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Painted Monsters & Other Strange Beasts
ORRIN GREY LOVES MONSTERS. That is abundantly clear in the stories he spins. No matter where he draws inspiration from, whether the weird tales of Lovecraft, Machen, and Poe or the films of Murnau, Corman, and Argento, the end result is inevitably fresh and new. And wonderfully monstrous.
If you love monsters—the macabre, the murderous, the misunderstood; the strange, the sinister, the sympathetic; the cinematic and the literary—you will find plenty to love in Orrin Grey’s Painted Monsters & Other Strange Beasts.
If you love monsters—the macabre, the murderous, the misunderstood; the strange, the sinister, the sympathetic; the cinematic and the literary—you will find plenty to love in Orrin Grey’s Painted Monsters & Other Strange Beasts.
218 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 31, 2015
11 people are currently reading
674 people want to read
About the author
Orrin Grey
104 books350 followersOrrin Grey is a skeleton who likes monsters. When asked, he claims to mostly write oubliettes.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
December 16, 2015
There's so much to love in Orrin Grey's second collection it's ridiculous. Especially if you're a horror movie lover. You don't need to be to read and appreciate the stories in this collection, but if you are, there are a bajillion nods and winks that will give you a rather heady sense of pride at being in on the joke.
But this is not a collection just for movie junkies. Painted Monsters is what horror in any medium should be: Human stories of the bad decisions people make (even after other people's bad decisions are thrust on them because no one is blameless in the end) and having to live with them. It's just that in this case the bad decisions tend to involve cool monsters, so that's a plus.
The truly marvelous thing about this book is Grey's ability to switch voice adroitly. Each story feels different from the others because the narrator has a distinct voice. This helps the stories pop and plant themselves in your imagination. In addition, Grey is extremely good with dream imagery. The more outlandish a story gets, the more it starts to feel real and the better you can see it.
If I had any complaints, it's one that is a matter of personal preference. In these stories, the characters tend to be non-entities. They're almost there simply for things to happen to them. That's not to say we don't find out anything about them, or that they're two dimensional. There's substance there, it's just that getting to it doesn't matter to the story, so it never happens. That said, the stories still function perfectly well without all the character stuff, I am just a big character person.
As is to be expected from an anthology with so much varied material, there are some you will fall madly in love with ("The Worm That Gnaws" "Remains" "Strange Beast"), and some that you will pass on (sorry "The Red Church"), but tried and true horror fans won't be sorry they picked this book up.
But this is not a collection just for movie junkies. Painted Monsters is what horror in any medium should be: Human stories of the bad decisions people make (even after other people's bad decisions are thrust on them because no one is blameless in the end) and having to live with them. It's just that in this case the bad decisions tend to involve cool monsters, so that's a plus.
The truly marvelous thing about this book is Grey's ability to switch voice adroitly. Each story feels different from the others because the narrator has a distinct voice. This helps the stories pop and plant themselves in your imagination. In addition, Grey is extremely good with dream imagery. The more outlandish a story gets, the more it starts to feel real and the better you can see it.
If I had any complaints, it's one that is a matter of personal preference. In these stories, the characters tend to be non-entities. They're almost there simply for things to happen to them. That's not to say we don't find out anything about them, or that they're two dimensional. There's substance there, it's just that getting to it doesn't matter to the story, so it never happens. That said, the stories still function perfectly well without all the character stuff, I am just a big character person.
As is to be expected from an anthology with so much varied material, there are some you will fall madly in love with ("The Worm That Gnaws" "Remains" "Strange Beast"), and some that you will pass on (sorry "The Red Church"), but tried and true horror fans won't be sorry they picked this book up.
January 17, 2016
A terrific collection of nightmarish creature-features in miniature. Perfect for a stormy night with some creepy music.
May 10, 2017
I will need to write a fuller review of this at some point, but for now, suffice it to say that I could not have loved this collection any more than I do.
March 18, 2016
It’s no secret that the shadow of cinema has loomed large over American horror fiction ever since the premiere of the country’s first devoutly supernatural chiller on Valentine’s Day, 1931. (That would be Tod Browning’s DRACULA for the philistines out there.) Since then novels and short stories alike have drawn inspiration from the silver screen and recycled its motifs—the reverse has held true less of the time—even, on some occasions, directly reacting to it and incorporating its characters and mythologies into its own form as well. This latter trend is, for the most part, a recent phenomenon, with genre luminaries such as Joe Lansdale, Norm Partridge, and David J. Schow being a handful of contemporary authors who proudly honor the celluloid gods and monsters of their youth by paying tribute to them in their stories. Orrin Grey may count himself a practitioner of this fine tradition.
While some writers choose to mask their influences in order to defer direct recognition, Grey is more than happy to call out his references by name. His characters react to situations as he conceivably might: by comparing them to a scenario from a movie and then judging what the next best course of action would be based on that knowledge. It creates a layering effect that becomes more complex and curious the more one thinks about it. Historical figures collide with beings from Grey’s imagination. Works of art that were never actually created or seen are treasured by aficionados in the stories. Characters talk of movies that exist in our reality while they themselves most definitely exist in a realm outside our own. Or do they? Painted Monsters becomes something akin to the climax of ENTER THE DRAGON, a kaleidoscope of images in a hall of mirrors that blur the lines of story and hi-story, revealing only further shards of homage and tribute upon any attempts to shatter them.
The first flicker of the camera comes with “The Worm That Gnaws,” a fun mood-setter in the spirit of the four-color bedtime gories of E. C. Comics and the intimate radio dramas of old. (The tale was originally written for Pseudopod, so its Cockney-accented resurrection man is a colorful narrator perfectly fit for the medium.) It makes a good bedfellow with “The Murders on Morgue Street,” which has less to do with Poe and everything to do with the rampant fantasies young, impressionable cinema fans concoct when the only access they have to a much-desired film is a set of evocative production stills. Grey constructs his very own macabre Monogram melodrama, replete with all the standard players (the determined detective, the beautiful damsel, the sinister and foreign doctor of strange arts, his trusty animalistic henchman) and plot mechanics along with a few anachronistic Rick Baker-esque transformations thrown in for good measure to create a thunderingly enjoyable piece that seems to crackle and pop with all the authenticity of a bad public domain print. The relative lightness of these two tales are indicative of Grey’s artistic goal of achieving a Jamesian sense of “pleasing terror” in his stories, a charmingly morbid atmosphere that is at odds with the heart-rending horrors of some of his contemporaries.
But Grey proceeds to demonstrate that he is more than capable at conjuring moods of oppression and sadness with his two riffs on the vampire myth. “The White Prince” might appear slight at first glance, adhering as it does to the classical style of the Gothics in its depiction of the hunt for a monster preying on the blood of a virtuous virgin, but Grey manages to fit in a jarring sequence where one of our “heroes” sees the beautiful core of the vampire underneath its hideous shell. Surely it is just a supernatural trick of the Beast, right? Perhaps, but there’s a bitterness to the crusaders’ victory that seems to say otherwise.
Just as this question plagues our mind well after reading, so does the beautifully depressing gloom of “Night’s Foul Bird.” The young girl at its center—an avid attendant of the movie-house who prefers her dreams in two dimensions—is not unlike a heroine straight out a del Toro film, or in this case the Frankenstein-haunted protagonist from THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE. Grey’s character is the recipient of an enviable treat: she gets to see a screening of the lost-to-the-ages Lon Chaney vehicle LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT. The curious stranger rooming in the girl’s boarding house proceeds to feed on the last remaining drops of vitality left in the aimless lives of his neighbors before his reign settles over the ensemble like the wing of a fallen angel. In a word depopulated of hope, it’s easy for a vampire to assume the appearance of just one more hardship to endure, as inevitable as poverty and winter. The tale is a masterstroke of sustained dread.
Grey channels direct authorial homages with “The Labyrinth of Sleep” and “Walpurgisnacht.” The former trawls the seas of Lovecraft’s Dream Cycle and blockbuster action cinema to produce an interesting hybrid. There’s a wandering quality to the protagonist’s explorations of the ever-changing maze that complement the punchier secret agent search-and-rescue scenes nicely. The latter story occupies the mythical world of weird fiction maestro Laird Barron, and it’s one of the rare stories in which one can clearly see the strains of influence running through it while it stands as its own accomplished story. “Walpurgisnacht” is delightfully and unabashedly baroque, marrying Barron’s cosmic concerns with a wildly decadent vision of a Bald Mountain hotel swarming with witches and demons on the unholiest night of the year. If “The Murders in Morgue Street” is the Poverty Row chiller that was never filmed, “Walpurgisnacht” is the Italian Gothic starring Barbara Steele on the other end of that drive-in double bill.
Italian films are the inspiration behind “The Red Church,” or at least their robust images, and Grey manages to produce his own gruesome tableaux here. Utilizing one of the author’s pet themes—the mad artist privy to unseen vistas of insanity—the story doesn’t work as seamlessly as it should, but those familiar with the disjointed narratives of Argento and Fulci will find a like companion here. If the ultimate success of the giallo films rests on the power of their visual compositions, then Grey may be assured that his handling of them are in the true spirit of the form.
The gentleman from Providence is in evidence again for the eponymous “Lovecrafting.” It’s a Russian doll of modes and format, with a quote from H. P.’s essay “Supernatural Horror in Literature” serving as the groundwork upon which the film treatment-styled main narrative is built upon, while also hosting excerpts taken from imaginary works of weird fiction as well. Self-confessed as “the weirdest story” Grey has written yet, “Lovecrafting” is a double-edged sword of wry parody and sinister implication bolstered by strong characterizations and an old-fashioned ending that mounts in tension before snuffing the lights out, its central horror kept to the darkness of our minds.
“Persistence of Vision” is another of the collection’s gems, one that only gets better on subsequent readings. Our narrator remains elusive even as he explains the spectral pandemic that has swept the globe, at turns lightly sarcastic, jaundiced, and melancholic in his assessment of the situation. He is another of Grey’s movie-savvy protagonists, but here the character’s knowledge and comparisons have a more direct and active role in the story, his mentions of KAIRO and PULSE serving to say “What’s going on here is even worse than that. We had no way of knowing. And there’s nothing we can do about any of it.” It combines the author’s talent for stark visuals (the red rooms, the medium’s cadaver in the summoning machine) with a tone of hopelessness unlike anything else in the book.
Ghosts appear to be a major preoccupation with Grey, as three other stories in the book deal with spirits of things left behind. It’s here that the author shows the influence of idol Mike Mignola in his yearning to conjure bizarre variations on classic tropes, as the shades that haunt the pages of “Ripperology,” “Remains,” and “Strange Beast” are all spiritual manifestations of a decidedly unique kind. “Ripperology” explores the legacy of fascination left in the wake of the Whitechapel murders, affecting in its glimpses into the lives of the lonely men who trace the evidences of true crimes to fill the void of their own existence. The form that the Ripper’s soul takes is actually a classic one, harkening back to stories like Renard’s The Hands of Orlac and Harvey’s “The Beast with Five Fingers,” but the effect that the story imparts is one of chilly minimalism.
