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Gathering the Bones
A new anthology of all-original horror tales including new stories by Ray Bradbury, Graham Joyce, Peter Crowther, Kim Newman, Sara Douglass, Thomas Tessier, M. John Harrison & Gahan Wilson
The anthology market these days is awash with small, themed works focused on very specific markets, like vampire erotica & tales of werewolves, or it features best of the year reprints. It's been years since anyone has dared to bring out a broad-reaching anthology that seeks to define the current state of the genre with all original tales from both masters & hot new writers. The three editors of this immense collection of horror fiction--33 stories in all--set out to collect the best stories from their respective continents-- America, England & Australia. Pulling stories from the traditional to the avant-garde, these editors have succeeded in gathering an incredible vision of horror fiction today. Many of the writers will be familiar to readers--Ray Bradbury, Graham Joyce, Kim Newman, Lisa Tuttle, Peter Crowther & Sara Douglass to name a few. At the same time, this anthology features chilling stories from newer writers such as Adam L.G. Nevil, Andrew J. Wilson & Steve Nagy. With a stellar lineup that offers a wide array of tales, Gathering the Bones as much to offer for both the experienced fan & the newcomer. Horror may never be the same.
The anthology market these days is awash with small, themed works focused on very specific markets, like vampire erotica & tales of werewolves, or it features best of the year reprints. It's been years since anyone has dared to bring out a broad-reaching anthology that seeks to define the current state of the genre with all original tales from both masters & hot new writers. The three editors of this immense collection of horror fiction--33 stories in all--set out to collect the best stories from their respective continents-- America, England & Australia. Pulling stories from the traditional to the avant-garde, these editors have succeeded in gathering an incredible vision of horror fiction today. Many of the writers will be familiar to readers--Ray Bradbury, Graham Joyce, Kim Newman, Lisa Tuttle, Peter Crowther & Sara Douglass to name a few. At the same time, this anthology features chilling stories from newer writers such as Adam L.G. Nevil, Andrew J. Wilson & Steve Nagy. With a stellar lineup that offers a wide array of tales, Gathering the Bones as much to offer for both the experienced fan & the newcomer. Horror may never be the same.
453 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
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435 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
November 19, 2009
Gathering the Bones is an absolute mammoth anthology, probably the biggest I’ve seen to date. Collected in it are stories from the primary horror fiction writers in the West, with a strong focus on British and American contributions. The very nature of the book means that it’s going to be a mixed bag, as usual, but I think the good stories win out over the poor on this one.
Trying to write about ALL the stories is going to be a mammoth job, too, so for ease I’m going to split them down into the ones I loved, the ones I liked, the ones that were okay, and the ones I didn’t like.
The ones I loved:
THE WIND SALL BLOW FOR EVER MAIR is a tale about a racist policeman in Australia and a real kicker, the kind of strongly-written story that never grows old.
THE LORDS OF ZERO tells of the modern-day menace of gangs of thugs on council estates in London. Lots of atmosphere and intelligence go into the writing of this one.
BOTH AND is about a guy starting a new factory job who’s been traumatised by his beating at the hands of a gang of jobs. This is a flawless piece of writing, every element spot-on, and to say more will be to spoil it.
THE RIGHT MEN is about a man contemplating suicide. Very short but very well written, with loads going on, this is disturbing too.
MR SLY STOPS FOR A CUP OF JOE is about a teenager holding up a coffee shop who doesn’t know one of the customers has a dark secret. It has the type of premise you can’t go wrong with and I just wish it was longer, as it left me wanting more.
NO MAN’S LAND explores the terror faced by soldiers in the First World War. Although there’s a supernatural aspect to this story, the realism of the tale never flags. Something about this war just captures and holds my imagination always.
COMING OF AGE concerns a missing son and his father’s efforts to track him down. Industrial decay and urban menace are the order of the day here in a story that strongly reminded me of Clive Barker’s work.
PICKING UP COURTNEY tells of an ordinary man picking up his daughter from school who sees something unpleasant – an old woman mistreating her dog. From there, this turns into an absolutely fantastic horror story full of good, weird stuff.
