Frights of Fancy

by J.N. Williamson

Horror legend J.N. Williamson's first collection of short stories, spanning his entire career.

Genres: Horror

361 pages, Paperback

First published June 13, 2000

About the author

Gerald Neal Williamson (April 17, 1932 - December 8, 2005) wrote and edited horror stories under the name J. N. Williamson. He also wrote under the name Julian Shock.

Born in Indianapolis, IN he graduated from Shortridge High School. He studied journalism at Butler University. He published his first novel in 1979 and went on to publish more than 40 novels and 150 short stories. In 2003 he received a lifetime achievement award from the Horror Writers of America. He edited the critically acclaimed How to Write Tales of Horror, Fantasy & Science Fiction (1987) which covered the themes of such writing and cited the writings of such writers as Robert Bloch, Lee Prosser, Richard Matheson, Ray Bradbury, H. P. Lovecraft, August Derleth, William F. Nolan, and Stephen King. Many important writers in the genre contributed to the book. Williamson edited the popular anthology series, Masques. Some of his novels include The Ritual (1979), Playmates (1982), Noonspell (1991), The Haunt (1999), among others.

He was also a well known Sherlockian and received his investiture (The Illustrious Client) in the Baker Street Irregulars in 1950.

Source: Wikipedia

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Frights of Fancy collects sixteen of Williamson's short stories, ranging from 1986-2000. He offers an introduction to each story, and an appreciation from Ed Gorman is included. Williamson was a well-known name in the field at the time, though he's now best-remembered for a large number of pulp-inspired novels and as editor of the Masques anthology series. Reality Function is about a serial killer English teacher (aren't they all?), When Nature Itself Creates Them sees Billy the Kid meeting aliens in Roswell, Public Places is a disgusting bathroom story, and Watchwolf is a werewolf story. In his introduction to The Sudd he makes it clear that he thinks it's a particularly terrifically written piece, but I found it a bit boring and obtuse. Mercy is a short-short O'Henry twist, The Mother Pact is uncomfortably Oedipal, Small Gift From Home is another very short twister, and Origin of a Species is a nifty Noah's Ark tale, perhaps my favorite in the book. Child of the Sea is another good one that's reminiscent of William Hope Hodgson, Everyone Must Know is a vampire/ghost/psychiatrist mash-up, The House of Life is a science fiction post-apocalypse horror, and A. Pyme is a very clever contemporary fantasy about marriage and elves that would have been a good stopping point for the collection. I didn't care for the last three... Pick-Up is a story about rape and aliens and just desserts, It Does Not Come Alone is a ponderous meditation about the horrors of aging that's just a slight riff on the old Twilight Zone kick-the-can episode, and the concluding piece is another short-short with a very religious slant. There are two or three stories in the book that I really liked, but most weren't especially memorable, and a few were unpleasant. I've read several of his novels and enjoyed them for the most part, but I won't make a point to look for any more of his short works.

[Evans Light]

(I'll review each story as I get to them, not necessarily in order. Will update review as I progress through the book.)

I became interested in reading this author after obtaining the anthologies he edited (the DARK MASQUES series), and he had a story in one that I liked quite a bit.

After an incredibly self-congratulatory author "prelude" in which he declares "I think I'm one of the most original writers around" and then goes on to make his case for page after page using his novels as "proof".

That's all well and good, I suppose, but I say let your stories speak for themselves.

So here we go:

** Reality Function

One of the most boring and overwritten tales I have ever read. The premise is a deranged high school teacher who picks out students to kill and obessesses with very simple numerology. That seems like it could be fun. In this story, it's anything but. This is a dull, plodding tale that reads like it was written with a thesaurus open on the desk. "Look how smart I am", it screams as it limps along to pointless conclusion.

Hope this book gets better...


** When Nature Itself Creates Them

A well-known western outlaw has his course in life set when he is abducted by aliens while stealing cattle.
Sound like fun?
It's not.
Poorly constructed and drearily told.

Might press my luck by reading one more, then I'm putting this one away.