“Remains” is also captivated with the long, deep scars left behind by murderers, but here the wounds are fresher as two friends attempt to exorcise the house of a noted child killer. The fact that Grey can grapple with the comic book action of one character’s battle with an amorphous monster-fog with expertly-handled emotional scenes of the friends trying to put their feelings into words is an impressive aspect of his craft. “Strange Beast” pushes the bizarro factor up a few notches by adopting the feel of a found-footage flick to unravel what happened to a documentary crew who attempted to settle the spirit of violence left by the disastrous filming of a giant Japanese monster movie on a deserted island. Under all the concerns with the mystery surrounding the eponymous forbidden film, the story acts a smart meditation on the process of making movies (and stories), namely how it is sometimes impossible to separate ourselves from our art and determine where “we” end and “the work” begins. For a collection obsessed with alternate worlds and the ouroboros of artistic influence, “Strange Beast” makes for an ideal ending.
But far be it for someone of Grey’s creature feature-mindset to let things go off without a bang. The opening quote from Bobby “Boris” Pickett’s novelty smash hit lets us know early on that “Painted Monsters” will indeed be a literal monster mash. It’s both a post-modern trip down the hallowed halls of horror cinema history and a pleasantly indulgent showcase of all the creepy, creaking, marvelously spooky atmospherics that make the classics of the genre so fun and accessible to audiences. Reading Grey’s concluding novella is like poring over a huge Valentine’s dedicated to the horror-shows from Universal, Paramount, MGM and all the independents in between of the 30s and 40s. For those whose cockles are toasted by the mention of wax museums, revolving bookcases, special makeup effects, shifty-eyed portraits, and rugose monsters coming to worship at the altar of their skull-faced master, then this one is for you. Read it close by the fire on a cold November night, bundling up against the scratch of bare branches upon the window. Painted Monsters is an invitation to a macabre masquerade, and one that we urge you to accept at the first notice. Orlok will be there to greet you upon your arrival.
When you get to his door, tell him Orrin sent you.
While some writers choose to mask their influences in order to defer direct recognition, Grey is more than happy to call out his references by name. His characters react to situations as he conceivably might: by comparing them to a scenario from a movie and then judging what the next best course of action would be based on that knowledge. It creates a layering effect that becomes more complex and curious the more one thinks about it. Historical figures collide with beings from Grey’s imagination. Works of art that were never actually created or seen are treasured by aficionados in the stories. Characters talk of movies that exist in our reality while they themselves most definitely exist in a realm outside our own. Or do they? Painted Monsters becomes something akin to the climax of ENTER THE DRAGON, a kaleidoscope of images in a hall of mirrors that blur the lines of story and hi-story, revealing only further shards of homage and tribute upon any attempts to shatter them.
The first flicker of the camera comes with “The Worm That Gnaws,” a fun mood-setter in the spirit of the four-color bedtime gories of E. C. Comics and the intimate radio dramas of old. (The tale was originally written for Pseudopod, so its Cockney-accented resurrection man is a colorful narrator perfectly fit for the medium.) It makes a good bedfellow with “The Murders on Morgue Street,” which has less to do with Poe and everything to do with the rampant fantasies young, impressionable cinema fans concoct when the only access they have to a much-desired film is a set of evocative production stills. Grey constructs his very own macabre Monogram melodrama, replete with all the standard players (the determined detective, the beautiful damsel, the sinister and foreign doctor of strange arts, his trusty animalistic henchman) and plot mechanics along with a few anachronistic Rick Baker-esque transformations thrown in for good measure to create a thunderingly enjoyable piece that seems to crackle and pop with all the authenticity of a bad public domain print. The relative lightness of these two tales are indicative of Grey’s artistic goal of achieving a Jamesian sense of “pleasing terror” in his stories, a charmingly morbid atmosphere that is at odds with the heart-rending horrors of some of his contemporaries.
But Grey proceeds to demonstrate that he is more than capable at conjuring moods of oppression and sadness with his two riffs on the vampire myth. “The White Prince” might appear slight at first glance, adhering as it does to the classical style of the Gothics in its depiction of the hunt for a monster preying on the blood of a virtuous virgin, but Grey manages to fit in a jarring sequence where one of our “heroes” sees the beautiful core of the vampire underneath its hideous shell. Surely it is just a supernatural trick of the Beast, right? Perhaps, but there’s a bitterness to the crusaders’ victory that seems to say otherwise.
Just as this question plagues our mind well after reading, so does the beautifully depressing gloom of “Night’s Foul Bird.” The young girl at its center—an avid attendant of the movie-house who prefers her dreams in two dimensions—is not unlike a heroine straight out a del Toro film, or in this case the Frankenstein-haunted protagonist from THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE. Grey’s character is the recipient of an enviable treat: she gets to see a screening of the lost-to-the-ages Lon Chaney vehicle LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT. The curious stranger rooming in the girl’s boarding house proceeds to feed on the last remaining drops of vitality left in the aimless lives of his neighbors before his reign settles over the ensemble like the wing of a fallen angel. In a word depopulated of hope, it’s easy for a vampire to assume the appearance of just one more hardship to endure, as inevitable as poverty and winter. The tale is a masterstroke of sustained dread.
Grey channels direct authorial homages with “The Labyrinth of Sleep” and “Walpurgisnacht.” The former trawls the seas of Lovecraft’s Dream Cycle and blockbuster action cinema to produce an interesting hybrid. There’s a wandering quality to the protagonist’s explorations of the ever-changing maze that complement the punchier secret agent search-and-rescue scenes nicely. The latter story occupies the mythical world of weird fiction maestro Laird Barron, and it’s one of the rare stories in which one can clearly see the strains of influence running through it while it stands as its own accomplished story. “Walpurgisnacht” is delightfully and unabashedly baroque, marrying Barron’s cosmic concerns with a wildly decadent vision of a Bald Mountain hotel swarming with witches and demons on the unholiest night of the year. If “The Murders in Morgue Street” is the Poverty Row chiller that was never filmed, “Walpurgisnacht” is the Italian Gothic starring Barbara Steele on the other end of that drive-in double bill.
Italian films are the inspiration behind “The Red Church,” or at least their robust images, and Grey manages to produce his own gruesome tableaux here. Utilizing one of the author’s pet themes—the mad artist privy to unseen vistas of insanity—the story doesn’t work as seamlessly as it should, but those familiar with the disjointed narratives of Argento and Fulci will find a like companion here. If the ultimate success of the giallo films rests on the power of their visual compositions, then Grey may be assured that his handling of them are in the true spirit of the form.
The gentleman from Providence is in evidence again for the eponymous “Lovecrafting.” It’s a Russian doll of modes and format, with a quote from H. P.’s essay “Supernatural Horror in Literature” serving as the groundwork upon which the film treatment-styled main narrative is built upon, while also hosting excerpts taken from imaginary works of weird fiction as well. Self-confessed as “the weirdest story” Grey has written yet, “Lovecrafting” is a double-edged sword of wry parody and sinister implication bolstered by strong characterizations and an old-fashioned ending that mounts in tension before snuffing the lights out, its central horror kept to the darkness of our minds.
“Persistence of Vision” is another of the collection’s gems, one that only gets better on subsequent readings. Our narrator remains elusive even as he explains the spectral pandemic that has swept the globe, at turns lightly sarcastic, jaundiced, and melancholic in his assessment of the situation. He is another of Grey’s movie-savvy protagonists, but here the character’s knowledge and comparisons have a more direct and active role in the story, his mentions of KAIRO and PULSE serving to say “What’s going on here is even worse than that. We had no way of knowing. And there’s nothing we can do about any of it.” It combines the author’s talent for stark visuals (the red rooms, the medium’s cadaver in the summoning machine) with a tone of hopelessness unlike anything else in the book.
Ghosts appear to be a major preoccupation with Grey, as three other stories in the book deal with spirits of things left behind. It’s here that the author shows the influence of idol Mike Mignola in his yearning to conjure bizarre variations on classic tropes, as the shades that haunt the pages of “Ripperology,” “Remains,” and “Strange Beast” are all spiritual manifestations of a decidedly unique kind. “Ripperology” explores the legacy of fascination left in the wake of the Whitechapel murders, affecting in its glimpses into the lives of the lonely men who trace the evidences of true crimes to fill the void of their own existence. The form that the Ripper’s soul takes is actually a classic one, harkening back to stories like Renard’s The Hands of Orlac and Harvey’s “The Beast with Five Fingers,” but the effect that the story imparts is one of chilly minimalism.
“Remains” is also captivated with the long, deep scars left behind by murderers, but here the wounds are fresher as two friends attempt to exorcise the house of a noted child killer. The fact that Grey can grapple with the comic book action of one character’s battle with an amorphous monster-fog with expertly-handled emotional scenes of the friends trying to put their feelings into words is an impressive aspect of his craft. “Strange Beast” pushes the bizarro factor up a few notches by adopting the feel of a found-footage flick to unravel what happened to a documentary crew who attempted to settle the spirit of violence left by the disastrous filming of a giant Japanese monster movie on a deserted island. Under all the concerns with the mystery surrounding the eponymous forbidden film, the story acts a smart meditation on the process of making movies (and stories), namely how it is sometimes impossible to separate ourselves from our art and determine where “we” end and “the work” begins. For a collection obsessed with alternate worlds and the ouroboros of artistic influence, “Strange Beast” makes for an ideal ending.
But far be it for someone of Grey’s creature feature-mindset to let things go off without a bang. The opening quote from Bobby “Boris” Pickett’s novelty smash hit lets us know early on that “Painted Monsters” will indeed be a literal monster mash. It’s both a post-modern trip down the hallowed halls of horror cinema history and a pleasantly indulgent showcase of all the creepy, creaking, marvelously spooky atmospherics that make the classics of the genre so fun and accessible to audiences. Reading Grey’s concluding novella is like poring over a huge Valentine’s dedicated to the horror-shows from Universal, Paramount, MGM and all the independents in between of the 30s and 40s. For those whose cockles are toasted by the mention of wax museums, revolving bookcases, special makeup effects, shifty-eyed portraits, and rugose monsters coming to worship at the altar of their skull-faced master, then this one is for you. Read it close by the fire on a cold November night, bundling up against the scratch of bare branches upon the window. Painted Monsters is an invitation to a macabre masquerade, and one that we urge you to accept at the first notice. Orlok will be there to greet you upon your arrival.
When you get to his door, tell him Orrin sent you.
July 22, 2018
I thoroughly enjoy the work of Orrin Grey, and his love for vintage horror films and comic books oozes between the cracks of every line. “Night's Foul Bird” This story really evoked the mood of the silent classic Nosferatu for me. So much great use of creeping dread and shadows. And it’s available for a listen over at PseudoPod: http://pseudopod.org/2014/12/05/pseud...
