Ray Bradbury
025 - A Brief Message from our Sponsor by Alfred Hitchcock
027 - The Sound Machine by Roald Dahl
043 - Night Flight by Josephine W. Johnson
051 - Dune Roller by Julian May
099 - The Design by China Miéville
129 - The Lacoön Complex by J.C. Furnas
143 - The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury
149 - Sorry, Wrong Number by Lucille Fletcher & Allan Ullman
243 - The Dust by Brian Evenson
289 - The Enormous Radio by John Cheever
303 - Saint Katy the Virgin by John Steinbeck
313 - For All the Rude People by Jack Ritchie
329 - Suicide Woods by Benjamin Percy
339 - In the Penal Colony by Franz Kafka
369 - The Pilgrim and the Angel by E. Lily Yu
381 - Housing Problem by Henry Kuttner
399 -None Before Me by Sidney Carroll
435 - Don’t Look Behind You by Fredric Brown

[Heather Pagano · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was really cool to juxtapose stories chosen by Hitchcock, Bradbury, and Eggers. I expected my favorites to be Bradbury's, since he's one of my favorite writers, but those chosen by Hitchcock really nailed the fun of discovering the fantastical shadow presumably hidden from our ordinary experience.

[Jay C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story collection! Some of my favorites were the classic “Dune Roller” by Julian May, “The Design” by China Melville, and Jack Ritchie’s “For All the Rude People.” And thanks to Dr. Jon Eller, director emeritus of the Center for Ray Bradbury Studies for the recommendation.

[Ostap Bender · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ladies and gentlemen, let’s get ready to Rummmmbllllllllllle…!!!

In the corner to my left wearing the fire red trunks, author of Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, and The Illustrated Man, and recipient of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize Special Citation … Raaaaaayyyy BRADbury….!

And in the corner to my right wearing the Union Jack trunks, the world champion Master of Suspense, Director of Psycho, North by Northwest, Dial M for Murder and dozens of other classic films… ALfred HITCHcooooooooooock…!

Refereeing tonight’s contest, in pinstripes, a prize-winning author in his own right and founder of McSweeney’s, audience please give him a warm welcome of applause … Dave “The Egg-man” Eggers.

…

Gentlemen, you’ve been read the rules; remember no plagiarizing, and when I say to move on to the next story, you must. Please obey my commands at all times; let’s have a good, fun read with stories you’ve selected from the 40’s and 50’s, and make it a clean, fair fight. Touch gloves and return to your corners.

…

As the boxers receive final advice from their trainers and await the opening bell, Larry what are their keys to winning the fight?

Well Jim, the key to the fight for Bradbury is to use his jab, to attack Hitch from all angles, using science fiction but also fantasy and an occasional horror story, keeping Hitch off-balance and staying outside, away from the bigger man. He is renowned for having a wide variety of literary influences and he may be successful utilizing some of those here.

For Hitchock it’s simpler: land the big blow. Stay patient, wait for Bradbury to make a mistake coming inside, and put together combinations. Hitch sees what other editors do not: eerie, spine-tingling stories, those that touch you deep inside – he needs to use this ability and look for a knockout.

…

The opening bell has sounded, and there’s Bradbury immediately going to a surprise – Roald Dahl’s The Sound Machine, an interesting story on plants feeling pain from 1949 from the author better known for his children’s stories! He follows with a jab in Josephine Johnson’s The Night Flight but it glances off, and there’s Hitchcock parrying with a right cross! Julian May’s The Dune Roller is good campy science fiction, like a 50s “B movie”, and with clever dialogue! Oh, Bradbury felt that one, didn’t he?

He sure did but wait a minute, here’s referee Dave Eggers now getting into the fray! Ladies and gentlemen in an unprecedented move, Eggers has just thrown a punch apparently aimed at both boxers, with China Mieville’s The Design. It was appropriately gory in parts but didn’t do any real damage to either man… but wow we’re going to have to keep an eye on him aren’t we?

We sure are, and back to the action, Bradbury keeps throwing the jab with J.C. Furnas The Laocoon Complex, but it’s his follow-up story that he penned himself that connects! The Pedestrian is not only ahead of its time in 1951 for projecting a time when people would be huddled in front of their screens at night, but is also interesting for what Bradbury called simply the beginning of his work Fahrenheit 451! That one caught Hitchcock squarely in the eye and he appears to be bleeding!

The fighters circle each other warily, and Ohhhhhhhhh! Hitchcock delivers a crushing uppercut! Down goes Bradbury! Down goes Bradbury! Down goes Bradbury! Sorry, Wrong Number from 1947 by Lucille Fletcher and Allan Ullman works on all levels! It’s film noir on the page, claustrophobic, creepy, and has an outstanding finish!

The crowd erupts! Bradbury is up but staggering! He could be in real trouble ladies and gentlemen! Wait! Here’s Eggers again, and this time he connects solidly to Hitchcock’s jaw with Brian Evenson’s The Dust! Talk about claustrophobic, you can just feel the confusion and paranoia seep through! Hitchcock is back on his heels and woozy, he didn’t see that one coming!

And that’s allowed Bradbury to regroup. He goes back to the jab with The Enormous Radio by John Cheever. Oh, the ability to overhear private conversations and marital woes, only to find them closer to home than one would have guessed! And there he goes to John Steinbeck with Saint Katy the Virgin but aside from it being Steinbeck, it’s uninteresting. Hitchcock counters with a jab of his own, For All the Rude People, wow, talk about vigilante justice gone wild! I don’t think we want a gun toting country like this American audience reading that one!

Here’s Eggers AGAIN! And again he’s connected, this time to Bradbury, with a wicked left hook! Benjamin Percy’s Suicide Woods about a suicide support group is clever and delivers! Bradbury stands his ground and goes to a body blow, the dark pathos of Franz Kafka! In the Penal Colony is, well, Kafkaesque folks, dark, bleak, and about not only man’s inhumanity to man, but how arbitrary it can be! Hitchcock appears content to stand back and watch the two go at it, dazed as he is. He’s biding his time, maybe an effective strategy, or on the other hand maybe he won’t land enough blows to win the fight if it goes to a decision.

Eggers seems stunned by that body blow, and his The Pilgrim and the Angel by E. Lily Yu, while fanciful, isn’t as strong. Bradbury works his jab some more, Housing Problem by Henry Kuttner is cute, and be careful of displeasing your leprechaun tenants folks! None Before Me by Sidney Carroll is thought-provoking not only as a story of God being a recursive concept, but also why God may have grown bored with his creation and acted vengefully. You can really see the range of Bradbury’s repertoire on full display here.

The seconds are counting down now, the fight appears over with all three men dazed but standing and apparently content to let it go the distance. Wait! Ohhhhhhhhhhh! Hitchcock springs forward and throws a huge roundhouse with Frederic Brown’s Don’t Look Behind You…! Talk about spine-tingling! Bradbury is reeling! Eggers is on the mat! Hitchcock is dancing around, arms in the air! The crowd has gone wild! There’s no one to count Bradbury out! He’s struggling to his feet, using the ropes! But there’s the bell, Bradbury is saved by the bell! The fight is over! It’s pandemonium! It’s absolute pandemonium here in Madison Square Garden!

The fighters are clinching, they’re both exhausted and holding each other up. Eggers is also up and staggering towards them with his genius intact, but heartbroken. Let’s listen in.

“There bloody well won’t be a rematch.”
“Don’t want one.”
“Mmmf. What is the What?”
“Ray!”
“Marguerite!”
“Ray!!!”
“Marguerite!!!”
“What is the What?”
Ladies and Gentlemen, the winner of tonight’s fight and still world champion … Alfreeeeeeed Hitchcooooooock!
“Ray!!!!”
“Marguerite!!!!”

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories in this collection were taken from the Alfred Hitchcock-edited Stories Not for the Nervous, and Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow, edited by Ray Bradbury. An additional four stories were written for this anthology by contemporary authors.

With the possible exception of "Sorry, Wrong Number", all the stories are very well written. Usually, there is a clunker or two in any genre anthology, but this one seems to avoid this. "Sorry, Wrong Number" was written originally as a radio play, and sometimes that fact comes through the writing. Still, it's a well-plotted story.

Ray Bradbury's original introduction is wonderful, and the book ends on just the right note: be sure to save "Don't Look Behind You" for last.

[Kenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a treat - a collection of stories from other collections - selected by Alfred Hitchcock and Ray Bradbury, plus a few contemporary stories including a stunner from China Mieville. All entertaining, often funny, some chilling, exactly what you'd expect from Eggers, Bradbury, and Hitchcock.

[Greg Burton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I prefer the McSweeney's anthologies of original stories, such as "Thrilling Tales" and "Enchanted Chamber." I miss the days when the best short story writers would write yarns, instead of spending their considerable talents on morose literary exercises in which the dog always dies. Even the horror genre magazines are filled with what I can only guess are dissertations!

This particular collection did not have too many original stories, and some of the old tales within are available in many collections (such as John Cheever's admittedly excellent "The Enormous Radio"), or John Steinbeck's hilarious and wicked "St Katy the Virgin" and Kafka's timeless "The Penal Colony". I can't give something with these great stories less than three stars, but how does it rate as a collection? The problem with the majority of the other tales is that they are compiled from an era of literature that wasn't too kind to short stories. For me, the short stories of the 40s, 50s and 60s, once you get beyond Bradbury and a scattering of others, tend to have a kind of indescribable papery, bloodless quality that doesn't engage me that much, and the stories in this collection fit that era well.

So again, twenty-first century authors, start spinning those yarns! Poe, Bierce, Chekhov and their crowd are waiting for some real competition!

[Ace McGee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picked this book out of a ‘Little Free Library ‘ . I was attracted by the similarity of this title to the Sherman Alexie’s book ‘The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven’. Indeed, that very book inspired this title, (with Alexie’s blessing). This book contains a Fredric Brown short story I was interested in and this was enough reason to take the book home .

I made the mistake of reading the introduction to this collection and the editor specifically stated, ‘Do not read the Fredric Brown story until last.’

The Fredric Brown story, “Don’t Look Behind You”’ is isolated at the end of the book, after the authors profiles and even after advertisements!

What could I do? I slowly read and enjoyed 15 short stories and one excellent novelette, (‘Sorry, Wrong Number’ the basis of the movie of the same name), until I had earned the right to read the one story I was most interested in. I was not disappointed, and frankly, I wasn’t sorry in the least for the time I invested in reading the entire book!

[Andrea]

Contents

McSweeney's 45 Hitchcock and Bradbury Fistfight in Heaven
Letters from: Cory Doctorow, Jamie Quatro, Benjamin Percy, Anthony Marra
Introduction: Ray Bradbury
Stories:
A Brief Message from our Sponsor - Alfred Hitchcock
The Sound Machine - Roald Dahl
Night Flight - Josephine W. Johnson
Dune Roller - Julian May
The Design - China Miéville
The Laocoön Complex - J. C. Furnas
The Pedestrian - Ray Bradbury
Sorry, Wrong Number - Lucille Fletcher & Allan Ullman
The Dust - Brian Evenson
The Enormous Radio - John Cheever
Saint Katy the Virgin - John Steinbeck
For All the Rude People - Jack Ritchie
Suicide Woods - Benjamin Percy
In the Penal Colony - Franz Kafka
The Pilgrim and the Angel - E. Lily Yu
Housing Problem - Henry Kuttner
None Before Me - Sidney Carroll
Don't Look Behind You - Fredric Brown

[Josh Hornbeck · Rating 5 out of 5]

FIRST THOUGHTS:
This was a fantastic collection of short fiction from McSweeney’s - some really great pieces genre writing that were selected from anthologies edited by Alfred Hitchcock and Ray Bradbury, plus a few modern stories added in for good measure. I don’t think there was a bad one in the bunch, and it’s hard to even select a favorite from the set, though Steinbeck’s SAINT KATY THE VIRGIN was an absolute delight. The stories run the gamut from horror, to murder mystery, to science fiction... from the eerie, to the strange, to the fantastical, to the macabre. It’s a really solid collection. I really enjoyed this.

[Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stories taken from a Bradbury and Hitchcock collections with a few newer authors mixed in. The centerpiece is "Sorry Wrong Number" which is good but works better when acted (when Evans tells Leona about her husband, it reads like a story and not like the phone call it's supposed to be). The best stories were the slightly humorous ones: Jack Ritchie's "For All the Rude People" (the best of the lot) and Steinbeck's "Saint Kay the Virgin"). Good on the designers for putting the author biographies before Frederic Brown's "Don't Look Behind You" (another stand-out).

[Daniel Hiland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this McSweeney's special edition- but then again, isn't every issue special, in its own right? What you get in this 448-page volume is seventeen stories in the spirit of both Alfred H. and Ray B., accompanied by cool, little illustrations; a wacky collection of letters from famous living writers; introductions by Dave Eggers, Ray Bradbury and Alfred Hitchcock; and bios of all the contributors. The book now resides in the Hitchcock/Mystery/Thriller/Horror section of my bookshelves.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually found it tough to put this book down. A combination of two collections of short stories put together by Alfred Hitchcock and Ray Bradbury, and a few modern short stories, this edition of mcsweeneys is excellent. Many of the stories have themes of death, unsettling behaviour, and characters who make you question your understanding of the story so far. I can’t wait to read these stories again.

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Woah! If you have a few lazy days to spare, I strongly recommend this book of short stories reprinted by McSweenys. As the other reviews stress, make sure not to miss the story at the very end AND be sure to save it untill last. Your self discipline will be rewarded with a magical and terrifying reading experience.

[Evan Gold · Rating 4 out of 5]

I own this one if anyone wants to borrow it. It’s a variety of different joys (and one or two bores)

I really liked:
Sorry, Wrong Number
Saint Katy the Virgin
For All the Rude People
Don’t Look Behind You

The rest you could probably skip tbh, but I wouldn’t; it takes away from the experience to fast forward the boring parts.

[Alice Beckett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Patchy, but when it was good it was good! If you like stories that dabble in the odd and slightly unnerving — à la Twilight Zone — this may be the book for you!

Didn’t read the whole thing, but don’t see myself finishing the remaining stories any time soon, so I’m callin’ it.

[Lachlan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably one of the best McSweeny compilations

[Paul van Zwieten · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Lance J · Rating 5 out of 5]

To keep it simple This book blew my expectations out of the water I loved it and recommend it to anyone that loves spooky stories. I dont think one of the shorts missed the mark.

[A-ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though these "theme" issues of McSweeney's are often more interesting than good, it is one of the qualities that makes this one of my favorite journals. This collection is one of the better I've read from McSweeney's. I'm glad they took a moment to remind literature that "genre" fiction is as valid as "literary" fiction. I honestly don't know what the fuss is about. People write what they write, so I don't understand the labels. This very idea is shown by the mixture of both big names in both areas. John Cheever and John Steinbeck share this book with Roald Dahl and Ray Bradbury. Not every story worked for me. I'm not easily scared, but most were interesting. And, at nearly 500 pages, this is a good value buy. Highlights include:

"The Sound Machine" by Roald Dahl
"The Design" by China Mieville which was a fascinating concept, even if the story petered out in the end.
"The Laocoon Complex" was delightfully bizarre. Probably my fave in the collection.
"The Dust" by Brian Evenson was a solid Scifi story. The plot is similar to many other stories, but the execution was perfect.
"The Enormous Radio" by John Cheever was great satire on city life.
"For All the Rude People" by Jack Richie was a better executed predecessor to the film God Bless America
"Suicide Woods" by Benjamin Percy was a haunting look at depression.
"Housing Problem" by Henry Kuttner was a super fun fantasy story. Great from start to finish. Another favorite of mine.
"None before me" by Sidney Carroll

[Joe Simmons · Rating 4 out of 5]

I expected a fun and easy collection of pulpy adventure and quaint science fiction. Basically, I forgot that I had bought a McSweeney's Quarterly. Though it was fun, it wasn't always easy, and there were a lot of surprises:

"Dune Roller" was all charm. "For All the Rude People" made me laugh out loud. The romantic whimsy of "Night Flight" and "Housing Problem" left my cheeks aching. And the introduction by Bradbury was the most beautiful thing in the whole collection. "The Design" was a close second. Surprisingly, the one truly old-school science fiction piece - "The Dust" - was actually contemporary, and while its plot was pretty standard, the execution was incredibly satisfying. Those were the highlights, but almost all of the stories were good.

The weakest stories were actually from the most famous authors - Kafka, Steinbeck, Bradbury himself - and some other stories only served to depress (but that's just McSweeney's). Still, being the weakest in this collection by no means makes them weak - it's a really good collection.

[Rachel Pieters · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was hard to rate because some most of the stories were worthy of 4 stars, but some of them were only worthy of 3, in my opinion.

This was a diverse, interesting and fun read, a blend of fantasy, sci-fi, horror, mystery and some that I'm not even sure I could place in its own genre. Most of the stories were written in the 30s, 40s, and 50s, with a few written in recent years. This added to the diversity and it was a blast to read authors' works that were current then, talking about computer punch cards, telephone operators, telegrams, and the like alongside modern futuristic stories that take place on other planets, etc. Some were just plain odd. And that's okay, too.

I will be seeking out some of these authors' other works, now after reading some samples that I enjoyed. That's worth something, too.

Overall, a great experience.

[Devin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This compilation succeeds brilliantly at what it sets out to do. Reprints of classic tales originally published by Alfred Hichcock and Ray Bradbury combined with a handful of contemporary stories that tread the same speculative, creepy path makes for an enjoyable reading journey. The revelation is that so many of these pieces are so well written. Which is what one expects from the likes of John Steinbeck or Franz Kafka. But even the adaptations of old radio dramas and story lines tailor crafted to fit an episode of the Twilight Zone shimmer with carefully constructed prose. The other quality is that these stories are genuinely creepy. Many of them may come from a completely different era, but the motivations of these characters caught in extreme situations are timeless.

[Dan Tasse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun! Some real gripping, intense, and sometimes grim thrillers. Brian Evenson's The Dust, Julian May's Dune Roller, and Fredric Brown's Don't Look Behind You might be my favorites. Some real WTFs (Kafka, man), some more fun (The Laocoön complex, For All The Rude People, Housing Problem). Sorry, Wrong Number might be the only big disappointment - long and didn't really pay off in the way I'd hoped.
Weirdly, I found myself aligning more with the Hitchcock than the Bradbury, even though I used to love Bradbury (well, and still do). Eh, I take that back, some of Bradbury's picks were solid too. But I find myself having less patience for the kind of winsome, flight-of-fancy stuff than I used to. That's kind of sad.

[Ryan Roth · Rating 5 out of 5]

McSweeneys is a publishing house founded by Dave Eggers. This is their quarterly publication. This quarter was a collection of short stories of science fiction and horror stories edited and published by Bradbury and Hitchcock in the 1930's, 40's and 50's. There are also four contemporary authors featured. It's an amazing collection. All the stories in this 448 page collection are solid, but a few of the best include "Night Flight", "Sorry Wrong Number" and the final story in the book "Don't Look Behind You." Just as Eggers writes in the introduction, please don't read this one until the end. Also read it at night. Alone.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting concept from mcsweeneys - instead of a collection of contemporary fiction, it's a collection of fiction collected in two previous collections. the two other collections do complement each other quite nicely, and include some very good stories (including 'in the penal colony' by franz kafka, always interesting to have a reason to revisit). some of the stories are kinda eh, though. i think mcsweeney's on again, off again obsession with genre fiction has lead them down some pretty middling roads.

the new fiction in this is pretty good too, though only a handful of stories. brian evenson in particular.

[Darren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Neat little collection of stories, highlights for me being "The Design" by China Miéville (an unsettling tale about bones), "For All the Rude People" by Jack Ritchie (a yarn about vigilante justice gone viral -- before they even had Internets!), and "Don't Look Behind You" by Frederic Brown (I promise it's even creepier than the title suggests). If you never pick up this collection, at least find some time for Lucille Fletcher's "Sorry, Wrong Number" -- either in its short story or one-woman play form, or both. It's a scream.