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Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters
From award-nominated writer John Langan comes a collection of uneasy meetings. A frustrated professor and his graduate student assistant accompany a group of soldiers to a remote Scottish island to learn what is buried there. A man plays an audiotape left for him by his late father and is initiated into a family story of monstrous deeds. A student learns frightening lessons in a surreal tutoring center. A young couple struggles to make their stand against a group of inhuman pursuers in a ravaged landscape. And, in a new story, an artist discovers a mysterious statue whose completion becomes his obsession.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published July 29, 2008
94 people are currently reading
2656 people want to read
About the author
John Langan
82 books1,853 followersJohn Langan is the author of two novels, The Fisherman (Word Horde 2016) and House of Windows (Night Shade 2009), and two collections of stories, The Wide, Carnivorous Sky and Other Monstrous Geographies (Hippocampus 2013) and Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters (Prime 2008). With Paul Tremblay, he co-edited Creatures: Thirty Years of Monsters (Prime 2011). He's one of the founders of the Shirley Jackson Awards, for which he served as a juror during its first three years. Currently, he reviews horror and dark fantasy for Locus magazine.
John Langan lives in New York's Hudson Valley with his wife, younger son, and many, many animals. He teaches at SUNY New Paltz. He's working toward his black belt in the Korean martial art of Tang Soo Do.
John Langan lives in New York's Hudson Valley with his wife, younger son, and many, many animals. He teaches at SUNY New Paltz. He's working toward his black belt in the Korean martial art of Tang Soo Do.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 102 reviews
October 10, 2022
I have so much respect and admiration for John Langan. From my own attempts at writing, I’m not sure I have decent horror stories in me, but I’ve found myself wishing I could pick his brain about how he writes. Reading his short stories and their accompanying notes may be a poor substitute for fangirling all the way and going to take his classes, but it will do for now!
“Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters” was his first collection, most of the stories having been published almost twenty years ago. And what an awesome collection it is! Some of his later stories were collected loosely by theme, and if there is one here, it is the process of art, the way it is a practice, an exploration of the place it takes in our lives
I found myself thinking of “Northanger Abbey” as I read this, not because the two books have much in common, but because they both show an element of writer’s self-consciousness: writers writing about writers writing almost feels like a rite of passage that authors go through early into their career, and I always enjoy those works, because they are quite revealing of how the person holding the pen goes about making room for their craft in their lives.
Langan loves classic writers and classic themes, but he hates clichés, so while you will find haunting, mummies and sentient skeletons in these pages, they are completely different from the way you have seen them before, the implication of their existence is darker than those of any Hammer Horror movie. And frankly, much better and much more interesting, no offence meant to the great Boris Karloff. The prose is rich, and draws you in, the characters feel all too real in their loneliness, struggles and confusion, and when the creepy elements worm their way on the page, they feel unsettling and disturbingly possible.
I loved all the stories in this collection, but I must mention the third story, “Tutorial”: it is a wonderful piece of meta-fiction, and it really got me thinking about my own writing, and about not being too afraid of my inner critic. He won’t stab me, I should just write the way I want to. Thank you for that, Mr. Langan!
If you are new to this great author’s work, this is the perfect starting place; I love all his books and can’t recommend them enough!
“Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters” was his first collection, most of the stories having been published almost twenty years ago. And what an awesome collection it is! Some of his later stories were collected loosely by theme, and if there is one here, it is the process of art, the way it is a practice, an exploration of the place it takes in our lives
I found myself thinking of “Northanger Abbey” as I read this, not because the two books have much in common, but because they both show an element of writer’s self-consciousness: writers writing about writers writing almost feels like a rite of passage that authors go through early into their career, and I always enjoy those works, because they are quite revealing of how the person holding the pen goes about making room for their craft in their lives.
Langan loves classic writers and classic themes, but he hates clichés, so while you will find haunting, mummies and sentient skeletons in these pages, they are completely different from the way you have seen them before, the implication of their existence is darker than those of any Hammer Horror movie. And frankly, much better and much more interesting, no offence meant to the great Boris Karloff. The prose is rich, and draws you in, the characters feel all too real in their loneliness, struggles and confusion, and when the creepy elements worm their way on the page, they feel unsettling and disturbingly possible.
I loved all the stories in this collection, but I must mention the third story, “Tutorial”: it is a wonderful piece of meta-fiction, and it really got me thinking about my own writing, and about not being too afraid of my inner critic. He won’t stab me, I should just write the way I want to. Thank you for that, Mr. Langan!
If you are new to this great author’s work, this is the perfect starting place; I love all his books and can’t recommend them enough!
May 1, 2020
This collection of five (long-ish) stories was quite fantastic. “Mr. Gaunt” the title story was particularly chilling. Mr. Langan’s talent for building tension and developing oppressive atmospheres really shone here. As a surprisingly wonderful bonus, as I was reading I noticed a reference to (what couldn’t possibly be) a landmark right down the road from my own house. Thus, in the age of Google, I looked Mr. Langan up and discovered, in fact, that he lives in my general neighborhood and teaches a mere five miles from my house! Thus, the stories felt personal as all but one were set in my town. I feel this collection is excellent on its own but made even better because Mr. Langan wrote from home.