One of my perennial favorites is “The Worm That Gnaws and its luckless resurrection men. The unsettling imagery and inexorable pursuit is delivered through a perfect narrative voice. And the reading by Ian Stuart on PseudoPod is not to be missed – it elevates an already exceptional story. http://pseudopod.org/2009/08/14/pseud...
One of the main goals of this collection was to consist almost entirely of stories that dealt with cinema, either head-on or obliquely, and the evolution of horror cinema throughout the middle of the 20th century. “Strange Beast” wanders through that delightful territory of a buried cult film being revealed while “Persistence of Vision” uses the shorthand language of that medium to crank the tension. “Painted Monsters” explores the edges of a lost cult film and why all the copies were burned. This longer piece was excellently paced and jam-packed with atmosphere and monsters.
Orrin is The Monster Guy for good reason, and so many of these stories deliver good monsters. “Remains” is both an excellent haunted house and a monster story. So many of these show a thorough awareness of what has come before, and then methodically breaks every expectation and reconstructs those narratives. “The White Prince” could have just been a traditional vampire story, but the batrachian visage evokes so much more. I find “The Murders on Morgue Street” a much more effective riff on Poe than Clive Barker’s take. “Walpurgisnacht” is everything I could possibly want from an Orrin Grey take on Laird Barron’s work, particularly the haunting “Strappado.”
One of my perennial favorites is “The Worm That Gnaws and its luckless resurrection men. The unsettling imagery and inexorable pursuit is delivered through a perfect narrative voice. And the reading by Ian Stuart on PseudoPod is not to be missed – it elevates an already exceptional story. http://pseudopod.org/2009/08/14/pseud...
One of the main goals of this collection was to consist almost entirely of stories that dealt with cinema, either head-on or obliquely, and the evolution of horror cinema throughout the middle of the 20th century. “Strange Beast” wanders through that delightful territory of a buried cult film being revealed while “Persistence of Vision” uses the shorthand language of that medium to crank the tension. “Painted Monsters” explores the edges of a lost cult film and why all the copies were burned. This longer piece was excellently paced and jam-packed with atmosphere and monsters.
Orrin is The Monster Guy for good reason, and so many of these stories deliver good monsters. “Remains” is both an excellent haunted house and a monster story. So many of these show a thorough awareness of what has come before, and then methodically breaks every expectation and reconstructs those narratives. “The White Prince” could have just been a traditional vampire story, but the batrachian visage evokes so much more. I find “The Murders on Morgue Street” a much more effective riff on Poe than Clive Barker’s take. “Walpurgisnacht” is everything I could possibly want from an Orrin Grey take on Laird Barron’s work, particularly the haunting “Strappado.”
December 28, 2015
"Nobody in the lab had any idea what it was then, of course, but the first one who touched it died instantly. His hair turned white, he fell to the floor choking and slapping at his chest. By the time anyone else got to him, he'd ossified, and there were hundreds of spiders crawling out of his mouth and nose."
FUCKING SIGN ME UP! Honestly I bought this book because everyone kept posting pictures of themselves with it, and the cover was so great. Contrary to what a lot of people think, you don't need to know a lot about horror movies through the ages to enjoy this, you just need to like horror in general and monsters in particular. These stories are generally pretty short and wrap up quickly, and they are all really unique, no two alike, except for the fact they often riff on a pre-established horror motif, vampires, Jack the Ripper, kaiju, found footage, etc., and two stories have the classic 2-guys-digging-up-a-corpse-in-the-graveyard thing.
If the current trend of this megamegamega dark, introspective, existential horror writers (I'll call them Ligotti's Babies) is driving you away from the bookstore and back to your old Tales From the Crypt/ Vault of Horror comic books, take heart and heed -- this book is a badass SOB.
FUCKING SIGN ME UP! Honestly I bought this book because everyone kept posting pictures of themselves with it, and the cover was so great. Contrary to what a lot of people think, you don't need to know a lot about horror movies through the ages to enjoy this, you just need to like horror in general and monsters in particular. These stories are generally pretty short and wrap up quickly, and they are all really unique, no two alike, except for the fact they often riff on a pre-established horror motif, vampires, Jack the Ripper, kaiju, found footage, etc., and two stories have the classic 2-guys-digging-up-a-corpse-in-the-graveyard thing.
If the current trend of this megamegamega dark, introspective, existential horror writers (I'll call them Ligotti's Babies) is driving you away from the bookstore and back to your old Tales From the Crypt/ Vault of Horror comic books, take heart and heed -- this book is a badass SOB.
October 21, 2018
Grey's second collection, Painted Monsters and Other Strange Beasts gives and combines the fear of a great horror film and the endless, utter dread of the unknown found in many weird fiction stories.
Favorite stories: Walpurgisnacht, The Red Church, The Labyrinth of Sleep, Lovecrafting, Painted Monsters.
Favorite stories: Walpurgisnacht, The Red Church, The Labyrinth of Sleep, Lovecrafting, Painted Monsters.
February 9, 2019
FULL DISCLOSURE: I am an associate of Orrin Grey's and have published many of his stories in audio form, including some from this collection, on PSEUDOPOD.ORG.
FIRST TIER: a collection of modern horror short fiction from a solid writer with an assured style. Definitely worth your time, especially if you tire of bizarro excesses, half-baked violence or exhausting cosmic nihilism.
SECOND TIER: Grey has collected here a nice sampling of his short fiction that stands as both a good example of his style, while giving some idea of his range. Neither overblown, nor long-winded examples of "quiet horror," Grey generally crafts pleasing miniatures that say just enough, while generally not falling into the trap of "get in, get out" flash fiction - these are stories written by a writer, not just excuses for delivery of a single image or idea. He likes monsters and old movies and this informs his stories as well. One of the more interesting voices currently working in the field.
THIRD TIER: This collection of Grey's short fiction is, as I've said above, a nice introduction to one of the more interesting voices working in modern horror short fiction. I add this caveat - "as far as I know" - because outside of reading many dozens (if not hundred) of submissions to Pseudopod every year, I don't pursue/read much modern horror fiction - certainly not at novel-length and only somewhat at short length. I leave the submissions, and the "Year's Best" comps to do the job for me, as I concentrate on older material. If I had more time, sure...
Anyway, one thing I really like about Orrin Grey's work is that he takes the stories seriously as "stories" (within the parameters of his chosen approaches, more on that in a second). What I mean is that a lot of the modern horror fiction I see tends to focus on one aspect of the endeavor while letting others languish - long, meandering character pieces without shape, or breathless rushes to get to the "new idea" or "great scene" with little thought given to delivery vehicle. And while Orrin has plenty of "new ideas" and "great scenes" to convey, he's usually careful to make sure that the scaffolding of an actual story exists around them. And having suffered through a lot of dross, I really appreciate that. The best of his work also has a concision and focus that is to be lauded in the field of horror fiction where authors tend to like to hear themselves muse on the page, or where elements like plot and pacing have been sacrificed to the altar of brevity.
Some of the strongest pieces here play like small fiction movies. "Night's Foul Bird" (which we produced a free reading of for Pseudopod, available here) has a young girl in a depression era boarding house who, fueled by silent films, suspects that her mother's new boarder is dangerous and more than human. This is a good example of Grey's concision, stretching out a believable setting and characters through dialogue and description. I also like the atypical time-period for the setting. "Walpurgisnacht," meanwhile, is about young modern Decadents attending a debauched revel at Brocken, the (ill-)famed site for the Witch's annual Sabbath. But their equally infamous host claims it will be his last such party, as the evening ends in disaster. I appreciated the characters of the wealthy young decadents (although I also felt that we needed at least some example of this "extreme" notorious behavior actually happening - we're just informed of previous excesses) but the ending is both familiar and well-handled. I haven't read enough Laird Barron to pick up the suppose resonances with his stuff. "Strange Beast" plays out like a textual "found footage" movie as a researcher looks at the only footage left from a documentary crew (who had returned to the site of a bizarre kidnapping and forced-monster movie creation from decades before that had ended in murder) and finds that the rubber-suited "prehistoric monster" still lurks in the caves and jungles. Again, the only flaw is that it could have benefited from being a bit longer, which would allow the concept to breathe. "Painted Monsters" is a longer work in which the grandson of a famous Hollywood makeup man is invited to Mexico for a will reading of a famous monster film director, where he finds himself caught up in an old dark house scenario involving real monsters and a strange cult. A lot of fun, like a modern Weird pulp story.
The strongest piece here, "The Worm That Gnaws," was purchased by me, ran on Pseudopod and can be heard for free here. It involves a grave-robber and his partner accidentally unearthing an ongoing horror during their illegal excavations. It has a great voice, solid plot and an authentic feeling setting.
If Grey has a weakness, the problem may be a narrative "thinness" that makes the pared down language and concision feel as if they end up in service of the effect or intent, rather than arising naturally from the story and its rhythm. This doesn't make them bad, just a bit weaker than his strongest offerings. Similarly, while I like that Grey's stories take place in a world in which people watch horror films, and this informs the narratives, he may hang a lantern on this a little too often (although his afterword implies that this may just be an effect caused by grouping these stories together in this collection). In "The White Prince" a group of stalwarts seek to repel and kill the inhuman creature plaguing a fair maiden, though she seems desirous of its company. A bit too brief, this relies on the reader's pop culture knowledge to set its familiar conflict and fill in its blank spots so that it can present us with a slightly different variation of a known quantity. "The Murders On Morgue Street" is a conflation of THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI (1920) and THE MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE (1932) as stage mesmerist Dr. Mirakle practices his weird arts on some city dwellers, eventually running afoul of the law. This is another story that I felt could have benefited from being less terse (perhaps a secondary conflict added in?) and tightening down the time period setting while ratcheting up the noir frame. A Kansas City reporter tries to follow up on a notorious artist of outrage, and finds herself inexplicably drawn to his horrifying new sculptures in "The Red Church." This piece, while coming from a giallo-themed anthology, felt to me like it also had some small resonances with the work of Thomas Ligotti (the art focus, the detailed architecture and environs of the artists' studio). It does a good job being unnerving, but I found the ending a little underwhelming. "Remains" is a pithy little monster tale in which an ex-exorcist and a grieving mother team up to investigate the home of a (now dead) child killer in order to find out why children are still disappearing. In "The Labyrinth of Sleep" an expert dream-traveler journeys into the Dreamlands (from The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath) to find a fellow traveler who seems to have retired there. This is a good story (resembling INCEPTION) with a somewhat weak ending, the climactic reveal falling a little flat. Finally, in "Lovecrafting" two friends exhume the grave of a third who wrote horror fiction for a living and believed that something manifested into the world through the bodies of famous authors in that same genre. An interesting story that dares to have an inconclusive ending and the form is a strange mash-up of script and fiction excerpts.