WATCHMEN has nothing to do with the film or comic book. Instead, it’s about nightclub bouncers who are driven to increasingly violent methods. Brutality and almost demonic fury are the order of the day in this action-packed effort.
The ones I liked:
THE BONE SHIP, about model ships created by prisoners of war in the Napoleonic era. The author takes a ghastly snippet of information from the annals of history and runs away with it.
BLAKE’S ANGEL, which is based around a piece of art by William Blake, and very well written, although a little too dark and disturbing for some tastes.
SOUNDS LIKE concerns a guy driven mad by his super-sensitivity to noise. It shows there are still some fresh and original stories out there.
“THE MEZZOTINT” is Lisa Tuttle’s updating of a M. R. James ghost story for modern readers. Mature, intelligent writing with no reliance on overdone gore here.
MOMENTS OF CHANGE sees an elderly retiree discovering vampires in his neighbourhood. Although I don’t like vampire stories per se, the strength of the writing carries this one through.
THE RAPTURES OF THE DEEP is about a marine scientist who becomes obsessed with ocean life. There are touches of Lovecraft here and I just adore the whole subject matter.
THE DOVE GAME is a weird story of time travel and magic. There’s a dream-like narrative and a lot of twists along the way.
The ones that were okay:
THE INTERVENTION is a story set in an interrogation room. Kim Newman is one of my favourite authors, but there isn’t much enjoyment factor in this one.
SMOKE CITY tells of futuristic vampires and is okay, but a little too ‘trendy’ for me. That and the whole vampire thing is boring now.
LOVE IS A STONE is about a love affair between a human and a witch. I found the overblown gore scenes to get in the way of the plot a bit.
THE MISTRESS OF MARWOOD HAGG is unusual, as it’s a historical horror story of torture and revenge in the 16th century. I enjoyed the setting, but it may be a little TOO spiteful.
BEDFORDSHIRE is an utterly horrifying exploration of child abuse. A nihilistic story in the extreme and deeply upsetting with it.
JENNIFER’S TURN tells of pensioners in a futuristic society and is quite close to the film LOGAN’s RUN. A little too much emphasis on fact not fiction here.
THE WATCHER AT THE WINDOW tells of two elderly spinsters disturbed by a watching face in a ruined house. I enjoyed the shudder-friendly scenario but found the climax too obscure.
GARDENS is an abstract, psychological story, not my favourite type, but it could be worse.
UNDER THE BRIGHT AND HOLLOW SKY is about a journalist looking into the disappearance of a Lovecraftian author in Edinburgh. This one attempts to blur the line between fantasy and reality and I found it a sinister read.
TIGER MOTH is all about loss and loneliness, and a very mature piece of writing.
The ones I didn’t like:
THE HANGED MAN OF OZ is about a guy who becomes convinced there’s a hanged man in the background of one of the scenes in The Wizard of Oz, and his obsession leads him into a fantastic landscape. I found this too indulgent on the author’s behalf.
L’IL MISS ULTRASOUND offers a beauty contest with a difference – babies are judged in the womb. This was completely repulsive, an excuse to explore some seriously sick sexual fantasies, nothing more.
THE OBEDIENT CHILD is just a story of human sadism that has been done so many times that it’s old hat.
THE BIG GREEN GRIN is a little too irreverent and unusual for my tastes, and I wasn’t expecting to feel that.
MEMENTO MORI should be good – it’s by Ray Bradbury, after all – but it’s not a real story, instead a piece of whimsy that doesn’t go anywhere.
OUT LATE IN THE PARK is about a group of old guys playing volleyball in the park. It just seems like something Peter Straub would write and it offers nothing new.
FINISHING SCHOOL is about a vampire girl in college, and I wanted to like it, as the author knows her stuff, but there’s no real backbone to the plot here, just aimless theorising.
MOTHER’S MILK is a story of freaks and weirdoes and comes close to being the worst in the book. It made me physically nauseous.
Trying to write about ALL the stories is going to be a mammoth job, too, so for ease I’m going to split them down into the ones I loved, the ones I liked, the ones that were okay, and the ones I didn’t like.
The ones I loved:
THE WIND SALL BLOW FOR EVER MAIR is a tale about a racist policeman in Australia and a real kicker, the kind of strongly-written story that never grows old.