December 24, 2022
John Langan continually shows that he is a true artist, seamlessly blending classic sensibilities with modern style. In an intro for this collection, Elizabeth Hand mentions that he invokes not just the classics of the genre, and writing in general (like M.R. James, Henry James, H.P. Lovecraft) but also the modern masters, such as Stephen King and Ramsey Campbell, and is absolutely correct. No one writes modern horror literature like Langan does. He is a truly gifted craftsman of language.
The first two stories in the book, "On Skua Island" and "Mr. Gaunt", are a joy to read and as brilliant as his novels House of Windows and The Fisherman. "Tutorial" and "Episode Seven" are not quite as strong, but still wonderful reads. The first time I've encountered a major misstep in his writing is the final tale "Laocoon or The Singularity". The writing itself is just as strong as the in the other stories, but the tale itself is full of too much irrelevant information. It felt like he went a bit bugnuts with trying to relay personal knowledge of Greek history/mythology, comic books and a few other subjects, allowing those details to invade the story too much. Regardless, I have yet to not be amazed after reading a story penned by Langan.
The first two stories in the book, "On Skua Island" and "Mr. Gaunt", are a joy to read and as brilliant as his novels House of Windows and The Fisherman. "Tutorial" and "Episode Seven" are not quite as strong, but still wonderful reads. The first time I've encountered a major misstep in his writing is the final tale "Laocoon or The Singularity". The writing itself is just as strong as the in the other stories, but the tale itself is full of too much irrelevant information. It felt like he went a bit bugnuts with trying to relay personal knowledge of Greek history/mythology, comic books and a few other subjects, allowing those details to invade the story too much. Regardless, I have yet to not be amazed after reading a story penned by Langan.
November 17, 2009
This is John Langan's first short story collection (by now he also has a debut novel out). It contains 4 short stories of varying lengths and one previously unpublished novella.
Langan has an excellent prose style and a great grasp of atmosphere and character. However, he often stumbles when it comes to introducing the element of the horrific into his stories. The most effective story here, 'On Skua Island' nods to Henry James' 'The Turn Of The Screw' in its structure, and for the most part Langan's tale, strong on atmosphere, pacing and character, is worthy of its model. The horrific element is presented in a manner reminiscent of that other James, Montague Rhodes, with a wealth of archaeological detail. It's the actual eruption of the numinous into the story that broke with all this subtlety and restraint. Stepping swiftly into Robert E. Howard mode (an association that was immediately suggested to me while reading this story and confirmed in the author's Story Notes), the end of the story plays itself out in a rush of mad action, an uncomfortable shift of gears that still holds up because of the strong narrative voice and sense of place.
The next story, 'Mr. Gaunt', manages that shift a lot less smoothly. Henry James is alluded to more explicitly as the point of view character's dead father, a James scholar, narrates a message from beyond the grave, via a tape recording made shortly before his demise. Again, tone of voice, characterisation and atmosphere are rich and satisfying. Mr. Gaunt was the dead father's brother's butler - a very creepy man who apparently did something very terrible. The dead man has framed this family secret in a sort of fable that he used to tell his son as a cautionary tale. Fragments of this tale are told to us through the story, helping to build a wonderful sense of suspense. This time though, I felt incredulous when all this subtly sustained suspense culminates in a scene from a pulp horror tale, almost laughable in its hokey trappings. The author avers that the real climax of the story is a little further along,and there is a scene of subtle, effective unease a page or two later, but the damage has been done. Langan has failed to learn one of the most important lessons a horror writer can learn from the ghostly tales of both Jameses: a little suggestion and a lot of atmosphere can go a longer way than explicit descriptions, especially since your phobia might be someone else's laughable cliche.
The collection goes further downhill with the next tale, the execrable 'Tutorial', which attempts to parlay a fledgling horror writer's frustration at having his choice of genre mocked and his stylistic choices greeted with an injunction to study Strunk & White. It's nothing more than a temper tantrum at not being loved by everyone, and the typical rapid descent from intriguing suggestion to disappointing explicitness doesn't help this tale any.
By now, I was predisposed to dislike 'Episode Seven', a cliched post-apocalyptic chase sequence with its only notable feature seeming to be an interesting if ultimately pointless formal experiment. However, this story did redeem itself by eventually finding the ultimate source of it's horror not in the ravening, wolflike pack that has somehow taken over the world, or the large purple flowers that are sprouting everywhere (I told you Langan had a fatal fondness for hokey plot elements) but in the focus character's companion, who seems to be becoming something other than human in order to survive. What exactly he is becoming, and whether it is something real, symbolic or just imagined by his traumatised companion is never made clear. I think that ambiguity is why this tale succeeds in the end.