Of the 13 pieces here, there was only one I didn't like and one which I felt was weak. "Ripperology," in which a true crime fan has a momentary revelation about the mysterious death of a compatriot, felt a bit too thin for me (although I did like the envisioning of a single, blood-stained white glove crawling like a spider-thing). "Persistence Of Vision" (which, in converse to my criticism, was placed in Ellen Datlow's The Best Horror of the Year Volume Seven, so take that for what it's worth) is a brief outlining of how "the ghost apocalypse" lays the world low, but I was not a fan. There's some great imagery here but I found the main conceit - a quippy, Millenial pop-culture referencing "meta" voice that deploys the "story" - to be too distancing of a stylistic conceit, undermining any suspense and excusing a lack of story.
You really should sample the work of Orrin Grey if you have an interest in modern horror short fiction, but find a lot of what's currently available unsatisfying. He may be right up your alley!
FIRST TIER: a collection of modern horror short fiction from a solid writer with an assured style. Definitely worth your time, especially if you tire of bizarro excesses, half-baked violence or exhausting cosmic nihilism.
SECOND TIER: Grey has collected here a nice sampling of his short fiction that stands as both a good example of his style, while giving some idea of his range. Neither overblown, nor long-winded examples of "quiet horror," Grey generally crafts pleasing miniatures that say just enough, while generally not falling into the trap of "get in, get out" flash fiction - these are stories written by a writer, not just excuses for delivery of a single image or idea. He likes monsters and old movies and this informs his stories as well. One of the more interesting voices currently working in the field.
THIRD TIER: This collection of Grey's short fiction is, as I've said above, a nice introduction to one of the more interesting voices working in modern horror short fiction. I add this caveat - "as far as I know" - because outside of reading many dozens (if not hundred) of submissions to Pseudopod every year, I don't pursue/read much modern horror fiction - certainly not at novel-length and only somewhat at short length. I leave the submissions, and the "Year's Best" comps to do the job for me, as I concentrate on older material. If I had more time, sure...
Anyway, one thing I really like about Orrin Grey's work is that he takes the stories seriously as "stories" (within the parameters of his chosen approaches, more on that in a second). What I mean is that a lot of the modern horror fiction I see tends to focus on one aspect of the endeavor while letting others languish - long, meandering character pieces without shape, or breathless rushes to get to the "new idea" or "great scene" with little thought given to delivery vehicle. And while Orrin has plenty of "new ideas" and "great scenes" to convey, he's usually careful to make sure that the scaffolding of an actual story exists around them. And having suffered through a lot of dross, I really appreciate that. The best of his work also has a concision and focus that is to be lauded in the field of horror fiction where authors tend to like to hear themselves muse on the page, or where elements like plot and pacing have been sacrificed to the altar of brevity.
Some of the strongest pieces here play like small fiction movies. "Night's Foul Bird" (which we produced a free reading of for Pseudopod, available here) has a young girl in a depression era boarding house who, fueled by silent films, suspects that her mother's new boarder is dangerous and more than human. This is a good example of Grey's concision, stretching out a believable setting and characters through dialogue and description. I also like the atypical time-period for the setting. "Walpurgisnacht," meanwhile, is about young modern Decadents attending a debauched revel at Brocken, the (ill-)famed site for the Witch's annual Sabbath. But their equally infamous host claims it will be his last such party, as the evening ends in disaster. I appreciated the characters of the wealthy young decadents (although I also felt that we needed at least some example of this "extreme" notorious behavior actually happening - we're just informed of previous excesses) but the ending is both familiar and well-handled. I haven't read enough Laird Barron to pick up the suppose resonances with his stuff. "Strange Beast" plays out like a textual "found footage" movie as a researcher looks at the only footage left from a documentary crew (who had returned to the site of a bizarre kidnapping and forced-monster movie creation from decades before that had ended in murder) and finds that the rubber-suited "prehistoric monster" still lurks in the caves and jungles. Again, the only flaw is that it could have benefited from being a bit longer, which would allow the concept to breathe. "Painted Monsters" is a longer work in which the grandson of a famous Hollywood makeup man is invited to Mexico for a will reading of a famous monster film director, where he finds himself caught up in an old dark house scenario involving real monsters and a strange cult. A lot of fun, like a modern Weird pulp story.
The strongest piece here, "The Worm That Gnaws," was purchased by me, ran on Pseudopod and can be heard for free here. It involves a grave-robber and his partner accidentally unearthing an ongoing horror during their illegal excavations. It has a great voice, solid plot and an authentic feeling setting.
If Grey has a weakness, the problem may be a narrative "thinness" that makes the pared down language and concision feel as if they end up in service of the effect or intent, rather than arising naturally from the story and its rhythm. This doesn't make them bad, just a bit weaker than his strongest offerings. Similarly, while I like that Grey's stories take place in a world in which people watch horror films, and this informs the narratives, he may hang a lantern on this a little too often (although his afterword implies that this may just be an effect caused by grouping these stories together in this collection). In "The White Prince" a group of stalwarts seek to repel and kill the inhuman creature plaguing a fair maiden, though she seems desirous of its company. A bit too brief, this relies on the reader's pop culture knowledge to set its familiar conflict and fill in its blank spots so that it can present us with a slightly different variation of a known quantity. "The Murders On Morgue Street" is a conflation of THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI (1920) and THE MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE (1932) as stage mesmerist Dr. Mirakle practices his weird arts on some city dwellers, eventually running afoul of the law. This is another story that I felt could have benefited from being less terse (perhaps a secondary conflict added in?) and tightening down the time period setting while ratcheting up the noir frame. A Kansas City reporter tries to follow up on a notorious artist of outrage, and finds herself inexplicably drawn to his horrifying new sculptures in "The Red Church." This piece, while coming from a giallo-themed anthology, felt to me like it also had some small resonances with the work of Thomas Ligotti (the art focus, the detailed architecture and environs of the artists' studio). It does a good job being unnerving, but I found the ending a little underwhelming. "Remains" is a pithy little monster tale in which an ex-exorcist and a grieving mother team up to investigate the home of a (now dead) child killer in order to find out why children are still disappearing. In "The Labyrinth of Sleep" an expert dream-traveler journeys into the Dreamlands (from The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath) to find a fellow traveler who seems to have retired there. This is a good story (resembling INCEPTION) with a somewhat weak ending, the climactic reveal falling a little flat. Finally, in "Lovecrafting" two friends exhume the grave of a third who wrote horror fiction for a living and believed that something manifested into the world through the bodies of famous authors in that same genre. An interesting story that dares to have an inconclusive ending and the form is a strange mash-up of script and fiction excerpts.
Of the 13 pieces here, there was only one I didn't like and one which I felt was weak. "Ripperology," in which a true crime fan has a momentary revelation about the mysterious death of a compatriot, felt a bit too thin for me (although I did like the envisioning of a single, blood-stained white glove crawling like a spider-thing). "Persistence Of Vision" (which, in converse to my criticism, was placed in Ellen Datlow's The Best Horror of the Year Volume Seven, so take that for what it's worth) is a brief outlining of how "the ghost apocalypse" lays the world low, but I was not a fan. There's some great imagery here but I found the main conceit - a quippy, Millenial pop-culture referencing "meta" voice that deploys the "story" - to be too distancing of a stylistic conceit, undermining any suspense and excusing a lack of story.
You really should sample the work of Orrin Grey if you have an interest in modern horror short fiction, but find a lot of what's currently available unsatisfying. He may be right up your alley!
June 19, 2016
Maybe I'm being a bit hard on this book. It has blurbs in it by the likes of Laird Barron, Gemma Files and Daniel Mills -- and an introduction by John Langan. I mean, Wow. And don't get me wrong, there's some very good stories here, but compared to a lot of weird fiction collections I've been reading this one has to be lower on the list.
Don't get me wrong, almost every story here was FUN, but there's not many I'd consider worth a re-read, not many that stuck with me afterward. Maybe they're just not my thing.
The Worm That Gnaws - Good, old-fashioned grave robbing horror. It has a feel like a Tales From the Crypt comic book story with the subject matter and the feverish way it's told. A grave robbing duo hit a stumbling block when their favorite graveyard is overrun with worms.
The White Prince - Very effective for a mere 1,000~ words, nice atmosphere and innovative ideas at the end about the traditional vampire legend. A group tries to save a girl from a hideous vampire creature she has fallen in love with.
Night’s Foul Bird - One of the better stories, this time referencing several of my favorite silent horror films. It becomes more creepy as it goes along, especially at the snowbound ending. A girl finds that a new tenant in her apartment reminds her of monsters from German Expressionist films.
The Murders on Morgue Street - A story with a sort of pulpy feel with fast-paced "rescue the girl(!)" action, but with more original concepts than the early pulp stories had. Still, not among my favorites. A detective tries to discover how a mesmerizer is tied to the discovery of an empty human skin.
Ripperology - A brief story, eerie, the end came too fast and felt bit undeveloped for me. A writer befriends a fellow writer obsessed with serial killers and collecting their memorabilia.
Walpurgisnacht - One of the better stories here, used in the Laird Barron tribute anthology "The Children of Old Leech." Laird's work came to mind while reading this one, but I'm not sure I'd say the connection was overly strong. Still a great story in it's own right. A group of decadent aesthetes gather at the behest of a mysterious artist who wishes to show a series of early occult films.
The Red Church - This is one of the better stories here, a serial killer story with a gritty urban Ligotti/Campbell-esque feel and plenty of surreal sections. A journalist is tasked with interviewing an obscure, blasphemous sculptor whose pieces give her nightmares.
Remains - Another good one, short and economical. I thought this was quite creepy and original in concept. Two people investigate the abandoned house of a dead child murderer after more children go missing.
The Labyrinth of Sleep - I liked this one, it's a fairly original take on the idea of dream-lands. The best thing was probably the dream-like way it's told. After exploring the labyrinth of dreams has turned into a big industry, a man enters it to try and retrieve his lost friend.
Lovecrafting - I like this one, another fun story, told in non-conventional fashion, but probably not overly memorable long-term. I did like how it mysteriously cut off at the end. Two friends enter a graveyard to discover if a very strange theory of their author friend is correct.
Persistence of Vision - Another good, but not great story. But it does have plenty of creepy touches spread throughout. A man describes his attempt to survive a supernatural apocalypse.
Strange Beast - This was one of the better stories I thought. It's a "found footage" type tale that's genuinely creepy. We read the notes of a researcher who died mysteriously while looking into the making of a monster movie with a very strange back story.
Painted Monsters - The longest, and probably the best story in the book. This is a take on monster films and the "old dark house" mysteries" at the same time, with many tongue-in-cheek nods to horror film clichés. The grandson of a great horror movie producer is summoned to the creepy, isolated estate of a mysterious makeup artist who has recently died.
Don't get me wrong, almost every story here was FUN, but there's not many I'd consider worth a re-read, not many that stuck with me afterward. Maybe they're just not my thing.
The Worm That Gnaws - Good, old-fashioned grave robbing horror. It has a feel like a Tales From the Crypt comic book story with the subject matter and the feverish way it's told. A grave robbing duo hit a stumbling block when their favorite graveyard is overrun with worms.
The White Prince - Very effective for a mere 1,000~ words, nice atmosphere and innovative ideas at the end about the traditional vampire legend. A group tries to save a girl from a hideous vampire creature she has fallen in love with.
Night’s Foul Bird - One of the better stories, this time referencing several of my favorite silent horror films. It becomes more creepy as it goes along, especially at the snowbound ending. A girl finds that a new tenant in her apartment reminds her of monsters from German Expressionist films.
The Murders on Morgue Street - A story with a sort of pulpy feel with fast-paced "rescue the girl(!)" action, but with more original concepts than the early pulp stories had. Still, not among my favorites. A detective tries to discover how a mesmerizer is tied to the discovery of an empty human skin.
Ripperology - A brief story, eerie, the end came too fast and felt bit undeveloped for me. A writer befriends a fellow writer obsessed with serial killers and collecting their memorabilia.
Walpurgisnacht - One of the better stories here, used in the Laird Barron tribute anthology "The Children of Old Leech." Laird's work came to mind while reading this one, but I'm not sure I'd say the connection was overly strong. Still a great story in it's own right. A group of decadent aesthetes gather at the behest of a mysterious artist who wishes to show a series of early occult films.
The Red Church - This is one of the better stories here, a serial killer story with a gritty urban Ligotti/Campbell-esque feel and plenty of surreal sections. A journalist is tasked with interviewing an obscure, blasphemous sculptor whose pieces give her nightmares.
Remains - Another good one, short and economical. I thought this was quite creepy and original in concept. Two people investigate the abandoned house of a dead child murderer after more children go missing.
The Labyrinth of Sleep - I liked this one, it's a fairly original take on the idea of dream-lands. The best thing was probably the dream-like way it's told. After exploring the labyrinth of dreams has turned into a big industry, a man enters it to try and retrieve his lost friend.
Lovecrafting - I like this one, another fun story, told in non-conventional fashion, but probably not overly memorable long-term. I did like how it mysteriously cut off at the end. Two friends enter a graveyard to discover if a very strange theory of their author friend is correct.
Persistence of Vision - Another good, but not great story. But it does have plenty of creepy touches spread throughout. A man describes his attempt to survive a supernatural apocalypse.
Strange Beast - This was one of the better stories I thought. It's a "found footage" type tale that's genuinely creepy. We read the notes of a researcher who died mysteriously while looking into the making of a monster movie with a very strange back story.
Painted Monsters - The longest, and probably the best story in the book. This is a take on monster films and the "old dark house" mysteries" at the same time, with many tongue-in-cheek nods to horror film clichés. The grandson of a great horror movie producer is summoned to the creepy, isolated estate of a mysterious makeup artist who has recently died.
April 29, 2019
Loved this book. I even really like the structure that Orrin Grey used to fan out these particular set of stories as well, APART from the shorts themselves- right from the good ol' Western/Grave-Robbery stories to proper quasi-meta modern cheeky horror stories.
I don't usually read a lot of Short Story Collections cause my experience with them has usually been a 60-40 ratio of good stories to mediocre/underwhelming. But here I really dug close to most of the shorts.
I know this is said, repeated, and scribed multiple times by all other reviewers AND by the marketing of the book itself, but I wanna chime in the same two-cent again: you can clearly sense the love for horror, it's tropes and sub-genres just ooze out of Mr. Grey as he writes his stories. He even adds an "Authors Note" after each short explaining why he wanted to write this story which makes it feel like he's that friend of yours (or you!) who huddles around with their friends and talk about an awesome movie after having just watched it, or discuss the semantics of the latest Mortal Kombat game over a few fries and milkshakes.
Do give this a try. Even if you don't like genre-horror or find this genre and it's contents kind of B-Movie quality, "Painted Monsters" is real fun and (yes) high-brow schlocky, but in the best sense of that word.
I don't usually read a lot of Short Story Collections cause my experience with them has usually been a 60-40 ratio of good stories to mediocre/underwhelming. But here I really dug close to most of the shorts.
I know this is said, repeated, and scribed multiple times by all other reviewers AND by the marketing of the book itself, but I wanna chime in the same two-cent again: you can clearly sense the love for horror, it's tropes and sub-genres just ooze out of Mr. Grey as he writes his stories. He even adds an "Authors Note" after each short explaining why he wanted to write this story which makes it feel like he's that friend of yours (or you!) who huddles around with their friends and talk about an awesome movie after having just watched it, or discuss the semantics of the latest Mortal Kombat game over a few fries and milkshakes.
Do give this a try. Even if you don't like genre-horror or find this genre and it's contents kind of B-Movie quality, "Painted Monsters" is real fun and (yes) high-brow schlocky, but in the best sense of that word.
December 17, 2015
The standard for modern horror fiction right now is very high, perhaps higher than it has ever been. And there is a certain pressure among that community of authors to create works that are constantly more grotesque and more despairing than the next author. (I say all this with the deepest possible affection for the genre.) And it is in this world that Orrin Grey distinguishes himself, not by coaxing his readers into the same black abyss, but by offering something more unique, and frankly, more fun.
Mr. Grey probably belongs–and he probably would be quite flattered for my saying so–in the same category as Mike Mignola, someone who is steeped in the same dark waters, who knows all the films and folklore, but uses these influences to create a highly intelligent form of pop-horror.
I also admire his spirit of sharing. Horror authors tend to Easter egg their influences by disguising them as subtle nods to the savvy reader. I’ve even attempted to do that myself, though I may be considerably less clever. Mr. Grey actually declares himself outright in an afterword to every story.
This is Grey’s second collection, and again, his personality seems to thrive in his stories—eclectic, exciting, and at their center, a heart of darkness.
Mr. Grey probably belongs–and he probably would be quite flattered for my saying so–in the same category as Mike Mignola, someone who is steeped in the same dark waters, who knows all the films and folklore, but uses these influences to create a highly intelligent form of pop-horror.
I also admire his spirit of sharing. Horror authors tend to Easter egg their influences by disguising them as subtle nods to the savvy reader. I’ve even attempted to do that myself, though I may be considerably less clever. Mr. Grey actually declares himself outright in an afterword to every story.
This is Grey’s second collection, and again, his personality seems to thrive in his stories—eclectic, exciting, and at their center, a heart of darkness.
November 6, 2015
"Painted Monsters & Other Strange Beasts" is a collection of 13 short stories, with comments from Orrin Grey at the end of each tale. As you might infer from the title and excellent Nick Gucker cover art, all involve a monster, or monsters. Aside from the general themes of monsters and horror, the stories are varied in time, place, and style. I'd rather not spoil any particular story by pairing it with the genre, but you'll find a few Lovecraft Mythos entries, some deals with the devil, hauntings, and a vampire or two.
Each entry in "Painted Monsters & Other Strange Beasts" left me satisfied, yet hungry for more. Fortunately, Grey is refreshingly open about the sources of his inspiration in his notes on each tale, essentially providing the reader with a further reading and viewing list. I'm particularly keen to follow up on the bizarre real life events which inspired "Strange Beast", a found footage/journal style glimpse into a giant monster film gone very wrong.
I look forward to reading more from Orrin Grey, and will be keeping my eye out more Word Horde titles as well because editor Ross E. Lockhart has a keen eye for selecting solid entries in his anthologies.
Each entry in "Painted Monsters & Other Strange Beasts" left me satisfied, yet hungry for more. Fortunately, Grey is refreshingly open about the sources of his inspiration in his notes on each tale, essentially providing the reader with a further reading and viewing list. I'm particularly keen to follow up on the bizarre real life events which inspired "Strange Beast", a found footage/journal style glimpse into a giant monster film gone very wrong.
I look forward to reading more from Orrin Grey, and will be keeping my eye out more Word Horde titles as well because editor Ross E. Lockhart has a keen eye for selecting solid entries in his anthologies.
December 9, 2016
I was so pleasantly surprised by this book! I didn't go into Painted Monsters & Other Strange Beasts with the highest expectations, only because just a week before I started reading it, Orrin Grey commented on Facebook saying that scary wasn’t what he was going for, fun as hell was. Anyway, I decided to stick with my decision to read it, first, because I was curious about Orrin Grey and also because who doesn’t love books that are fun as hell? Well, I am so glad I did because yes, Painted Monsters is fun as hell AND, I must say that some of the stories are scary too. I especially love Grey’s comments after each story, they gives the reader a nice insight of where he gets his ideas from and what the process was like to get to that result.
John Langan wrote the introduction to this book and did a fine job at that, as usual! The stories he tells about Orrin Grey already get you wishing you could be his friend but hadn’t Langan accomplished that with his introduction, you would have gotten to the same conclusion after finishing the book.
John Langan wrote the introduction to this book and did a fine job at that, as usual! The stories he tells about Orrin Grey already get you wishing you could be his friend but hadn’t Langan accomplished that with his introduction, you would have gotten to the same conclusion after finishing the book.
October 21, 2016
I thoroughly enjoyed Painted Monsters & Other Strange Beasts. I grew up watching or reading about many of the same gothic horror movies which inspired these stories, and this book really transported me back to the same feelings I had when encountering those classic films. It's not just an exercise in nostalgia; Grey uses the inspiration from those old gloomy treasures and creates something wholly his own with it. "Night's Foul Bird," for example, is an unusual vampire story which is steeped in the sort palpable dread one gets from watching horror films from the silent era. There's a nice variety of tone and theme in these stories, with many of them feeling rather good-natured, despite the genuinely creepy goings-on. These stories are thoughtful, atmospheric and FUN, which isn't a word one often associates with modern horror. I would recommend Painted Monsters to any reader who keeps the horror films of yesteryear near to his or her heart.
October 26, 2015
An outstanding collection and a solid retrospective of Orrin Grey's work. Painted Monsters explores the cinematic monster as it wanders from German Expressionism to J-Horror, presenting stories that are erudite without being inaccessible and that build on their cinematic foundations to become both familiar and appealingly new.
February 23, 2016
Painted monsters reads like classic horror films, smashed together with a little Lovecraft and Poe, and a pinch of Mike Mignola. "The worm that gnaws" will leave you with chills. My favorite in the collection, "The White Prince", is hauntingly beautiful and a unique take on Vampires. You really can't go wrong with this collection.
November 5, 2015
This is a cool book. The stories are well-written and fun, and Nick Gucker's cover art kicks ass. It is well worth picking up.
I'm really impressed with what I've read from Word Horde so far, and OG's addition to their library is a strong one. Thanks, guys!
I'm really impressed with what I've read from Word Horde so far, and OG's addition to their library is a strong one. Thanks, guys!
February 16, 2016
I didn't want this book to end. Really loved every page.
August 27, 2016
(Originally appeared on my website the Conqueror Weird.)
