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Pandemonium Waltz
In Pandemonium Waltz, award-winning author Jeffrey Ford leads readers through a dizzying sequence of tales that blend fantasy, horror, and dark wonder with his trademark wit and literary grace.
From a traveling waltz exhibition whose performers might not be entirely human, to a sun-scorched hunt for a cannibal that unearths something far worse, to a splatter-slick monster hunt that exposes the fault lines of a divided America—Ford’s stories cross boundaries of genre and expectation. Each is a mirror turned slightly askew, revealing the marvelous and the monstrous just beyond the familiar frame.
Ford has long refused to choose between fantasy, science fiction, or horror, insisting instead that “somewhere down there, it all turns to bullshit.” The result is fiction that is fearless, unpredictable, and alive with imagination—a testament to storytelling itself and the spell it casts over those who listen. Pandemonium Waltz gathers some of Ford’s most haunting and exhilarating recent work: tales of metamorphosis, obsession, and the uneasy price of wonder.
From a traveling waltz exhibition whose performers might not be entirely human, to a sun-scorched hunt for a cannibal that unearths something far worse, to a splatter-slick monster hunt that exposes the fault lines of a divided America—Ford’s stories cross boundaries of genre and expectation. Each is a mirror turned slightly askew, revealing the marvelous and the monstrous just beyond the familiar frame.
Ford has long refused to choose between fantasy, science fiction, or horror, insisting instead that “somewhere down there, it all turns to bullshit.” The result is fiction that is fearless, unpredictable, and alive with imagination—a testament to storytelling itself and the spell it casts over those who listen. Pandemonium Waltz gathers some of Ford’s most haunting and exhilarating recent work: tales of metamorphosis, obsession, and the uneasy price of wonder.
278 pages, Paperback
First published February 11, 2026
About the author
Jeffrey Ford
242 books516 followersJeffrey Ford is an American writer in the Fantastic genre tradition, although his works have spanned genres including Fantasy, Science Fiction and Mystery. His work is characterized by a sweeping imaginative power, humor, literary allusion, and a fascination with tales told within tales. He is a graduate of the State University of New York at Binghamton, where he studied with the novelist John Gardner.
He lives in southern New Jersey and teaches writing and literature at Brookdale Community College in Monmouth County. He has also taught at the summer Clarion Workshop for science fiction and fantasy writers in Michigan. He has contributed stories, essays and interviews to various magazines and e-magazines including MSS, Puerto Del Sol, Northwest Review, Hayden's Ferry Review, Argosy, Event Horizon, Infinity Plus, Black Gate and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.
He published his first story, "The Casket", in Gardner's literary magazine MSS in 1981 and his first full-length novel, Vanitas, in 1988.
He lives in southern New Jersey and teaches writing and literature at Brookdale Community College in Monmouth County. He has also taught at the summer Clarion Workshop for science fiction and fantasy writers in Michigan. He has contributed stories, essays and interviews to various magazines and e-magazines including MSS, Puerto Del Sol, Northwest Review, Hayden's Ferry Review, Argosy, Event Horizon, Infinity Plus, Black Gate and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.
He published his first story, "The Casket", in Gardner's literary magazine MSS in 1981 and his first full-length novel, Vanitas, in 1988.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 24, 2026
A kaleidoscopic collection of imaginative, thought-provoking fiction, Pandemonium Waltz includes a variety of different genres and mashups that intermittently resemble the writing of Ray Bradbury or Haruki Murakami.
Ford's references are edgy and current, his metaphors are powerful and his imagery is indelible. Stories range from philosophical examinations of religious ritual to straightforward creature features, old west showdowns to cozy fantasies worthy of Terry Pratchett's Discworld. Many of the stories deal with the relationship between an author and his work, and the question of whether he himself might be a character in some literary existence. All of them distinguished by Ford's signature sense of humor, pristine prose and mastery of historical detail. Readers that enjoyed A Natural History of Hell will be thrilled and satisfied in their return to this underworld of imagination.
When Jeffrey Ford asks if he can have this dance, there's only one answer.
Ford's references are edgy and current, his metaphors are powerful and his imagery is indelible. Stories range from philosophical examinations of religious ritual to straightforward creature features, old west showdowns to cozy fantasies worthy of Terry Pratchett's Discworld. Many of the stories deal with the relationship between an author and his work, and the question of whether he himself might be a character in some literary existence. All of them distinguished by Ford's signature sense of humor, pristine prose and mastery of historical detail. Readers that enjoyed A Natural History of Hell will be thrilled and satisfied in their return to this underworld of imagination.
When Jeffrey Ford asks if he can have this dance, there's only one answer.
March 8, 2026
As I said in my review of Ford's previous collection, 'Big Dark Hole', he writes weird fiction that he seems to make up on the fly. I know he probably doesn't, but it reads like 'holy cow, what now?'
I've said he can be classified as a horror author, and that's especially true in this collection. There's a whole lot of eating and rending humans, including by other humans. Icky, creepy. Repellant enough to me that I don't like this collection as much as his others.
He's an imaginative writer though. There are some truly strange creatures (including cryptids you've never heard of). If you can stand some pretty grim body horror, you might want to check it out.
I've said he can be classified as a horror author, and that's especially true in this collection. There's a whole lot of eating and rending humans, including by other humans. Icky, creepy. Repellant enough to me that I don't like this collection as much as his others.