The concluding novella, 'Laocoon, or the singularity' is a somewhat brilliant character study of a man who has failed to fulfill his artistic potential and is watching his family and his life spin out of his control. It is overlaid with a bizarre element that serves to focus and bring out his disintegration, but the end is rather predictable. Langan's incorporation of modern pop cultural elements like comic books and science fiction stories in the last couple of stories make an interesting contrast to the antiquarian tendencies of the first two, but I am not particularly impressed by the manner in which they are handled. They seem to reduce the tales to the sort of referential characterisation you get in web comics or tv shows targeted at hipsters.
In conclusion, a collection that shows more promise than brilliance. The quality of Langan's literary style and his grasp of character and atmosphere make me expect more from him than these tawdry horror-theme-park trappings.
Langan has an excellent prose style and a great grasp of atmosphere and character. However, he often stumbles when it comes to introducing the element of the horrific into his stories. The most effective story here, 'On Skua Island' nods to Henry James' 'The Turn Of The Screw' in its structure, and for the most part Langan's tale, strong on atmosphere, pacing and character, is worthy of its model. The horrific element is presented in a manner reminiscent of that other James, Montague Rhodes, with a wealth of archaeological detail. It's the actual eruption of the numinous into the story that broke with all this subtlety and restraint. Stepping swiftly into Robert E. Howard mode (an association that was immediately suggested to me while reading this story and confirmed in the author's Story Notes), the end of the story plays itself out in a rush of mad action, an uncomfortable shift of gears that still holds up because of the strong narrative voice and sense of place.
The next story, 'Mr. Gaunt', manages that shift a lot less smoothly. Henry James is alluded to more explicitly as the point of view character's dead father, a James scholar, narrates a message from beyond the grave, via a tape recording made shortly before his demise. Again, tone of voice, characterisation and atmosphere are rich and satisfying. Mr. Gaunt was the dead father's brother's butler - a very creepy man who apparently did something very terrible. The dead man has framed this family secret in a sort of fable that he used to tell his son as a cautionary tale. Fragments of this tale are told to us through the story, helping to build a wonderful sense of suspense. This time though, I felt incredulous when all this subtly sustained suspense culminates in a scene from a pulp horror tale, almost laughable in its hokey trappings. The author avers that the real climax of the story is a little further along,and there is a scene of subtle, effective unease a page or two later, but the damage has been done. Langan has failed to learn one of the most important lessons a horror writer can learn from the ghostly tales of both Jameses: a little suggestion and a lot of atmosphere can go a longer way than explicit descriptions, especially since your phobia might be someone else's laughable cliche.
The collection goes further downhill with the next tale, the execrable 'Tutorial', which attempts to parlay a fledgling horror writer's frustration at having his choice of genre mocked and his stylistic choices greeted with an injunction to study Strunk & White. It's nothing more than a temper tantrum at not being loved by everyone, and the typical rapid descent from intriguing suggestion to disappointing explicitness doesn't help this tale any.
By now, I was predisposed to dislike 'Episode Seven', a cliched post-apocalyptic chase sequence with its only notable feature seeming to be an interesting if ultimately pointless formal experiment. However, this story did redeem itself by eventually finding the ultimate source of it's horror not in the ravening, wolflike pack that has somehow taken over the world, or the large purple flowers that are sprouting everywhere (I told you Langan had a fatal fondness for hokey plot elements) but in the focus character's companion, who seems to be becoming something other than human in order to survive. What exactly he is becoming, and whether it is something real, symbolic or just imagined by his traumatised companion is never made clear. I think that ambiguity is why this tale succeeds in the end.
The concluding novella, 'Laocoon, or the singularity' is a somewhat brilliant character study of a man who has failed to fulfill his artistic potential and is watching his family and his life spin out of his control. It is overlaid with a bizarre element that serves to focus and bring out his disintegration, but the end is rather predictable. Langan's incorporation of modern pop cultural elements like comic books and science fiction stories in the last couple of stories make an interesting contrast to the antiquarian tendencies of the first two, but I am not particularly impressed by the manner in which they are handled. They seem to reduce the tales to the sort of referential characterisation you get in web comics or tv shows targeted at hipsters.
In conclusion, a collection that shows more promise than brilliance. The quality of Langan's literary style and his grasp of character and atmosphere make me expect more from him than these tawdry horror-theme-park trappings.
January 9, 2015
Wonderfully crafted, original tales of terror penned in the grand tradition of great horror fiction.
John Langan’s collection of four short stories and a novella is great supernatural fiction, a fine full-bodied mix of the ‘old English ghost story’ and the best horror pulps of the 1920s and 30s. With delightfully rich and sophisticated prose, Langdon masterfully blends traditional elements of horror and dark adventure – from mummies, sarcophagi, and post-apocalypse survivalists -- with modern pop culture, art history, and even the rules of English grammar(!) to create moody, atmospheric tales that chill with subtle dread. While the eponymous Mr. Gaunt is certainly my favorite of five stories – a gem of a tale with vivid characters, creepy twists, turns and locales, and a magnificent plot – all of Langan’s Uneasy Encounters are well-crafted and suitably eerie – best read late at night with a groaning wind and cold rain splattering the windows.
A great little collection of sophisticated supernatural horror!
March 27, 2019
O Λάνγκαν είναι ένας συγγραφέας τρόμου που αναμειγνύει τις συμβάσεις του είδους με μια προσεγμένη γραφή. Δεν μακρηγορεί, δηλαδή δεν αναλώνεται σε πολυσέλιδες αφηγήσεις, όπως οι εμπορικότεροι του είδους. Αυτό μάλλον του στοιχίζει, καθώς αυτό το είδος που τόσο πολύ το αγαπάω είναι σε μια σχετική αφάνεια.
Αυτό το βιβλίο αποτελείται από σχετικά πρώιμες ιστορίες (2008), και ενώ είναι εξαιρετικά γραμμένο, υπολείπεται σε σχέση με την επόμενη συλλογή του "The Wide Carnivorous Sky..." του 2013, που του είχα δώσει πέντε αστέρια ανενδοίαστα, καθώς και του εξαιρετικού μυθιστορήματος Λαβκραφκικής φρίκης, "Fisherman".
Είναι ένα βιβλίο για να γνωριστεί ο αναγνώστης μαζί του, αν και νομίζω πως θα προηγηθούν οι αναγνώσεις των δύο παραπάνω βιβλίων, μέχρι κάποιος να πιάσει και τούτο από αγάπη για την γραφή του.
Αυτό το βιβλίο αποτελείται από σχετικά πρώιμες ιστορίες (2008), και ενώ είναι εξαιρετικά γραμμένο, υπολείπεται σε σχέση με την επόμενη συλλογή του "The Wide Carnivorous Sky..." του 2013, που του είχα δώσει πέντε αστέρια ανενδοίαστα, καθώς και του εξαιρετικού μυθιστορήματος Λαβκραφκικής φρίκης, "Fisherman".
Είναι ένα βιβλίο για να γνωριστεί ο αναγνώστης μαζί του, αν και νομίζω πως θα προηγηθούν οι αναγνώσεις των δύο παραπάνω βιβλίων, μέχρι κάποιος να πιάσει και τούτο από αγάπη για την γραφή του.
April 19, 2010
A pretty good book if you have the patience for it.I found that it did drag some, especially in the middle, with the first story being the best one in the mix.A very quick review follows.
The first story,On Skua Island,reminds me a little of Lovecraft and those who have followed after him.The characters are well drawn and the pace keeps you interested until the end.
Mr. Gaunt,which the book is named after,was also an interesting story about an evil uncle and his side-kick who appears to be not what he at first seems.
Tutorial I found just plain aggravating and didn't finish it.
Episode Seven was OK but nothing special while The Singularity was another good Lovecraftian story.\
I got this book at the library and overall was pleased.
The first story,On Skua Island,reminds me a little of Lovecraft and those who have followed after him.The characters are well drawn and the pace keeps you interested until the end.
Mr. Gaunt,which the book is named after,was also an interesting story about an evil uncle and his side-kick who appears to be not what he at first seems.
Tutorial I found just plain aggravating and didn't finish it.
Episode Seven was OK but nothing special while The Singularity was another good Lovecraftian story.\
I got this book at the library and overall was pleased.
June 24, 2016
4.5, really. Langan's byzantine, beautiful prose sometimes distracts me from the plots. (Not a surprising quality in a James lover.) I have to think about these some more.
February 24, 2024
I thoroughly enjoyed this collection. Every story felt distinct, but there was enough of a connecting thread by virtue of Langan’s writing style that it never felt so much like a slap-dash collection. More like stories told by a friend on the back porch during a summer storm. Which might be an absurd thing to say, but I have never claimed to be a great reviewer of anything.
The only story that didn’t fully hit for me was Episode Seven, and that’s not because it’s bad, more that I am just not the audience for it. Though there were moments in it I did truly enjoy.
The only story that didn’t fully hit for me was Episode Seven, and that’s not because it’s bad, more that I am just not the audience for it. Though there were moments in it I did truly enjoy.
August 14, 2023
*** 3.375 stars out of 5 ***
As usual with short story collections, I rated each story individually and averaged the overall score.
Well, I guess this was my least favourite Langan collection. Still though, that definitely doesn’t mean in the slightest that this is a bad anthology. This collection, as anything Langan pens, is great.
Let’s unpack it.
This was Langan’s first collection. I know he’s been writing well before the tales here but as far as i know this is his first published book. So, you can definitely see he’s trying to find his voice and tone here. His prose gets heavy-handed at times, his sentences get too long and baroque (even by Langan standards), narration gets distracted by unrelated bits etc.. Don’t get me wrong though, these “flaws” barely affect the reading enjoyment. Honestly, I might be nitpicking here.
Everything else is just like your regular Langan, one of the best writing in modern horror and weird lit.
My absolute favourites of the collection were “Mr.Gaunt” and “Lacoön, or The Singularity”. Those stories were spectacular. I enjoyed “On Skua Island”, “Tutorial” and “Tethered” to varying degrees and didn’t like “Episode Seven: Last Stand Against The Pack in The Kingdom of Purple Flowers”. One last thing before I sign off, I really liked the fact that the stories here were mostly on the longer side, most of them novelettes and novellas honestly. I don’t know why but I always liked longer Langan stories more.
Overall, this is one of the better contemporary horror collections out there. If you enjoy the weird and eerie, definitely give this one a go.
As usual with short story collections, I rated each story individually and averaged the overall score.
Well, I guess this was my least favourite Langan collection. Still though, that definitely doesn’t mean in the slightest that this is a bad anthology. This collection, as anything Langan pens, is great.
Let’s unpack it.
This was Langan’s first collection. I know he’s been writing well before the tales here but as far as i know this is his first published book. So, you can definitely see he’s trying to find his voice and tone here. His prose gets heavy-handed at times, his sentences get too long and baroque (even by Langan standards), narration gets distracted by unrelated bits etc.. Don’t get me wrong though, these “flaws” barely affect the reading enjoyment. Honestly, I might be nitpicking here.
Everything else is just like your regular Langan, one of the best writing in modern horror and weird lit.
My absolute favourites of the collection were “Mr.Gaunt” and “Lacoön, or The Singularity”. Those stories were spectacular. I enjoyed “On Skua Island”, “Tutorial” and “Tethered” to varying degrees and didn’t like “Episode Seven: Last Stand Against The Pack in The Kingdom of Purple Flowers”. One last thing before I sign off, I really liked the fact that the stories here were mostly on the longer side, most of them novelettes and novellas honestly. I don’t know why but I always liked longer Langan stories more.
Overall, this is one of the better contemporary horror collections out there. If you enjoy the weird and eerie, definitely give this one a go.
January 8, 2021
I am a big John Langan fan and this is the second story collection I've read from him, though it was his first published. I do prefer The Wide Carnivorous Sky to this collection as I loved the experimental stories in that and had a blast overall. Having said that, this is still a very good and well-written collection of stories and I very much enjoyed it overall. The title story here is I think one of Langan's best as I loved the creepy atmosphere of it and how it made skeletons creepy as they aren't often written about in horror. The style also very much seemed reminiscent of an old ghost story from M.R. or Henry James as well which I loved and there is a scene here which I found very effective because I am claustrophobic. Another great standout is "On Skua Island" which is a very fresh and interesting take on the mummy legend and with some amazing action scenes depicted and a wonderful, oppressive atmosphere throughout. The opening here is also a nod to the opening of "The Turn of the Screw" by Henry James which was a nice little easter egg for horror fans. Also, this story made me want to look up more about bog-mummies! Another one I really enjoyed here was "Episode Seven" because of the experimental way it was written and its unique take on an apocalyptic scenario. "Tutorial" was pretty good overall with some great creepy imagery but a little meandering in parts I found. "Laocoon, or The Singularity" I mostly liked though I did find it a bit overlong. I was always interested reading it though and there was once again excellent horror imagery here and a strong ending. I also loved the H.R. Giger nods in this one. Overall, this is a very solid debut collection and, though not Langan's best in my opinion, it is great for horror fans of any type and I highly recommend this book and all of Langan's other works as I think he is one of the best horror writers working today.
September 11, 2009
John Langan is my new favorite author. Seriously creepy and unsettling stories (novellas, really).
His writing style is new to me and at first, I was thinking, Oh God, just end the sentence already! But the subject matter in the first story piqued me and I continued. Glad I did.
Horror isn't my favorite genre, but Langan controls it spectacularly. You won't believe how he wields words and sentence structure. It is truly amazing and gives me hope that writing can be an adventure. But his talent also makes me realize the small crumbs of my own skill.
So what do I want to be, a reader or a writer? If there were more like this collection around, I think I'd gladly remain the former.
His writing style is new to me and at first, I was thinking, Oh God, just end the sentence already! But the subject matter in the first story piqued me and I continued. Glad I did.
Horror isn't my favorite genre, but Langan controls it spectacularly. You won't believe how he wields words and sentence structure. It is truly amazing and gives me hope that writing can be an adventure. But his talent also makes me realize the small crumbs of my own skill.
So what do I want to be, a reader or a writer? If there were more like this collection around, I think I'd gladly remain the former.
August 22, 2009
Full review here: http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com/?p=855
July 22, 2023
A weird novella/elbeszélésirodalommal akartam ismerkedni egy kicsit. Belekezdtem több kötetbe is (megvoltak a könyvtárban), de valamiért csak Langan volt az, aki úgy megfogta a figyelmemet, hogy minden történetet végig akartam olvasni. Pedig korábban egyáltalán nem hallottam erről a szerzőről (mondjuk, ez engem is minősít).
Nagyon rokonszenves ezekben a történetekben az, hogy komolyan veszik a hagyomány és a kortárs művészet közötti kapcsolatokat. A klasszikust is összekötik a populárissal (pl. antik istenek mint Marvel-hősök, ami abszolút nem ördögtől való gondolat). Főszereplőik rendszerint komoly műveltséggel bírnak – attól még persze ugyanolyan ökörségeket csinálnak, mint bármely weird történet hősei.
Részletes értékelés a blogon:
https://gyujtogeto-alkoto.blog.hu/202...
Nagyon rokonszenves ezekben a történetekben az, hogy komolyan veszik a hagyomány és a kortárs művészet közötti kapcsolatokat. A klasszikust is összekötik a populárissal (pl. antik istenek mint Marvel-hősök, ami abszolút nem ördögtől való gondolat). Főszereplőik rendszerint komoly műveltséggel bírnak – attól még persze ugyanolyan ökörségeket csinálnak, mint bármely weird történet hősei.
Részletes értékelés a blogon:
https://gyujtogeto-alkoto.blog.hu/202...
September 12, 2021
In my first experience with John Langan's short fiction, it's hard to describe him as anything but a master at the craft. Though the entries in Mr. Gaunt fall more into the novella, or at least novelette, length, they are consistently written with a sly brilliance. The reader is lulled into literary excellence under the guise of genre fiction. Before I make it sound overly pompous, the gore and chills you'll want in a horror collection are here in spades.
"On Skua Island" makes use of Langan's trademark story-within-a-story style found in The Fisherman, and shines the spotlight on a criminally underutilized monster. "Mr. Gaunt" the titular story tells the story of a father's strained relationship with his son, after the father passes, leading to some of the most horrifying moments and visceral imagery found within these pages. "Tutorial" decries the academic approach to writing, encouraging newer writers to follow their dreams and not allow stuffy old men to break them. "Laocoon, or the Singularity" has the longest runtime, but reads more as the lean novella it is, as opposed to a bloated short story.
Langan perpetually explores horror through the use of mythology, even delving into comics, superheroes, and horror movies as modern mythology, a subject I find endlessly fascinating. While I didn't love every entry, there's a lot more to like than to skip here.
I received a copy from the author for review consideration.
"On Skua Island" makes use of Langan's trademark story-within-a-story style found in The Fisherman, and shines the spotlight on a criminally underutilized monster. "Mr. Gaunt" the titular story tells the story of a father's strained relationship with his son, after the father passes, leading to some of the most horrifying moments and visceral imagery found within these pages. "Tutorial" decries the academic approach to writing, encouraging newer writers to follow their dreams and not allow stuffy old men to break them. "Laocoon, or the Singularity" has the longest runtime, but reads more as the lean novella it is, as opposed to a bloated short story.
Langan perpetually explores horror through the use of mythology, even delving into comics, superheroes, and horror movies as modern mythology, a subject I find endlessly fascinating. While I didn't love every entry, there's a lot more to like than to skip here.
I received a copy from the author for review consideration.
August 24, 2019
3.5, rounded up.
A solid collection of Gothic and weird tales. The highs are astounding, but the lows... I don't generally work this way, but there are only five stories here so I'll tackle each individually.
"On Skua Island" is the best story here, hands down, surprising for a mummy story. By focusing on a Scottish bog mummy, Langan rings some cool changes on the theme while still hitting many traditional beats. He also plays with framing and the classic "club story". Not his best work, but awesome all the way.
"Mr. Gaunt" is the most Gothic of the stories and another play on a classic but trite monster, this time the skeleton. No kidding. It is also incredibly atmospheric and foreboding. It also has a framing device, but the story might have been better without it.
"Tutorial" is a blackly comic screed against homogenous thought, specifically in academic and literary circles. It mainly focuses its ire on the Strunk-and-White streamlining craze that disdains more demonstrative prose. It's also surprisingly intense; expect peculiar torture and vitriol in all directions.
"Episode Seven..." is, pardon the pun, the dog of the bunch. The strained, unsuccessful stylistic formality overshadows the too-thin story. I applaud the will to experiment, but some experiments are doomed.
The final story, "Laocoon...", has an interesting premise, but the self-pitying, deluded protagonist hobbles it. So does the length; there are many more words than there is substance, which makes the main character almost unbearable by the end. It ends the book on a bum note, excluding the charming story notes.
Langan would vastly improve by the time of his second collection, The Wide, Carnivorous Sky and Other Monstrous Geographies, and the first three stories are damn near there. The last two drag the whole thing down, though. Still, if you like older story forms and experimentation, you should try it.
A solid collection of Gothic and weird tales. The highs are astounding, but the lows... I don't generally work this way, but there are only five stories here so I'll tackle each individually.
"On Skua Island" is the best story here, hands down, surprising for a mummy story. By focusing on a Scottish bog mummy, Langan rings some cool changes on the theme while still hitting many traditional beats. He also plays with framing and the classic "club story". Not his best work, but awesome all the way.
"Mr. Gaunt" is the most Gothic of the stories and another play on a classic but trite monster, this time the skeleton. No kidding. It is also incredibly atmospheric and foreboding. It also has a framing device, but the story might have been better without it.
"Tutorial" is a blackly comic screed against homogenous thought, specifically in academic and literary circles. It mainly focuses its ire on the Strunk-and-White streamlining craze that disdains more demonstrative prose. It's also surprisingly intense; expect peculiar torture and vitriol in all directions.
"Episode Seven..." is, pardon the pun, the dog of the bunch. The strained, unsuccessful stylistic formality overshadows the too-thin story. I applaud the will to experiment, but some experiments are doomed.
The final story, "Laocoon...", has an interesting premise, but the self-pitying, deluded protagonist hobbles it. So does the length; there are many more words than there is substance, which makes the main character almost unbearable by the end. It ends the book on a bum note, excluding the charming story notes.
Langan would vastly improve by the time of his second collection, The Wide, Carnivorous Sky and Other Monstrous Geographies, and the first three stories are damn near there. The last two drag the whole thing down, though. Still, if you like older story forms and experimentation, you should try it.
May 4, 2021
This anthology of stories started off really strong. On Skua Island was horrifying, atmospheric, haunting. It's a new twist on the old mummy story and it stayed with me long after reading. The second story, Mr. Gaunt, was just as creepy but completely different. "No little boy!!! Don't try to peek into the forbidden attic!! You're better off not knowing what's there!" The 3rd story, Tutorial, was quite imaginative and I loved the originality. The story of a would-be student writer struggling with awkward sentence structure in his creative writing class. However, the fourth story, Episode Seven, felt very much like it was written by that struggling student writer. It was difficult to get through and I quickly gave up on that one and proceeded to the last story, Laocoon. By then, I think both I and Mr. Langan had lost steam and a little motivation.
November 15, 2021
Early John Langan is good John Langan as well, this just in! Who's surprised, though? This is getting a new release soon, but I found my copy in stacks at a used bookstore in DC a couple years back (somehow it had migrated there from the Wichita public library system). While some of it didn't quite hit right, most did with his typical ability to spin words. The biggest misfire for me was Episode Seven; cool story and interesting delivery, but the interesting delivery didn't really work for me. There are story notes at the end for each of the tales within, which is always great to find. Can't wait for the reprint and also his new collection!
February 18, 2022
Not as strong of a collection as The Wide Carnivorous Sky, but you can see the development of Langan’s style of a story-in-a-story-in-a-story. Even though I wasn’t enamored with the title story, Mr. Gaunt, the style was enjoyable and I can see how it evolved for later collections and The Fisherman. I only skimmed the final tale, Laocoon, as it was almost 100 pages and didn’t draw me in.
March 26, 2020
I loved The Fisherman so much I immediately sought out all three volumes of Langan’s short fiction. That may have been a hasty decision. I finished this book, but it took me forever and it felt like a slog. There were a couple of very nice stories here, but overall it just wasn’t all that satisfying.
September 20, 2024
John Langan is one of the best authors writing horror today. Mr. Gaunt was his debut collection, but you would never guess it from how assured his writing already is. Langan is a modern master of horror, on par with King and Barker, and I am devouring everything of his that I can get my hands on.
My favorite is the chilling first tale, "On Skua Island," about an archeological dig on a remote Scottish island. Absolutely the most legitimately creepy story in the collection, this is probably one of my all time favorite short stories.
The titular "Mr. Gaunt" features an evil butler, a personal favorite trope of mine. A man's strange brother and his insidious servant haunt an elderly man, and he recounts what led him to cut contact with his relative.
"Episode Seven: Last Stand Against the Pack in the Kingdom of the Purple Flowers" was an apocalyptic tale with a unique format. I loved the imagery of the flowers in the cars where people used to be.
These were my favorites, but there is not a single bad story in the collection. Out of print for a while, a new edition is available from the wonderful people at Word Horde. Definitely pick this one up if you're looking for well written horror.
My favorite is the chilling first tale, "On Skua Island," about an archeological dig on a remote Scottish island. Absolutely the most legitimately creepy story in the collection, this is probably one of my all time favorite short stories.
The titular "Mr. Gaunt" features an evil butler, a personal favorite trope of mine. A man's strange brother and his insidious servant haunt an elderly man, and he recounts what led him to cut contact with his relative.
"Episode Seven: Last Stand Against the Pack in the Kingdom of the Purple Flowers" was an apocalyptic tale with a unique format. I loved the imagery of the flowers in the cars where people used to be.
These were my favorites, but there is not a single bad story in the collection. Out of print for a while, a new edition is available from the wonderful people at Word Horde. Definitely pick this one up if you're looking for well written horror.
September 9, 2022
Definitely the works of someone finding their voice.
Some of the metafictional stuff about art and writing/criticism hits a bit flat, a bit sophomoric.
Worth it for the fan. NOT the place to start.
Some of the metafictional stuff about art and writing/criticism hits a bit flat, a bit sophomoric.
Worth it for the fan. NOT the place to start.
June 22, 2011
Similar to many others, I have also been hugely impressed with this collection, and would like to get hold of the next book by this author. The stories in this collection are:
1) On Skua Island: A Mummy/Zombie/ancient-horror story, that succeeds in getting our attention with its old-world charm and once-fashionable-no-sadly-abandoned format of story-telling around the fire. It is very good, and despite its length, is taut & gripping.
2) Mr. Gaunt: A horror story involving occult, monstrous uncle and his even-more-horrifying companion, and a somewhat-predictable ending.
3) Tutorial: Thinly veiled autobiographical story where an emerging & ambitious author tries to break away from the shackles of form, and faces some truly harrowing opponents who force him into formality.
4) Episode Seven: Last Stand Against the Pack in the Kingdom of the Purple Flowers: The best story, which is apocalyptic, super-heroic, and very tightly told with back-and-forth narrative with strong characterization.
5) Laocoon, or The Singularity: A failure because of its length and interminable ponderings through which the protagonist is forced through.
A very good collection. Recommended to all lovers of horror.
1) On Skua Island: A Mummy/Zombie/ancient-horror story, that succeeds in getting our attention with its old-world charm and once-fashionable-no-sadly-abandoned format of story-telling around the fire. It is very good, and despite its length, is taut & gripping.
2) Mr. Gaunt: A horror story involving occult, monstrous uncle and his even-more-horrifying companion, and a somewhat-predictable ending.
3) Tutorial: Thinly veiled autobiographical story where an emerging & ambitious author tries to break away from the shackles of form, and faces some truly harrowing opponents who force him into formality.
4) Episode Seven: Last Stand Against the Pack in the Kingdom of the Purple Flowers: The best story, which is apocalyptic, super-heroic, and very tightly told with back-and-forth narrative with strong characterization.
5) Laocoon, or The Singularity: A failure because of its length and interminable ponderings through which the protagonist is forced through.
A very good collection. Recommended to all lovers of horror.
April 5, 2014
The first two stories of Langan's collection are marvelous recollections of the work of Henry James and M.R. James. Both are told in a Victorian style evoking the old, confident voice of a practiced ghost story teller. "Mr. Gaunt" in particularly, despite it's obvious allusions to Henry reminded more of M.R. James' "Count Magnus" or "Lost Hearts" with themes of the occult's corrupting influence on the family bloodline.
The second third of the collection exhibits a more experimental style. "Tutorial" reads, and indeed is meant as, a rejection of the imposition of form and restraint on narrative, while "Episode 7" seems a direct outgrowth of this manifesto, though perhaps in a self fulfilling prophecy it is the weakest of the collection.
The remainder of the collection consists of the novella length "Laocoön" in which we see the culmination of the previous works, Langan emerges from imitation and experimentation with his own voice and distinctive style, integrating all of the preceding works.
It is not a perfect collection by any means, but it's a strong showing and well worth a read.
The second third of the collection exhibits a more experimental style. "Tutorial" reads, and indeed is meant as, a rejection of the imposition of form and restraint on narrative, while "Episode 7" seems a direct outgrowth of this manifesto, though perhaps in a self fulfilling prophecy it is the weakest of the collection.
The remainder of the collection consists of the novella length "Laocoön" in which we see the culmination of the previous works, Langan emerges from imitation and experimentation with his own voice and distinctive style, integrating all of the preceding works.
It is not a perfect collection by any means, but it's a strong showing and well worth a read.
July 9, 2024
Άνιση συλλογή, κάτι λογικό μιας και πρόκειται για την πρώτη του συγγραφέα. Ξεχωρίζει το εκπληκτικό ομώνυμο διήγημα (Mr. Gaunt) το οποίο έχει να κάνει με την εξαφάνιση ενός παιδιού και το σκοτεινό οικογενειακό παρελθόν του πρωταγωνιστή, θυμίζοντας αδρά σε σημεία την Περίπτωση του Τσαρλς Ντέξτερ Ουόρντ. Υπάρχουν επίσης τρεις συμπαθητικές ιστορίες (On Skua Island, Tutorial, Tethered) καθώς και δύο που δεν κατάφερα να τελειώσω λόγω του απωθητικού για μένα ύφους γραφής τους. Έχοντας κατά νου την επόμενη μεγαλειώδη συλλογή του Λάνγκαν (The Wide, Carnivorous Sky and Other Monstrous Geographies) η εξέλιξη είναι πασιφανής.
July 28, 2010
Ok, it wasnt terrible. I appreciated how each story takes on a different "monster", i.e. the reanimated skeleton, the mummy, etc. The author is a big fan of Henry James and tried to write in the same style, but ultimately the stories are unsatisfying. The stories were too long and rambly, in my opinion. The title story is definitely the best, but even that one leaves you with a bit of "so what?" at the end.
July 20, 2011
These felt more like writing exercises than finished, published pieces. While each story had some clever element to its style, they all felt a little too raw and incomplete. The book's end material mentions that these stories were written during breaks in his scholarly work; I think when he wraps up his thesis and can really focus on fiction, he has the potential to turn out some great work. I look forward to seeing this author on the shelf again in a few years.
May 31, 2018
Loved the first two stories, "Mr. Gaunt" and "On Skua Island," but found myself not in tune with the other stories. All were well-written and intriguing, just that the first two stories hit my intellectual/emotional sweet-spot and the others only appealed intellectually as well-told stories.
August 16, 2011
This is one of the finest collections of weird fiction I've had the great pleasure of reading! !!
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