Who doesn’t love a good monster flick? Seriously…who? It’s always fun to watch a pulpy, rollicking yarn with some creepy creatures flickering across the silver screen. I binge watch the Corman Poe movies every Hallowe’en (The Pit and the Pendulum is my favorite, though “The Masque of the Red Death” is my favorite Poe story), and to hear the velvety Vincent Price intone his (slightly melodramatic) lines, alongside the cheesiest effects ever, always fufills something within me. I got that same sense with Painted Monsters & Other Strange Beasts, a 2015 collection by writer Orrin Grey, published by the justly renowned Word Horde. This is my first experience with Grey’s work (unless you count his creepy Nyarlathotep fragment for artist Michael Bukowski), but, after having read this book, I am eagerly looking forward to grabbing all of his work, including his first collection, Never Bet the Devil, and the anthology he co-edited (with the wonderful Silvia Moreno-Garcia, one of his long-time collaborators) Fungi.
Obviously the first thing that strikes you is the Nick Gucker cover, which, as is typical of Gucker, is completely frickin’ awesome, and manages to capture the spirit of the entire collection. The drippy, gross, colorful style gives it a very fitting pulpy feel, rather reminiscent of Graham Ingels. A lot of the monsters in the background eventually pop up in the stories. One notable detail is the mutated Goya (later appearing in the titular novelette) in the background – Saturn Devouring His Son always had a particularly upsetting place with me.
The introduction by the inimitable John Langan is also fascinating, one that perfectly sums up Grey’s craft in crystal clarity, besides being an interesting read.
The stories each feature some short notes by the author at the end (which I love), further explaining the heavy influence of cinema on this book. Every tale here has some sort of film influence on it, but they aren’t pastiches, they’re tributes – though perhaps I better save that particular passage for the conclusion of my review. First, let’s examine the stories.
“The Worm that Gnaws” is a classic, Cockney-accented tale in the style of the pre-Code EC Comics. I could easily see Jack Davis drawing the exploits of two Edinburgh grave-robbers who have a problem in supply…due to worms. Not ordinary worms, either…it’s a fantastically fun tale (I sense a tribute to Robert Louis Stevenson’s “The Body Snatcher”) with some really creepy moments, and just the right touches of character development and dark philosophy to give it a nice weight. The classic ending is chilling, leaving a darkly unresolved conflict and fearful decision – never gets old if it’s done right! I strongly recommend this awesome PseudoPod reading of the story.
“The White Prince” is a bite-size (a little over three pages) vampire story – sort of. It explores a different type of vampire, a more monstrous and perhaps more dangerous one – sort of like Dracula (referenced in the story) mixed with Lovecraft. It has some very interesting concepts, and I can only lament that it is not longer and more fully-realized. Mr. Grey could fill a good novella developing these characters that I want to know more about, exploring the possibilities his vampire offers, and so on – though perhaps the story is modeled on Stoker’s Dracula a little too much for a longer format. Still, I do hope Mr. Grey considers exploring this tale some more!
“The White Prince” is followed by another vampire story, which is surely the better-realized tale. “Night’s Foul Bird” features another weird vampire, and takes heavy inspiration from silent films, in particular Murnau’s, like Nosferatu and Faust. It’s a haunting prose poem that tells of the arrival of a cadaverous man (nicknamed by the young girl who narrates the story “Mr. Chaney”, due to her love of silent films) to a dismal tenement in a lonely city. The dream-like atmosphere gently pulls you through, drifting among the snow-drowned wastes of the rotted city. It’s awe-inspiring. I literally imagined some of the sentences as shots in a silent film. One of my favorites.
An abrupt shift in in style comes with a gory spin on the 1932 Poe adaptation Murders in the Rue Morgue (a film I have yet to see, though I do desperately wish to) – “The Murders on Morgue Street”. This one is a particular standout for its violence and weirdness, with some truly nasty imagery on the very first page and a strange, supernatural twist on Poe’s classic culprit. A series of very odd murders are occurring in town, and there’s not much of what you’d call a “body” left. This is followed by some odd incidents at the morgue, after which the story spirals into horrifying delusion, leading up to a fantastic conclusion that legitimately surprised me. It’s another piece of perfection in Grey’s oeuvre that remains one of my favorites in the book. Nick Gucker’s interpretation of one of the characters (you can see it on the cover) is my favorite part of the whole composition.
Another curiosity appears in the form of the über-creepy “Ripperology” (from Word Horde’s anthology Tales of Jack the Ripper), a philosophical exploration of the infamous Whitechapel Killer. As someone who finds particular interest in classical murders, this story was thoroughly fascinating. The narrator meets a fellow writer at a convention who has a slight obsession with infamous murders, and from then on the story simply spirals into creepy territory. “Ripperology” features a healthy dose of philosophy on identity (through Jack the Ripper, of course) and a nasty little tale that ends with a perfect shudder.
The next story, “Walpurgisnacht”, originally appeared in another Word Horde book, The Children of Old Leech, which paid tribute to that master of modern weird, Laird Barron. It is regarded by many (Justin Steele and Michael Wehunt included) to be the finest story in this collection. While it wasn’t necessarily my favorite of the lot, it was still a very elegant and chilling yarn. An older, decidedly decadent man decides to throw a grand goodbye party that goes horribly wrong. Grey cleverly sets the story in an actual hotel atop the actual Brocken, a German mountain that, according to folklore, is devil-haunted. A particular section about wandering amidst the empty corridors of the hotel stuck with me – as someone who has often been alone in hotel corridors, I understood the anxiety the narrator felt when navigating them. A fine story indeed, if not my favorite.
As one who is not a particular fan of slasher movies, I have never seen a giallo film, but if they’re anything like “The Red Church” (originally appearing in yet another Word Horde anthology, Giallo Fantastique, which I now intend to read), they’ve got to be awesome. “The Red Church” is another favorite here, combining some slightly Lovecraftian elements with some extremely nasty gore. As somebody who has been to a Gunther von Hagen exhibit (which admittedly made my stomach turn a bit), I could relate (well, not really, but a little) to our hapless protagonist’s experience at a reclusive artist’s studio. The story never stopped being creepy, with moments of genuine horror and another awesome twist ending in the style of the pre-Code horror comics. Definitely one of my favorites.
“Remains” is one of the weirdest stories in the book. Like…really weird. It tells of two cops investigating the abandoned house of a child murderer to see if there’s any supernatural residue (the narrator had an exorcism in his childhood). Grey creates a great atmosphere with very subtle signs of the disturbing truth, and the conclusion unveils a peculiar meaning behind the…well, you’ll find out when you read it. It was a great story, if rather strange, and I can’t help but wonder if Mr. Grey will ever write the story of the narrator’s mysterious exorcism. Make it a John Silence/Carnacki thing, maybe. It’d be interesting.
“The Labyrinth of Sleep” is what I imagine would happen if William Hope Hodgson wrote a story in Lovecraft’s style. It’s no surprise, then, that the tale is inspired more by Hodgson’s House on the Borderland and the Richard Corben comic (I really loved the art, but I hated the adaptation) than the Lovecraftian Dream Cycle which it was based upon. Following a “rider” into a deep dreamworld to find his partner, it features an odd mesh of sci-fi and fantasy. While, according to the author’s notes at the end, it is a Dreamlands story, the end touches a bit more on the Cthulhu Mythos than the rest of the tale. Excellently executed.
“Lovecrafting” takes the strangeness of the two that proceeded it and dilutes it a bit. It’s definitely weirder then “Remains”, but it doesn’t descend into the vivid dreamworlds of “Labyrinth”. Presenting itself as a sort of film script with excerpts from imaginary weird tales, the story follows an aspiring writer who’s particularly obsessed with the deaths of famous horror authors (i.e., Poe, Bierce, Machen, Howard, Hodgson, and of course Lovecraft). The imaginary weird tales provide insight into the true horror that surrounds the story, which Grey carefully keeps concealed. The scenic descriptions are absolutely beautiful, and those weird tales grossed me out – as they were obviously meant to.
“Persistence of Vision” is stunning. It’s a horror masterwork, an exploration of classic fears mutated into something new. Ghosts are spilling through into our world, rapidly causing a gruesome and unexpected apocalypse. Grey combines elements of classic hauntings – things that can seem hackneyed or overused – and then uses them so well that they scare the sh*t out of you. Its drags you across the coals of horror and develops believable characters with struggles you’re invested in. Grey also returns to some cinematic treatments here, asking the reader from the very output to imagine the story is a movie, so it’ll be easier to deal with the horror. It quite rightfully got a spot in superpower editor Ellen Datlow’s Best Horror of the Year Volume Seven after having appeared in Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Fractured: Tales of the Canadian Post-Apocalypse (best title ever). Grey’s talent at its finest.
The Japanese monster movie Pulgasari forms the inspiration for “Strange Beast” – or, more correctly, the shocking story behind it. “Strange Beast” takes an almost epistolary form as notes for an unfinished book – a non-fiction book about the strange legacy left behind on a mysterious island. The horror takes an unexpected form in this one – Grey making use of very clever misdirection to cause a stunningly well-executed plot twist. The horror is certainly more frightening than it originally appears. Truly heart-breaking scenes, bleak ocean scenery, vivid description, epistolary format, twists and turns, monsters and movies – what more could you want from a story? This one is a real standout and has to be one of my favorites in the collection. Gucker’s cover interpretation of the titular creature is also wonderful.
Finally, we conclude with the collection’s namesake: the novelette “Painted Monsters”. This was the only real way to round out the collection. Each of the stories in the book was focused on a particular film/film era: the silent films of “Night’s Foul Bird”, the ’30s flicks of “The Murders on Morgue Street”, the giallo slashers of “The Red Church”, the Japanese tokusatsu movies of “Strange Beast”, etc. How do you conclude that theme? It’s quite obvious: throw in everything. “Painted Monsters” is a tour-de-force through horror itself; dragging together influences from the dreamlike silence of Murnau; the screaming psychedelia of Argento; the story-telling aesthetic of Mignola; the otherworldly cosmic forces of Lovecraft; the fantastical whirlpools of Poe; the misanthropy of Frankenstein; the romance and Gothic shadings of Dracula; the gruesomeness of Clive Barker; the makeup monsters of Jack Pierce and Lon Chaney, Sr.; the ghastly fun of Romero’s Creepshow; the magnitude of King and Barron; the surrealism of Bartlett; the wildness and cleverness of Gaines and Feldstein; the dark masterworks of Goya and Ingels; the classic performances/monologues of Vincent Price and Boris Karloff; the weird expressionism of The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari; the power of horror as a whole – drags together influences from all those places (and more), yet manages to mold them into something completely new and original. It name-drops more things than you can count, yet it never feels contrived or out-of-place. It has long, over-the-top monologues by corny villains, yet it still retains an aura of menace and fear (especially on the last few pages). It has a classic, secluded setting, but it doesn’t feel hackneyed or over-done. The story is a mish-mash of classic twists and turns that you still don’t see coming because it doesn’t feel like a rehash. It isn’t a rehash, or a pastiche, or a rip-off, or anything of the sort.