He's an imaginative writer though. There are some truly strange creatures (including cryptids you've never heard of). If you can stand some pretty grim body horror, you might want to check it out.
April 18, 2026
Reading "Pandemonium Waltz" by Jeffrey Ford felt less like reading through a typical short story collection and more like wandering through a labyrinth of vivid, half-remembered dreams. The collection boasts a wildly eclectic mix of genres beautiful, unsettling, and occasionally disorienting, each story pulling me deeper into its unique atmosphere. Some didn't quite land, but that unpredictability kept me reading and wondering what kind of story would come next.
A few stories stand out. The title piece, “Pandemonium Waltz," delivered that mesmerising blend of fascination and unease while “In Bludd” offered a surreal journey with floating heads. Others felt more understated but still packed a punch emotionally, as Ford seamlessly shifts across genres from thrillers to horror to the downright bizarre.
Admittedly, I didn’t connect with every story. Some left me feeling slightly lost, as if I was missing something. However, rather than frustration, I found this uncertainty strangely inviting, a deliberate choice by Ford to encourage reflection.
In the end, I enjoyed this collection more with time, discovering its depth and mood-long after I finished reading. It’s not for everyone, especially those craving straightforward storytelling, but for me, "Pandemonium Waltz" was a rich, memorable journey, an experience that creates moods and images long after the last page.
A few stories stand out. The title piece, “Pandemonium Waltz," delivered that mesmerising blend of fascination and unease while “In Bludd” offered a surreal journey with floating heads. Others felt more understated but still packed a punch emotionally, as Ford seamlessly shifts across genres from thrillers to horror to the downright bizarre.
Admittedly, I didn’t connect with every story. Some left me feeling slightly lost, as if I was missing something. However, rather than frustration, I found this uncertainty strangely inviting, a deliberate choice by Ford to encourage reflection.
In the end, I enjoyed this collection more with time, discovering its depth and mood-long after I finished reading. It’s not for everyone, especially those craving straightforward storytelling, but for me, "Pandemonium Waltz" was a rich, memorable journey, an experience that creates moods and images long after the last page.
April 7, 2026
There were numerous stories I enjoyed in this collection, my favorites being Gate 9 (truly horrific) and A Hundred Nights of Nothing. There were also numerous stories I didn’t particularly enjoy, like Beautiful Dreamer which left me feeling like I’d just been swept through a really bad accident of a story.
Overall this is a good collection and I felt that it was sort of a humorous and modern take on Harlan Ellison.
Overall this is a good collection and I felt that it was sort of a humorous and modern take on Harlan Ellison.
May 9, 2026
Ordered from publisher.
Ford has developed this one particular aesthetic that I just love, which somehow reminds me of Charles Baxter writing weird fiction: alter-ego versions of the writer and his wife, narrated in this funny, offhand tone, encountering monsters and beasts in...let's call it semi-unflappable manner. We've got a story narrated by a neighbor about his sketchy cousin that features low-level criminals ripping off the wrong house and getting taken to the swamp, where generations of rubbed-out victims are sort of coming back in monster form (funny, gross, also funny); there's the king-of-the-squirrels one, which goes for one of those mad-animal grossout vibes a la James Herbert, except wryly (opening sentence: "I had a lot of questions and a few observations about the king of the squirrels"); there's a weird blond-haired monster running amok, a weird western, a really funny and disturbing dystopian take where everything and everyone is Temu; a hilarious writer's-anxiety dream where his characters languish in a shoddy, noirish town, waiting for years to be called into service; another of these involves a local Ohio cryptid, which follows his usual fantasy/horror/noir/tall tale blend--some of these remind me, of all people, of Ring Lardner. I loved a bunch of these, which are off-kilter imaginative and unexpected, human and slangy, fake autofiction with monsters and a wink.
I do have to say that, especially given the really vivid full-color endpapers with which this is packaged, it's a shame that the proofing is so shoddy and slapdash; REALLY basic grammatical errors. Someone out there should just contact me, and I'll do it for free books.
Ford has developed this one particular aesthetic that I just love, which somehow reminds me of Charles Baxter writing weird fiction: alter-ego versions of the writer and his wife, narrated in this funny, offhand tone, encountering monsters and beasts in...let's call it semi-unflappable manner. We've got a story narrated by a neighbor about his sketchy cousin that features low-level criminals ripping off the wrong house and getting taken to the swamp, where generations of rubbed-out victims are sort of coming back in monster form (funny, gross, also funny); there's the king-of-the-squirrels one, which goes for one of those mad-animal grossout vibes a la James Herbert, except wryly (opening sentence: "I had a lot of questions and a few observations about the king of the squirrels"); there's a weird blond-haired monster running amok, a weird western, a really funny and disturbing dystopian take where everything and everyone is Temu; a hilarious writer's-anxiety dream where his characters languish in a shoddy, noirish town, waiting for years to be called into service; another of these involves a local Ohio cryptid, which follows his usual fantasy/horror/noir/tall tale blend--some of these remind me, of all people, of Ring Lardner. I loved a bunch of these, which are off-kilter imaginative and unexpected, human and slangy, fake autofiction with monsters and a wink.
I do have to say that, especially given the really vivid full-color endpapers with which this is packaged, it's a shame that the proofing is so shoddy and slapdash; REALLY basic grammatical errors. Someone out there should just contact me, and I'll do it for free books.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews