Masters of Darkness

by Dennis Etchison (Editor), Joe Haldeman (Contributor), Jack Dann (Contributor)

Contents:

Armaja Das by Joe Haldeman
Camps by Jack Dann
Dance of the Dead by Richard Matheson
Doctor of Dreams by Ray Russell
Flash Point by Gardner Dozois
Neither Brute Nor Human by Karl Edward Wagner
Preface (Master of Darkness) by Dennis Etchison
Preparations for the Game by Steve Rasnic Tem
Saturday's Shadow by William F. Nolan
Sea Change by George Clayton Johnson
Teeth Marks by Edward Bryant
The Animal Fair by Robert Bloch
The Dead Man by Ray Bradbury
The End of the Carnival by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
The Test Tube by Ray Russell
The Words That Count by Ramsey Campbell
Third Wind by Richard Christian Matheson

Genres: Horror, Anthologies, Short Stories

338 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 1986

About the author

aka Jack Martin.

Dennis William Etchison was an American writer and editor of fantasy and horror fiction. He is a multi-award winner, having won the British Fantasy Award three times for fiction, and the World Fantasy Award for anthologies he edited.

Reviews

[Jack Tripper · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent representation of mid-80s horror, elevated by 3 stories: "The Dead Man," by the always dependable Ray Bradbury (which was made into a pretty good episode of Ray Bradbury Theater), concerning an old man who believes he is already dead; the novelette-length "Neither Brute nor Human," one of Karl Wagner's best, an excellent insider-type story detailing the sf/f convention life of two writers and the horrific effect of "energy vampire" fans; and Steve Rasnic Tem's nightmarish and disturbing tale of fraternity life, "Preparations for the Game." This last story was so surreal and unsettling that I wasn't certain I liked at first, but I can't stop thinking about it. Based on Tem's afterward, that was Whispers editor Stuart David Schiff's reaction as well when he was submitted the story for his magazine.

So, not really a must-own for horror fans, though there aren't any real clunkers at all. The three stories mentioned above can be easily found in other anthologies and collections. One thing I really liked about it is that editor Etchison allowed each author a couple pages to talk about their inspiration for the story (Wagner's, it turns out, came from a dream he had. Man, I wish my dreams turned into British Fantasy Award winning stories. Mine usually detail the trials and tribulations of me trying to work common household objects and failing miserably).

3.5 Stars

[David Stephens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Masters of Darkness is a collection of horror stories compiled by Dennis Etchison back in 1986. The thing that makes the book a bit unique is that there is no recurring theme, nor is it a “Best of.” Instead, Etchison simply asked some stand out genre writers to pick a favorite or underappreciated work of theirs for inclusion, and along with each story is brief rationale from each author. It’s far from perfect, and some of the stories miss the mark, but there is enough pulp horror and creativity on display to make the book enjoyable.

Here are a few quick words about each of the fifteen selections:

The Dead Man by Ray Bradbury - This story is about a small town man who folks think is already dead, and he seems to have internalized this notion himself. It takes a woman who believes in him to help bring him back to life or put him in the grave once and for all.

Flash Point by Gardner Dozois - This story takes on the trope of the big city being more depraved and less virtuous than the small town by planting a group of satanists in rural Maine and revealing the sense of hatred even simple workers can hold in their hearts. It cultivates a nice small town atmosphere (hence, the comparisons it gets to Stephen King), but the narrative never quite comes together in the end.

The Animal Fair by Robert Bloch - This is the first of many stories to have the vibe of an episode of Tales from the Crypt with a traveling carnival, some white trash characters, and a fantastic ending of poetic justice (which was apparently excised in its original publication, damn you, Playboy!).

The End of the Carnival by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro - Yarbro tells a story of working class women who get screwed by corporate power and now work as deformed prostitutes in the most depressing brothel on earth. While the narrative itself stalls, it does offer a nice commentary on the way legends are given more respect than the actual people they are based on.

Dance of the Dead by Richard Matheson - Matheson offers a mix of cool lyricism and clunky ideas of what punks in the future might look like (they sing about Popeye for chrissake!). It’s a futuristic morality tale about losing your innocence, but the story spends so long on world building, there’s not much time for the main character’s fall from grace.

The Words That Count by Ramsey Campbell - Perhaps the most clever story of the bunch. Campbell tackles one of his old foes: fundamentalist religion. To paraphrase Campbell himself, sometimes the ugliest horrors are not monsters and ghouls, but real people who rationalize terrible behavior.

The Test Tube / Doctor of Dreams (An Acrostical Sonnet) by Ray Russell - Russell provides two poems that combine the old school atmosphere of the Universal monster movies and some Freudian imagery. They are fun, if not slightly dated in form and content.

Neither Brute Nor Human by Karl Edward Wagner - An unconventional horror story, if a horror story at all. It follows the lives of two fantasy writers as their paths cross from time to time at various conventions and get-togethers. Both need the validation of their fanbase, which keeps them going but also boosts their egos. Its portrayal of the artist-fan relationship reminded me of a more cocaine-fueled version of Misery.

Sea Change by George Clayton Johnson - Fascinating in the first place because it was almost an episode of The Twilight Zone. However, it was deemed too violent by the advertisers. Even though it is written in the stiff present tense of television treatments, this is still a really fun story of a man who’s able to regenerate his limbs, and the horrors that arise when his limbs are able to regenerate a new him as well. I would love to see more of this world.

Teeth Marks by Edward Bryant - One of the more contemplative and psychological entries. Teeth Marks is a story about a haunted house of the past. It sets up some interesting characters, including a failed politician, but never quite ties all of its elements together into something coherent.

Third Wind by Richard Christian Matheson - I have read this in other collections, and it is still one of the silliest stories I’ve ever come across. A man runs until he can’t stop. That’s it. I guess it might work as a fable, and Matheson is a good enough writer to invest it with a little life, but I just can’t take the premise or the payoff seriously.

Preparations for the Game by Steve Rasnic Tem - Inspired by Chekhov’s “A Country Doctor,” this is the most surreal and dreamlike of the bunch. It seems to exist in some reality where time hardly exists, everyone is gaunt and bony enough to be a skeleton, and the “infection” of dream logic pervades.

Armaja Das by Joe Haldeman - This story combines the more traditional gypsy curse with goofy 1980s computer technology. It’s a nice attempt at something new, but it dates itself pretty badly.

Saturday’s Shadow by William F. Nolan - The final tale merges movies and madness, reality and fantasy. It was first published in 1979, so maybe it felt fresher then, but this kind of thing has been done better elsewhere. Clive Barker’s “Son of Celluloid” comes to mind.

[James S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Typical anthology, some good, mostly bad:

1. Ray Bradbury, "The Dead Man"; 1. Never read anything by this guy that I've liked.
2. Gardner Dozois, "Flash Point"; 2. Too many characters for a short story.
3. Robert Bloch, "The Animal Fair"; 5. Read it before. One of the best horror short stories ever.
4. Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, "The End of the Carnival"; 2. Preposterous set-up, too much effort for the payoff.
5. Richard Matheson, "Dance of the Dead"; 1. Silly writing
6. Ramsey Campbell, "The Words that Count"; 2. Like Bradbury, I've never liked this author.
7. Ray Russell, "The Test Tube"; 1. Fucking poetry???
8. Karl Edward Wagner, "Neither Brute Nor Human"; 4. Pretty interesting story, basically a character assassination of Stephen King. One of the best here.
9. George Clayton Johnson, "Sea Change"; 2. A script, not sure what it's doing here.
10. Edward Bryant, "Teeth Marks"; 1. This story was particularly disappointing because it was at least competently written, but the ending was pure sentimentality
11. Richard Christian Matheson, "Third Wind"; 3. Not bad, but pointless.
12. Steve Rasnic Tem, "Preparations for the Game"; 1. Stupid writing
13. Joe Haldeman, "Armaja Das"; 5. The second-best story here, after the Bloch. Wasn't sure about it at first because of its science-fiction trappings, but it turned out to be a great horror story.
14. William F. Nolan, "Saturday's Shadow"; 1. Poor writing
15. Jack Dann, "Camps"; 3. A science-fiction story involving time travel and the Holocaust. Not sure how this counts as a horror story really.

So overall, a pretty mixed bag. Only three stories I enjoyed, out of 15. My average rating was a 2.7. I don't really like Etchison's work, so we probably just have different taste. I also get the feeling that he was helping a lot of friends out with this anthology, rather than purely choosing excellent stories. A reminder that the vast majority of output written during the horror boom was terrible.

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps the best way to talk about Masters of Darkness is to consider what the late Dennis Etchison said about how he put this anthology together. Etchison contacted a number of quality authors and asked them to submit a story that was their favorite. The authors could write an afterward, and say as much or as little about how the story came to be, why it was their favorite, etc. The result was a very high quality book full of interesting tales. The stand-out here has got to be Robert Bloch’s The Animal Fair. Bloch really was a master and it shows. What an excellent collection!

[Sean Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some decent stories in here, but the majority felt a bit mediocre.

[Recensioni in tre parole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pionieristico. Intermittente. Eterogeneo.

[We All · Rating 4 out of 5]

Come ogni antologia ha racconti migliori di altri. Ero indeciso tra le 3 e la 4 stelle, ho scelto le 4 perché i racconti che mi sono piaciuti di più, sono veramente meritevoli.