It’s a tribute, and that’s what makes Grey’s writing so very special, so very important. An astounding amount of passion for these classic masterpieces is obvious from the very moment you see that (oh-so-beautiful) Nick Gucker cover, from the moment you read Langan’s introduction, from the moment you read the dedication and epigraph, from the moment you read the stories and the author’s notes and the afterword and the acknowledgements and even the bio, but it never feels old or done-before. It feels new, simultaneously original and familiar at the same time, because Grey is avoiding pastiche while acknowledging influence. So many authors today fall into that trap and end up writing copies of Lovecraft and Poe and Machen, but Grey takes old themes and runs with them in his own direction, refurbishes them, develops them, even improving them. The titular novelette sums all of this up in perfect clarity, the cherry on top of a thoroughly satisfying ice cream sundae (for there is not one false note in this collection, and that is to be applauded). I couldn’t pick a favorite if I tried, so thank God I don’t have to.
Grey is a voice to be watched in the time to come. Unfortunately, the time to come might include the ghost apocalypse, giant kaiju, and forces from the Outer Dark, so you’d better hurry up and buy Painted Monsters & Other Strange Beasts before any of that happens. I guarantee it’ll be worth the remaining time on this miserable, decaying globe, as entertaining as watching a monster movie flicker across the silver screen.
Who doesn’t love a good monster flick? Seriously…who? It’s always fun to watch a pulpy, rollicking yarn with some creepy creatures flickering across the silver screen. I binge watch the Corman Poe movies every Hallowe’en (The Pit and the Pendulum is my favorite, though “The Masque of the Red Death” is my favorite Poe story), and to hear the velvety Vincent Price intone his (slightly melodramatic) lines, alongside the cheesiest effects ever, always fufills something within me. I got that same sense with Painted Monsters & Other Strange Beasts, a 2015 collection by writer Orrin Grey, published by the justly renowned Word Horde. This is my first experience with Grey’s work (unless you count his creepy Nyarlathotep fragment for artist Michael Bukowski), but, after having read this book, I am eagerly looking forward to grabbing all of his work, including his first collection, Never Bet the Devil, and the anthology he co-edited (with the wonderful Silvia Moreno-Garcia, one of his long-time collaborators) Fungi.
Obviously the first thing that strikes you is the Nick Gucker cover, which, as is typical of Gucker, is completely frickin’ awesome, and manages to capture the spirit of the entire collection. The drippy, gross, colorful style gives it a very fitting pulpy feel, rather reminiscent of Graham Ingels. A lot of the monsters in the background eventually pop up in the stories. One notable detail is the mutated Goya (later appearing in the titular novelette) in the background – Saturn Devouring His Son always had a particularly upsetting place with me.
The introduction by the inimitable John Langan is also fascinating, one that perfectly sums up Grey’s craft in crystal clarity, besides being an interesting read.
The stories each feature some short notes by the author at the end (which I love), further explaining the heavy influence of cinema on this book. Every tale here has some sort of film influence on it, but they aren’t pastiches, they’re tributes – though perhaps I better save that particular passage for the conclusion of my review. First, let’s examine the stories.
“The Worm that Gnaws” is a classic, Cockney-accented tale in the style of the pre-Code EC Comics. I could easily see Jack Davis drawing the exploits of two Edinburgh grave-robbers who have a problem in supply…due to worms. Not ordinary worms, either…it’s a fantastically fun tale (I sense a tribute to Robert Louis Stevenson’s “The Body Snatcher”) with some really creepy moments, and just the right touches of character development and dark philosophy to give it a nice weight. The classic ending is chilling, leaving a darkly unresolved conflict and fearful decision – never gets old if it’s done right! I strongly recommend this awesome PseudoPod reading of the story.
“The White Prince” is a bite-size (a little over three pages) vampire story – sort of. It explores a different type of vampire, a more monstrous and perhaps more dangerous one – sort of like Dracula (referenced in the story) mixed with Lovecraft. It has some very interesting concepts, and I can only lament that it is not longer and more fully-realized. Mr. Grey could fill a good novella developing these characters that I want to know more about, exploring the possibilities his vampire offers, and so on – though perhaps the story is modeled on Stoker’s Dracula a little too much for a longer format. Still, I do hope Mr. Grey considers exploring this tale some more!
“The White Prince” is followed by another vampire story, which is surely the better-realized tale. “Night’s Foul Bird” features another weird vampire, and takes heavy inspiration from silent films, in particular Murnau’s, like Nosferatu and Faust. It’s a haunting prose poem that tells of the arrival of a cadaverous man (nicknamed by the young girl who narrates the story “Mr. Chaney”, due to her love of silent films) to a dismal tenement in a lonely city. The dream-like atmosphere gently pulls you through, drifting among the snow-drowned wastes of the rotted city. It’s awe-inspiring. I literally imagined some of the sentences as shots in a silent film. One of my favorites.
An abrupt shift in in style comes with a gory spin on the 1932 Poe adaptation Murders in the Rue Morgue (a film I have yet to see, though I do desperately wish to) – “The Murders on Morgue Street”. This one is a particular standout for its violence and weirdness, with some truly nasty imagery on the very first page and a strange, supernatural twist on Poe’s classic culprit. A series of very odd murders are occurring in town, and there’s not much of what you’d call a “body” left. This is followed by some odd incidents at the morgue, after which the story spirals into horrifying delusion, leading up to a fantastic conclusion that legitimately surprised me. It’s another piece of perfection in Grey’s oeuvre that remains one of my favorites in the book. Nick Gucker’s interpretation of one of the characters (you can see it on the cover) is my favorite part of the whole composition.
Another curiosity appears in the form of the über-creepy “Ripperology” (from Word Horde’s anthology Tales of Jack the Ripper), a philosophical exploration of the infamous Whitechapel Killer. As someone who finds particular interest in classical murders, this story was thoroughly fascinating. The narrator meets a fellow writer at a convention who has a slight obsession with infamous murders, and from then on the story simply spirals into creepy territory. “Ripperology” features a healthy dose of philosophy on identity (through Jack the Ripper, of course) and a nasty little tale that ends with a perfect shudder.
The next story, “Walpurgisnacht”, originally appeared in another Word Horde book, The Children of Old Leech, which paid tribute to that master of modern weird, Laird Barron. It is regarded by many (Justin Steele and Michael Wehunt included) to be the finest story in this collection. While it wasn’t necessarily my favorite of the lot, it was still a very elegant and chilling yarn. An older, decidedly decadent man decides to throw a grand goodbye party that goes horribly wrong. Grey cleverly sets the story in an actual hotel atop the actual Brocken, a German mountain that, according to folklore, is devil-haunted. A particular section about wandering amidst the empty corridors of the hotel stuck with me – as someone who has often been alone in hotel corridors, I understood the anxiety the narrator felt when navigating them. A fine story indeed, if not my favorite.
As one who is not a particular fan of slasher movies, I have never seen a giallo film, but if they’re anything like “The Red Church” (originally appearing in yet another Word Horde anthology, Giallo Fantastique, which I now intend to read), they’ve got to be awesome. “The Red Church” is another favorite here, combining some slightly Lovecraftian elements with some extremely nasty gore. As somebody who has been to a Gunther von Hagen exhibit (which admittedly made my stomach turn a bit), I could relate (well, not really, but a little) to our hapless protagonist’s experience at a reclusive artist’s studio. The story never stopped being creepy, with moments of genuine horror and another awesome twist ending in the style of the pre-Code horror comics. Definitely one of my favorites.
“Remains” is one of the weirdest stories in the book. Like…really weird. It tells of two cops investigating the abandoned house of a child murderer to see if there’s any supernatural residue (the narrator had an exorcism in his childhood). Grey creates a great atmosphere with very subtle signs of the disturbing truth, and the conclusion unveils a peculiar meaning behind the…well, you’ll find out when you read it. It was a great story, if rather strange, and I can’t help but wonder if Mr. Grey will ever write the story of the narrator’s mysterious exorcism. Make it a John Silence/Carnacki thing, maybe. It’d be interesting.
“The Labyrinth of Sleep” is what I imagine would happen if William Hope Hodgson wrote a story in Lovecraft’s style. It’s no surprise, then, that the tale is inspired more by Hodgson’s House on the Borderland and the Richard Corben comic (I really loved the art, but I hated the adaptation) than the Lovecraftian Dream Cycle which it was based upon. Following a “rider” into a deep dreamworld to find his partner, it features an odd mesh of sci-fi and fantasy. While, according to the author’s notes at the end, it is a Dreamlands story, the end touches a bit more on the Cthulhu Mythos than the rest of the tale. Excellently executed.
“Lovecrafting” takes the strangeness of the two that proceeded it and dilutes it a bit. It’s definitely weirder then “Remains”, but it doesn’t descend into the vivid dreamworlds of “Labyrinth”. Presenting itself as a sort of film script with excerpts from imaginary weird tales, the story follows an aspiring writer who’s particularly obsessed with the deaths of famous horror authors (i.e., Poe, Bierce, Machen, Howard, Hodgson, and of course Lovecraft). The imaginary weird tales provide insight into the true horror that surrounds the story, which Grey carefully keeps concealed. The scenic descriptions are absolutely beautiful, and those weird tales grossed me out – as they were obviously meant to.
“Persistence of Vision” is stunning. It’s a horror masterwork, an exploration of classic fears mutated into something new. Ghosts are spilling through into our world, rapidly causing a gruesome and unexpected apocalypse. Grey combines elements of classic hauntings – things that can seem hackneyed or overused – and then uses them so well that they scare the sh*t out of you. Its drags you across the coals of horror and develops believable characters with struggles you’re invested in. Grey also returns to some cinematic treatments here, asking the reader from the very output to imagine the story is a movie, so it’ll be easier to deal with the horror. It quite rightfully got a spot in superpower editor Ellen Datlow’s Best Horror of the Year Volume Seven after having appeared in Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Fractured: Tales of the Canadian Post-Apocalypse (best title ever). Grey’s talent at its finest.
The Japanese monster movie Pulgasari forms the inspiration for “Strange Beast” – or, more correctly, the shocking story behind it. “Strange Beast” takes an almost epistolary form as notes for an unfinished book – a non-fiction book about the strange legacy left behind on a mysterious island. The horror takes an unexpected form in this one – Grey making use of very clever misdirection to cause a stunningly well-executed plot twist. The horror is certainly more frightening than it originally appears. Truly heart-breaking scenes, bleak ocean scenery, vivid description, epistolary format, twists and turns, monsters and movies – what more could you want from a story? This one is a real standout and has to be one of my favorites in the collection. Gucker’s cover interpretation of the titular creature is also wonderful.
Finally, we conclude with the collection’s namesake: the novelette “Painted Monsters”. This was the only real way to round out the collection. Each of the stories in the book was focused on a particular film/film era: the silent films of “Night’s Foul Bird”, the ’30s flicks of “The Murders on Morgue Street”, the giallo slashers of “The Red Church”, the Japanese tokusatsu movies of “Strange Beast”, etc. How do you conclude that theme? It’s quite obvious: throw in everything. “Painted Monsters” is a tour-de-force through horror itself; dragging together influences from the dreamlike silence of Murnau; the screaming psychedelia of Argento; the story-telling aesthetic of Mignola; the otherworldly cosmic forces of Lovecraft; the fantastical whirlpools of Poe; the misanthropy of Frankenstein; the romance and Gothic shadings of Dracula; the gruesomeness of Clive Barker; the makeup monsters of Jack Pierce and Lon Chaney, Sr.; the ghastly fun of Romero’s Creepshow; the magnitude of King and Barron; the surrealism of Bartlett; the wildness and cleverness of Gaines and Feldstein; the dark masterworks of Goya and Ingels; the classic performances/monologues of Vincent Price and Boris Karloff; the weird expressionism of The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari; the power of horror as a whole – drags together influences from all those places (and more), yet manages to mold them into something completely new and original. It name-drops more things than you can count, yet it never feels contrived or out-of-place. It has long, over-the-top monologues by corny villains, yet it still retains an aura of menace and fear (especially on the last few pages). It has a classic, secluded setting, but it doesn’t feel hackneyed or over-done. The story is a mish-mash of classic twists and turns that you still don’t see coming because it doesn’t feel like a rehash. It isn’t a rehash, or a pastiche, or a rip-off, or anything of the sort.
It’s a tribute, and that’s what makes Grey’s writing so very special, so very important. An astounding amount of passion for these classic masterpieces is obvious from the very moment you see that (oh-so-beautiful) Nick Gucker cover, from the moment you read Langan’s introduction, from the moment you read the dedication and epigraph, from the moment you read the stories and the author’s notes and the afterword and the acknowledgements and even the bio, but it never feels old or done-before. It feels new, simultaneously original and familiar at the same time, because Grey is avoiding pastiche while acknowledging influence. So many authors today fall into that trap and end up writing copies of Lovecraft and Poe and Machen, but Grey takes old themes and runs with them in his own direction, refurbishes them, develops them, even improving them. The titular novelette sums all of this up in perfect clarity, the cherry on top of a thoroughly satisfying ice cream sundae (for there is not one false note in this collection, and that is to be applauded). I couldn’t pick a favorite if I tried, so thank God I don’t have to.
Grey is a voice to be watched in the time to come. Unfortunately, the time to come might include the ghost apocalypse, giant kaiju, and forces from the Outer Dark, so you’d better hurry up and buy Painted Monsters & Other Strange Beasts before any of that happens. I guarantee it’ll be worth the remaining time on this miserable, decaying globe, as entertaining as watching a monster movie flicker across the silver screen.
June 27, 2018
This is one of those collections that I would have to describe foremost as "fun." Grey really captures that feel of movie magic, every story being a love letter to the larger-than-life gothic. "Painted Monsters & Other Strange Beasts" is a strong showing, my personal favorites including "Persistence of Vision" and the titular story.
Fans of monsters and old Hollywood alike will enjoy this collection, and I highly recommend you give it a go.
Fans of monsters and old Hollywood alike will enjoy this collection, and I highly recommend you give it a go.
November 15, 2020
Many months ago, I reviewed Orrin Grey’s nonfiction books. These wonderful collections of reviews and impressions of the horror cinema of yesteryear made the beginning of quarantine far less draining than it had to be. The Monsters from the Vault series are filled with a love of film, monsters, and the lifeblood of the horror genre. Considering this dedication to our beloved creatures, I knew I had to read Orrin Grey’s actual fiction. Surely his works carried the best parts of these influences in their bloodstream?
I’m happy to report that my expectations were exceeded. Orrin Grey’s short story collection, Painted Monsters & Other Strange Beasts, might be the best short story collection I read this year.
Read the rest of the review here.
I’m happy to report that my expectations were exceeded. Orrin Grey’s short story collection, Painted Monsters & Other Strange Beasts, might be the best short story collection I read this year.
Read the rest of the review here.
August 24, 2017
The easy, abbreviated version: if you’re a fan of original, well-crafted horror, this collection is absolutely worth adding to your library.
The long-winded-because-I-loved-it-so-much version: There’s this band, and you heard a song they did for a tribute album. A cover, sure, but it was better than most of those. They did it their way. Took the bright guitar of the original and made it menacing squall; changed the one lyric, and turned a romantic paean to bleak requiem.
A few years go by, and you see a full album by the band. You pick up a copy, put it on the turntable. Sit down with the crazy gatefold, read along in the liner notes as the record turns.
The first song, you’re intrigued. It’s good, one of those instrumental intro pieces, but not the pretentious, crappy kind. Something different from the rest of the record, but it sets a tone. A weird foundation. You keep listening, and the record builds, each song better than the one before it. Every track is different, but there’s a thread, weaving it all together. You adjust the volume, turn it up a little louder.
You lose yourself in that record. Pore over the details of the cover art, while the speakers quake around you. Smile when you think you recognize something in a lyric; nod along to the rhythm section’s precision. Finally, after the epic, fourteen minute, crescendoed guitar finale, the needle returns to its place and there’s quiet. And all you want to do is play it again, and hear more from this band.
The first story I read by Orrin Grey was “Walpurgisnacht,” from Word Horde’s (also fantastic) tribute to Laird Barron. I’d forgotten the name, but I remembered the story. I liked most everything in that collection, but Orrin’s felt…extra Laird-y to me somehow. It’s here, in “Painted Monsters & Other Strange Beasts,” and I liked it just as much the second time around.
I think every story is worthwhile, but if I were making a playlist, I’d be hard pressed not to include the aforementioned “Walpurgisnacht,” “Remains,” and that epic finale of “Painted Monsters.” And I can't help but wonder what a great movie that last one would make in the right hands. "Cabin in the Woods" for the Hammer sect or somethin'.
So yeah, pick this one up already. It's intelligent, original horror, and damn does it deserve a bigger audience. Orrin Grey, please keep writing. And thanks, Word Horde - you’ve totally become my literary AmRep / Sub-Pop.
The long-winded-because-I-loved-it-so-much version: There’s this band, and you heard a song they did for a tribute album. A cover, sure, but it was better than most of those. They did it their way. Took the bright guitar of the original and made it menacing squall; changed the one lyric, and turned a romantic paean to bleak requiem.
A few years go by, and you see a full album by the band. You pick up a copy, put it on the turntable. Sit down with the crazy gatefold, read along in the liner notes as the record turns.
The first song, you’re intrigued. It’s good, one of those instrumental intro pieces, but not the pretentious, crappy kind. Something different from the rest of the record, but it sets a tone. A weird foundation. You keep listening, and the record builds, each song better than the one before it. Every track is different, but there’s a thread, weaving it all together. You adjust the volume, turn it up a little louder.
You lose yourself in that record. Pore over the details of the cover art, while the speakers quake around you. Smile when you think you recognize something in a lyric; nod along to the rhythm section’s precision. Finally, after the epic, fourteen minute, crescendoed guitar finale, the needle returns to its place and there’s quiet. And all you want to do is play it again, and hear more from this band.
The first story I read by Orrin Grey was “Walpurgisnacht,” from Word Horde’s (also fantastic) tribute to Laird Barron. I’d forgotten the name, but I remembered the story. I liked most everything in that collection, but Orrin’s felt…extra Laird-y to me somehow. It’s here, in “Painted Monsters & Other Strange Beasts,” and I liked it just as much the second time around.
I think every story is worthwhile, but if I were making a playlist, I’d be hard pressed not to include the aforementioned “Walpurgisnacht,” “Remains,” and that epic finale of “Painted Monsters.” And I can't help but wonder what a great movie that last one would make in the right hands. "Cabin in the Woods" for the Hammer sect or somethin'.
So yeah, pick this one up already. It's intelligent, original horror, and damn does it deserve a bigger audience. Orrin Grey, please keep writing. And thanks, Word Horde - you’ve totally become my literary AmRep / Sub-Pop.
June 7, 2020
For anyone who has ever looked into Orrin Grey for more than a moment, you know that he is movie lover. (Check out Monsters from the Vault for his reviews of old horror movies.) “Painted Monsters and Other Strange Beasts” is a love letter to horror cinema. Each story reads as if you were sitting in a theatre chomping on popcorn. These does not take away from Grey’s ability as a writer. His prose is strong and his characters are interesting and fleshed out. This collection is full of terrific stories, all as good as the last, leading up the crown jewel of the collection; the eponymous “Painted Monsters.” I highly recommend this collection and will be diving into his other collections soon.
September 29, 2021
Hacía mucho que no leía horror con elementos paranormales. Extrañaba este tipo de horror, no todo tiene que tener una explicación científica. Me pareció que los cuentos fueron muy originales en su mayoría y muy buenos. No todos fueron para mi, tengo que aceptarlo, sobre todo uno que estaba en el formato "ármalo tu mismo" esa clase de historias dónde te dan trozos de información para que te cuentes tu historia, hasta el momento, pocas historias han usado satisfactoriamente esa herramienta desde mi punto de vista.
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May 26, 2016Monsters and Other Nightmares
In his introduction, I think John Langan called Orrin Grey a Monster Guy, and he is. The wonderful stories in this collection are filled with monsters, but they also run the gamut of horror fiction. Grey plays with horror tropes, but he never snubs his nose at them. There's love in his stories, and a passion for nightmares that make his stories a lot of fun to read.
Highly recommended!
In his introduction, I think John Langan called Orrin Grey a Monster Guy, and he is. The wonderful stories in this collection are filled with monsters, but they also run the gamut of horror fiction. Grey plays with horror tropes, but he never snubs his nose at them. There's love in his stories, and a passion for nightmares that make his stories a lot of fun to read.
Highly recommended!
January 4, 2016
Hankering for monsterful fiction? Orrin Grey has you covered. I know the author, but I'd have loved this book even if I didn't. Great treatment of monsters from a dozen different angles, in a whole batch of formats, with narrative style to spare. Full review here -- https://jtglover.wordpress.com/2016/0...
December 29, 2015
an excellent collection of stories. i also love the fact that there's a bit of background / 'behind-the-scenes' included at the end of each story. as a writer myself, i really enjoyed that. (does it make a difference that i'm a writer? probably not. i appreciated it regardless.)
December 14, 2016
The book was "ok". Some of the stories were weird, others just silly. I didn't find them particularly terrifying or horrifying - the daily newspaper is more terrifying than anything written in this book.
March 19, 2018
Painted Monsters is an enjoyable and fun collection of horror and weird fiction. There's a whole mess of ideas in here, but that by no means is a bad thing. Runs the gamut from pulpy monster horror to genuinely high-concept, Weird stories. Definitely worth a read.
March 14, 2017
The stories in this collection are incredible. Orrin Grey's unique short stories, using his love of cinema and incredible imagination, are all short masterpieces.
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