THE LORDS OF ZERO tells of the modern-day menace of gangs of thugs on council estates in London. Lots of atmosphere and intelligence go into the writing of this one.
BOTH AND is about a guy starting a new factory job who’s been traumatised by his beating at the hands of a gang of jobs. This is a flawless piece of writing, every element spot-on, and to say more will be to spoil it.
THE RIGHT MEN is about a man contemplating suicide. Very short but very well written, with loads going on, this is disturbing too.
MR SLY STOPS FOR A CUP OF JOE is about a teenager holding up a coffee shop who doesn’t know one of the customers has a dark secret. It has the type of premise you can’t go wrong with and I just wish it was longer, as it left me wanting more.
NO MAN’S LAND explores the terror faced by soldiers in the First World War. Although there’s a supernatural aspect to this story, the realism of the tale never flags. Something about this war just captures and holds my imagination always.
COMING OF AGE concerns a missing son and his father’s efforts to track him down. Industrial decay and urban menace are the order of the day here in a story that strongly reminded me of Clive Barker’s work.
PICKING UP COURTNEY tells of an ordinary man picking up his daughter from school who sees something unpleasant – an old woman mistreating her dog. From there, this turns into an absolutely fantastic horror story full of good, weird stuff.
WATCHMEN has nothing to do with the film or comic book. Instead, it’s about nightclub bouncers who are driven to increasingly violent methods. Brutality and almost demonic fury are the order of the day in this action-packed effort.
The ones I liked:
THE BONE SHIP, about model ships created by prisoners of war in the Napoleonic era. The author takes a ghastly snippet of information from the annals of history and runs away with it.
BLAKE’S ANGEL, which is based around a piece of art by William Blake, and very well written, although a little too dark and disturbing for some tastes.
SOUNDS LIKE concerns a guy driven mad by his super-sensitivity to noise. It shows there are still some fresh and original stories out there.
“THE MEZZOTINT” is Lisa Tuttle’s updating of a M. R. James ghost story for modern readers. Mature, intelligent writing with no reliance on overdone gore here.
MOMENTS OF CHANGE sees an elderly retiree discovering vampires in his neighbourhood. Although I don’t like vampire stories per se, the strength of the writing carries this one through.
THE RAPTURES OF THE DEEP is about a marine scientist who becomes obsessed with ocean life. There are touches of Lovecraft here and I just adore the whole subject matter.
THE DOVE GAME is a weird story of time travel and magic. There’s a dream-like narrative and a lot of twists along the way.
The ones that were okay:
THE INTERVENTION is a story set in an interrogation room. Kim Newman is one of my favourite authors, but there isn’t much enjoyment factor in this one.
SMOKE CITY tells of futuristic vampires and is okay, but a little too ‘trendy’ for me. That and the whole vampire thing is boring now.
LOVE IS A STONE is about a love affair between a human and a witch. I found the overblown gore scenes to get in the way of the plot a bit.
THE MISTRESS OF MARWOOD HAGG is unusual, as it’s a historical horror story of torture and revenge in the 16th century. I enjoyed the setting, but it may be a little TOO spiteful.
BEDFORDSHIRE is an utterly horrifying exploration of child abuse. A nihilistic story in the extreme and deeply upsetting with it.
JENNIFER’S TURN tells of pensioners in a futuristic society and is quite close to the film LOGAN’s RUN. A little too much emphasis on fact not fiction here.
THE WATCHER AT THE WINDOW tells of two elderly spinsters disturbed by a watching face in a ruined house. I enjoyed the shudder-friendly scenario but found the climax too obscure.
GARDENS is an abstract, psychological story, not my favourite type, but it could be worse.
UNDER THE BRIGHT AND HOLLOW SKY is about a journalist looking into the disappearance of a Lovecraftian author in Edinburgh. This one attempts to blur the line between fantasy and reality and I found it a sinister read.
TIGER MOTH is all about loss and loneliness, and a very mature piece of writing.
The ones I didn’t like:
THE HANGED MAN OF OZ is about a guy who becomes convinced there’s a hanged man in the background of one of the scenes in The Wizard of Oz, and his obsession leads him into a fantastic landscape. I found this too indulgent on the author’s behalf.
L’IL MISS ULTRASOUND offers a beauty contest with a difference – babies are judged in the womb. This was completely repulsive, an excuse to explore some seriously sick sexual fantasies, nothing more.
THE OBEDIENT CHILD is just a story of human sadism that has been done so many times that it’s old hat.
THE BIG GREEN GRIN is a little too irreverent and unusual for my tastes, and I wasn’t expecting to feel that.
MEMENTO MORI should be good – it’s by Ray Bradbury, after all – but it’s not a real story, instead a piece of whimsy that doesn’t go anywhere.
OUT LATE IN THE PARK is about a group of old guys playing volleyball in the park. It just seems like something Peter Straub would write and it offers nothing new.
FINISHING SCHOOL is about a vampire girl in college, and I wanted to like it, as the author knows her stuff, but there’s no real backbone to the plot here, just aimless theorising.
MOTHER’S MILK is a story of freaks and weirdoes and comes close to being the worst in the book. It made me physically nauseous.
May 16, 2024
As usual, my favourite stories are those that are severely messed up! The wizard of OZ one haunted my sister and I for years. Mother's Milk creeped me out big time and the guy that was not dealing with the sounds of his wife's decomposing body so he operated on his own ears to finally live in silence? LOVE.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 29, 2008
Cutting to the chase, the stand-out stories are: Steve Nagy's The Hanged Man of Oz, Stephen Dedman's The Wind Sall Blow For Ever Mair, Lisa Tuttle's The Mezzotint, Tony Richards The Lords of Zero, Thomas Tessier Moments of Change, Gary Fry's Both And, Simon Brown's Love Is a Stone, Sara Douglass' The Mistress of Marwood Hagg, Michael Marshall Smith's The Right Men, Scott Emerson Bull's Mr. Sly Stops for a Cup of Joe, Adam L.G. Nevill's Mother's Milk, Chris Lawson and Simon Brown's No Man's Land, Tim Waggoner's Picking Up Courtney, and Aaron Sterns' Watchmen.
October 19, 2023
22% DNF
Read seven stories, randomly throughout, not one after the other. None of them were actual horror. They were gross, perverted and violent. No thank you.
Read seven stories, randomly throughout, not one after the other. None of them were actual horror. They were gross, perverted and violent. No thank you.
October 8, 2013
A truly superior horror anthology. I read this one about 10 years ago, but the overall feeling of unease and unpleasantness the stories evoked in me has stayed, even if I don't remember the stories that well.
The best one in there is probably Nagy's "The Hanged Man of Oz," which goes from silly to creepy to soul-shreddingly terrifying. One of my favorite horror stories ever. But "Mother's Milk" is fun too--it reminds me of Ramsey Campbell's "The Entertainment." If you've read the Campbell story, you know why that's high praise. "Lil' Miss Ultrasound" is hilarious and outrageous, and "Watchmen" is, if I remember correctly, gruesomely entertaining.
The only ones I remember NOT liking are Gahan Wilson's "The Big Green Grin"--it's pretty typical Wilson, which I've never really liked that much--and Lisa Tuttle's "The Mezzotint." While self-referential horror stories can work--"Wish You Were Here" from Haunt of Fear is a great example--Tuttle's attempt to update MR James' classic fizzles.
Most of the other stories are more or less par for the course--some better than others, but generally entertainingly predictable.
The best one in there is probably Nagy's "The Hanged Man of Oz," which goes from silly to creepy to soul-shreddingly terrifying. One of my favorite horror stories ever. But "Mother's Milk" is fun too--it reminds me of Ramsey Campbell's "The Entertainment." If you've read the Campbell story, you know why that's high praise. "Lil' Miss Ultrasound" is hilarious and outrageous, and "Watchmen" is, if I remember correctly, gruesomely entertaining.
The only ones I remember NOT liking are Gahan Wilson's "The Big Green Grin"--it's pretty typical Wilson, which I've never really liked that much--and Lisa Tuttle's "The Mezzotint." While self-referential horror stories can work--"Wish You Were Here" from Haunt of Fear is a great example--Tuttle's attempt to update MR James' classic fizzles.
Most of the other stories are more or less par for the course--some better than others, but generally entertainingly predictable.
May 20, 2015
This was an incredible anthology/collection. The editors did a fabulous job of pulling so many various stories. The different writing styles and the different topics all worked well together. And although there were a couple of stories I didn't like, in a collection this big that is unusual.
Now I have lots of new authors to check out.
Now I have lots of new authors to check out.
May 10, 2010
OK book.Not really my cup of tea for the most part.A little too much perversity and violence and hate for my liking.
February 13, 2019
Calling this novel a "horror anthology" is an honor this book does no deserve in the least. I only managed to get halfway through before finally deciding that I could torture myself no longer, so maybe I missed the good stories, but either way it is very half-assed. Only about 1 of the 10+ stories I read actually did all that a horror story should. The rest of them went up the first part of the roller coaster and either went down much too fast or simply stopped there - thus creating a very amateurish atmosphere. If the novel was an amateur collection, I'd be much more benevolent but it in no way indicates this so I am going to be as harsh as I want. All-in-all this book is shit. Some of the stories stuck in my head, but all for the wrong reasons - "Li'l Miss Ultrasound" was disturbing. It was a story that tried much too hard to be cutting edge. It was the story of a contest where you photoshopped ultrasounds (?? this was very poorly explained) but the one judge was a pedophile and got off on the thought of the prenatal children....yeah...not good. It is a story that sticks in your head for all the wrong reasons and isn't written very well in the first place. Some may argue that it is a horror story and supposed to be disturbing but to that I say there are many other ways you can do something like that with class, not like that. Most of this was a rant (sorry about that), but don't waste your time reading this piece of shit. Read Clive Barker or hell even Steven King; even that piece-of-shit King can orchestrate a horror story better than these authors.
September 19, 2019
These so-called “horror” stories don’t chill me.
I picked up gathering the bones so I could read Ray Bradbury’s “Memento Mori.” It begins with an intriguing scenario, but it falls flat—it has black-robed old harpies of death, that’s been done before.
The themes of the stories touch on horrible things: war, death, young girls drowning, a modern take on “The Tell-Tale Heart” idea with a fella who can hear the putrefying organs in dead bodies, that sort of thing…
The words are there, the horribleness is there, but the stories aren’t horrifying. Not horrifying like Lovecraft is horrifying (“The Rats in the Walls”)…
A story about death is not a horror story unless the reader gets horrified by the author’s insight, the author’s distinctively deadly prose, the author’s willingness to point down the path beyond the place where you can see clearly…
gathering the bones is not a road map to horror.
Read more of my book reviews and poems here:
www.richardsubber.com
I picked up gathering the bones so I could read Ray Bradbury’s “Memento Mori.” It begins with an intriguing scenario, but it falls flat—it has black-robed old harpies of death, that’s been done before.
The themes of the stories touch on horrible things: war, death, young girls drowning, a modern take on “The Tell-Tale Heart” idea with a fella who can hear the putrefying organs in dead bodies, that sort of thing…
The words are there, the horribleness is there, but the stories aren’t horrifying. Not horrifying like Lovecraft is horrifying (“The Rats in the Walls”)…
A story about death is not a horror story unless the reader gets horrified by the author’s insight, the author’s distinctively deadly prose, the author’s willingness to point down the path beyond the place where you can see clearly…
gathering the bones is not a road map to horror.
Read more of my book reviews and poems here:
www.richardsubber.com
April 25, 2020
Horror anthology. Theme: international (English-speaking nations). Highlight: “No Man’s Land” by Chris Lawson and Simon Brown (how much more horrifying do the trenches of World War One have to be?). Lowlights: “Smoke City” by Russell Blackford (goth vampires playing VR video games? I quit reading it), “Finishing School” by Cherry Wilder (more vampires, this time in some kind of a half-baked Harlequin Hogwarts for bloodsuckers), and “Mother’s Milk” by Adam L.G. Nevill (one of those uninteresting yarns where the whole point seems to be that it’s hard to tell exactly what’s going on). Overall: some entertaining stuff here and there, but lots of let-downs as well. Entries from Ray Bradbury and Gahan Wilson were especially disappointing, not terrible but a far cry from the best work these guys can do. With Dennis Etchison and Ramsey Campbell at the helm (joined by Jack Dann), I expected better.
January 23, 2019
I didn't enjoy these tales as much as I had thought I would. There is too many vampire stories and not enough of the other members of the horror genre. I would say that unless you are a big fan of vampire horror you are also going to be disappointed with this collection. The only reason I'm giving this book a 3 is because I did find one or two stories that were interesting and made the reading worthwhile.
February 12, 2023
This is a first anthology put together by an author I greatly admire. I don't read many novels in the horror/suspense genre but I do read and enjoy short stories. Occasionally one will lead me to try a longer work by an author but by and large I enjoy for they are. What they is often works that more interesting and perceptive then standard literary works.
I really enjoyed this anthology and rate it highly.
I really enjoyed this anthology and rate it highly.
March 27, 2025
Started and finished date - 22.02.25 to 25.03.25.
My rating - Three Stars.
This book was okay and I did enjoyed this book but I didnt love it also the cover of book was stunning. The paced of plot in most of stories was fine but some of them felt rush also the writing was okay. The atmosphere was pretty good and the endings of stories was okay. The characters was fine but I would have them to flash out bit.
My rating - Three Stars.
This book was okay and I did enjoyed this book but I didnt love it also the cover of book was stunning. The paced of plot in most of stories was fine but some of them felt rush also the writing was okay. The atmosphere was pretty good and the endings of stories was okay. The characters was fine but I would have them to flash out bit.
Want to read
May 13, 2025PLACEHOLDER REVIEW
In "The Big Green Grin" by Gahan Wilson some sort of "genius loci" (as the story is told almost like a fable, there is no actual explanation) that manifests as a huge vegetal mouth at the back of an empty lot becomes part of a young boy's ill-prepared scheme to eliminate his sister. Cute, short yarn with the third of three potential outcomes.
In "The Big Green Grin" by Gahan Wilson some sort of "genius loci" (as the story is told almost like a fable, there is no actual explanation) that manifests as a huge vegetal mouth at the back of an empty lot becomes part of a young boy's ill-prepared scheme to eliminate his sister. Cute, short yarn with the third of three potential outcomes.
June 22, 2022
Fabulous collection, varied and unique stories.
June 6, 2023
Some of these short stories on their own deserve 5 stars, but as an anthology it was average
June 23, 2009
I pretty much stick to my favorite writers and rarely branch out, but reading this collection was certainly an interesting pulse on recent horror writers from the UK, USA and Australia. There were a few stories that really stuck out, but most were quite mediocre. The few that were great really could have been full-length novels, and so even they were a bit disappointing in that way.
September 18, 2012
I read about three of the stories in the book, but couldn't get into it. I was hoping for something spooky, but the stories in this book just have a twist at the end...and none of the twists (that I read) were interesting enough for me to read the rest of the stories.
September 10, 2015
As with most anthologies, there are average and good stories. Some are quite disturbing some not so. In particular The Hanging Man of Oz stayed with me longer than I would like. Good show of Australian authors.
June 20, 2015
An anthology of horror stories ranging from vampires to ghosts to the horrifying things people are capable of. As with any anthology, there were definitely some stinkers. But definitely worth a read!
borrowed-not-kept
April 15, 2016I checked this one out of the library: only three stories I wanted to read:
"The Big Green Grin" written and illustrated by Gahan Wilson !!!
"Memento Mori" a *new* story from Ray Bradbury !!!
"The Mistress of Marwood Hag" by Sara Douglass
"The Big Green Grin" written and illustrated by Gahan Wilson !!!
"Memento Mori" a *new* story from Ray Bradbury !!!
"The Mistress of Marwood Hag" by Sara Douglass
December 5, 2010
Excellant selection of horror stories
July 8, 2012
Psychological horror short stories - definitely for older readers *shiver
May 7, 2023
Not my cup of tea. I read a few stories, but I just couldn't get into it. To me, there was no horror aspect at all.
Read
April 14, 2008Horror,Anthology
Read
August 23, 2008Gathering the bones by ed and Ramsey Campbell and Dennis Etchison Jack Dann (2003)
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews