Poe: 19 New Tales of Suspense, Dark Fantasy, and Horror Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe

by Ellen Datlow (Editor), Lucius Shepard (Editor), Pat Cadigan

To coincide with the 200th anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe, this anthology celebrates the depth and diversity of one of the most important figures in literature. Compiled by multi-award winning editor, Ellen Datlow, it presents some of the foremost talents of the genre, who have come together to reimagine tales inspired by Poe. Sharyn McCrumb, Lucius Shepard, Pat Cadigan, M. Rickert, and more, have lent their craft to this anthology, retelling such classics as "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Masque of the Red Death," exploring the very fringes of the genre.

Table of Contents

Introduction Ellen Datlow
“Illimitable Domain” Kim Newman
“The Pickers” Melanie Tem
“Beyond Porch and Portal” E. Catherine Tobler
“The Final Act” Gregory Frost
“Strappado” Laird Barron
“The Mountain House” Sharyn McCrumb
“The Pikesville Buffalo” Glen Hirshberg
“The Brink of Eternity” Barbara Roden
“The Red Piano” Delia Sherman
“Sleeping with Angels” M. Rickert
“Shadow” Steve Rasnic Tem
“Truth and Bone” Pat Cadigan
“The Reunion” Nicholas Royle
“The Tell” Kaaron Warren
“The Heaven and Hell of Robert Flud” David Prill
“Flitting Away” Kristine Kathryn Rusch
“Kirilchiquru Krokundor” Lucius Shepard
“Lowland Sea” Suzy McKee
“Charnas Technicolor” John Langan

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fantasy, Gothic, Fiction, Mystery

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 6, 2008

About the author

Ellen Datlow has been editing science fiction, fantasy, and horror short fiction for forty years as fiction editor of OMNI Magazine and editor of Event Horizon and SCIFICTION. She currently acquires short stories and novellas for Tor.com. In addition, she has edited about one hundred science fiction, fantasy, and horror anthologies, including the annual The Best Horror of the Year series, The Doll Collection, Mad Hatters and March Hares, The Devil and the Deep: Horror Stories of the Sea, Echoes: The Saga Anthology of Ghost Stories, Edited By, and Final Cuts: New Tales of Hollywood Horror and Other Spectacles.
She's won multiple World Fantasy Awards, Locus Awards, Hugo Awards, Bram Stoker Awards, International Horror Guild Awards, Shirley Jackson Awards, and the 2012 Il Posto Nero Black Spot Award for Excellence as Best Foreign Editor. Datlow was named recipient of the 2007 Karl Edward Wagner Award, given at the British Fantasy Convention for "outstanding contribution to the genre," was honored with the Life Achievement Award by the Horror Writers Association, in acknowledgment of superior achievement over an entire career, and honored with the World Fantasy Life Achievement Award at the 2014 World Fantasy Convention.

Reviews

[Mizuki · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Your uncle should never come here. I tried to fix that and failed. The least I could do was see that he didn't die alone this time. He's gone now. All you've known is gone. You shouldn't be here, but I can't help but be happy that you are."

-'Beyond Porch and Portal' by E. Catherine Tobler

Not all of the stories are brilliant, but there're some very powerful writing in it. I strongly recommend outstanding stories like Kim Newman's hilarious "Illimitable Domain", "The Brink of Eternity", "The Red Piano", "Beyond Porch and Portal", "The Heaven and Hell of Robert Flud" and "Lowland Sea".

Edited@11/05/2018

After the re-reading, here is my thought to some of the stories in this collection:

What can you expect from a short stories collection honoring the many brillant creations of Edgar Allan Poe and his 200th years anniversary? A lot of talks about death and decay and madness, a plenty of death spouses, doomed romance, haunted mansions, a madman or a madwoman here and there, plus lot and lot of creepiness! LOL

Illimitable Domain : This short story...well......talking about making fun out of Poe's novels and all those over-the-top good old Poe-based movie adaptations from the 1960s...for example...The Tomb of Ligeia (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imbdf...)

Beyond Porch and Portal by E. Catherine Tobler is among my most favorite stories, it opens with Poe's fictional niece receiving the news of her poor uncle at his deathbed, shocked by the sudden decay of her uncle's health, the young woman struggled to make sense of the poet's strange madness and his mention of a certain mysterious 'Reynolds'. Soon afterward she did meet 'Reynolds' and in turn she was trapped in the mysterious man's world....whether she liked it or not.

This short story reminds me strongly of Nevermore by Kelly Creagh, and Reynolds in this story and the truth about the faeries in Poe's pomes is so creepy but I am loving it!

Strappado by Laird Barron plays out like a mother fucking horror movie with an Indian remote town as its background! Tasteful and delicious! I truly love it!

The Heaven and Hell of Robert Flud : Hillbillies! A remote farm house in the middle of nowhere! A hapless saleman! The ending is truly surprising!!!

Lowland Sea : This one, is the most perfect modernized re-telling of 'Masque of the Red Death' I've ever read!

The last story, Technicolor is another short story which tries to offer an answer to Poe's mysterious death. This short story is so wickedly and cleverly written!!! I actually like the weird explanation to the death of poor Eddie Poe. lol

Short Chinese review:

近來在看一本向愛倫坡致敬的短篇小說集"Poe: 19 New Tales Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe "，但是在19篇短篇小說裡出色的作品不是很多。有一些故事更令坡先生的DIEHARD FAN如我者感到莫名其妙︰「怎麼這種東西也會和愛倫坡扯上關係的啊?」

不同坡先生的後輩H P. Lovecraft先生，要寫出原汁原味、以至青出於藍的坡系歌德風格作品真是很難。相反，要向Lovecraft先生致敬還是比較易的，反正在適當時候拋出幾個舊日支配者、古神、亞克罕鎮等專有名辭，就能沾上點邊啦。

比較傑出的一篇作品名叫《Lowland Sea》，這故事說穿了就是《紅死病的面具》的現代版。

跟《紅死病的面具》一樣，這篇故事也集中處理致命疫症漫延、圍城、人性自私的命題，但《Lowland Sea》褪去《紅死病》一文中對死亡和黑暗的耽美描寫，在故事結束時也沒有戲劇化十足的紅色死神駕臨場面；有的只是一名被眾人當成犧牲品的女子，在走投無路的情況下實施了最後的血腥復仇…

雖然缺乏了愛倫坡短篇故事中那常有的歌德式頹廢美感，不過在《Lowland Sea》這個故事新篇中表達的那種咬牙切齒的絕望氣氛、復仇的冷血和惡意，倒是深得坡先生真傳啦…

還有另一篇短篇小說《Beyond Porch and Portal》，借用愛倫坡的離奇死亡以及坡臨死時提及的神秘人Reynolds來做文章，讓虛構的愛倫坡姪女追著坡的蹤跡闖入迷離國度，又遇到了被坡稱為「妖精女王」的非人生物…

[Sesana · Rating 2 out of 5]

The unifying concept of this collection is that each story is supposed to be inspired by something written by Poe, a specific story or poem instead of his style in general. I do feel a little bad about only giving this book two stars. There are 19 stories collected here, but only three that I enjoyed. But those three were really good.

The two best stories were, fittingly, the first and the last. Kim Newman's Illimitable Domain starts as a nostalgic tribute to the Vincent Price movies very, very loosely inspired by Poe, and slowly transforms into something else entirely. John Langan's Technicolor is, in a way, similar. It starts as one thing (a lecture in a lit class on The Masque of Red Death, which made me nostalgic for college). And I can say no more without spoilers, and saying that may be a spoiler itself. I also found myself enjoying Sharyn McCrumb's The Mountain House, to my shock. It's a NASCAR themed ghost story, and shockingly good. That I liked NASCAR themed anything is still surprising to me.

The rest of the stories aren't exactly good. They just weren't particularly interesting or memorable to me.

[Brendan Moody · Rating 5 out of 5]

[This review was originally written when I read the book in December 2008. Comments added in March 2010 are in brackets.]


Of the two great figures of American horror fiction, Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft, Lovecraft is far more frequently imitated. Whether inspired by his cosmicist materialist philosophy, his carefully-honed ornate prose, or (most often, alas) his universe of vastly ancient godlike aliens, other writers have been working in Lovecraft's tradition for decades, almost since Lovecraft himself began writing. For whatever reason, Poe, though equally admired, is less often pastiched. And what literary homage to him does exist is more imaginative, less formulaic, than the endlessly spawning volumes of Cthulhuiana. Such imagination is on display in Ellen Datlow's new anthology Poe, which includes nineteen new stories, inspired by Poe's own works, that celebrate the bicentennial of Poe's birth. [Datlow has since edited an anthology of Lovecraft-inspired tales, which is also well worth reading.]

As Datlow observes in her introduction, these stories are not pastiche. Poe serves as a point of departure, not a tracing model. As a result, the anthology offers a range of styles and themes comparable to that in a volume with no theme. Apart from the Poe connection, the only common thread is the high quality of the prose and the elegance of each story's narrative construction. Even entries that lack novelty of plot or theme are distinguished by virtually faultless prose, so that it is impossible to entirely dislike them, they read so easily. Such consistency is a major reason Datlow's anthologies so often find their way onto my reading list.

Fittingly, the two best stories bookend the anthology. First is Kim Newman's "Illimitable Domain." It's an excellent choice to open Poe, not only for its high quality but also for the signal it sends about the collection's openness to innovation. It's difficult to say too much about the plot of Newman's story without giving the game away, so I'll only observe that Newman puts his obviously substantial knowledge of mid-twentieth century Hollywood to good use in crafting this tale of comic horror. The narrator's voice is a perfect imitation of the fast-talking, hard-edged Hollywood guy of popular imagination, and as events work toward their inevitable conclusion, a touch of Poe is seamlessly introduced, to surprising effect. Like all the best comic horror, this story is simultaneously amusing and unsettling.

Melanie Tem's "The Pickers" is a fine example of how a writer can take a familiar Poe work and craft something new. I wouldn't dream of revealing which bit of Poe she begins with, but she surrounds it with a thoroughly modern phenomenon- dumpster picking- to produce a haunting dark fantasy tale about grief and survival. [I wish I had said more about this story, which lingers in the mind wonderfully, but really there's nothing to say except that you should read it.]

Datlow notes that she discouraged writers from using Poe as a character in their stories. One can see why: it would be easy to use the author cheaply, especially given the extraordinary mystery surrounding his death. But that mystery is rife with narrative potential, so it's no surprise that Datlow included three selections that riffed on it in different ways. The first, E. Catherine Tobler's "Beyond Porch and Portal," is perhaps the weakest. [I wouldn't say "weakest" anymore; it's only that I happened to enjoy it least.] It offers a take on Poe's imagination that is similar to those offered about many other authors of fantastic fiction in stories written about them. But Tobler's prose suggests the past without being archaic or ostentatious, and the real heart of the story, the female narrator's liberation from a restrictive world into a strange and new one, is brought across in subtle flashes of insight that are more effective than clearer elocution of the theme would be.

In some ways the horror story is a conservative form, one in which delicate execution of a familiar theme or conceit is more difficult than sloppy innovation. [Really this applies only to the kind of horror I happen to like, but the point pasically stands.] Consequently many horror stories are frightening but not all that shocking: the inevitability of the climax is often the point. Stories that manage to thrill and surprise achieve special distinction. Such a story is "The Final Act." Gregory Frost's suspense tale concerns an old high school grudge and an act of final revenge- but whose revenge? Only at the very end is it clear who is the victim and who the villain in this tense piece.

In "Strappado," Laird Barron offers a trip through an avant-garde art installation, but is this aesthetic experience worth its price? Barron's forte is bringing unusual characters and images into traditional horror scenarios, and he does so effectively: industrial detritus and 21st-century decadence are as evocative as their classical counterparts. Yet the story never quite attains combustion: one reaches the center and finds nothing there. This may well be the point, but if so it is at odds with the story's potential narrative power.

Excessive straightforwardness plagues the next story, "The Mountain House" by Sharyn McCrumb. I've said that familiarity is inevitable in horror fiction, but there can be too much of a good thing, and it's all too easy to guess from the first couple pages exactly where "The Mountain House" is going and why it's going there. Still, the prose has the quiet grace that gentle ghost stories reserve, and its evocation of milieu is powerful given its brief duration.

Glen Hirshberg, for my money the greatest current writer of ghost stories, specializes (like many ghost story writers) in fictions about the pain and power of memory. "The Pikesville Buffalo," while not ranking among his greatest work, offers an affectionate portrait of two elderly Jewish aunts, who have an unconventional and strangely poignant answer to the protagonist's question, "How do you survive the love you outlive?"

Barbara Roden's "The Brink of Eternity" combines elements of several Poe works with real and invented history so delightfully, and manages its three narrative strands so elegantly, it doesn't matter that the story has only the most rudimentary plot and theme. It's a mood piece, but a fairly strong one. Something similar could be said of "The Red Piano" by Delia Sherman, which reverses a particular trope of Poe but is otherwise a standard tale of psychic vampirism. It comes closer to echoing Poe's style than most other entries, but has a readability that his work often lacked; despite its modern setting, there's a pleasing period feel to the proceedings. ["Standard" is such a harsh word; I think of this one more fondly now. It has a lovely nineteenth-century atmosphere despite a modern setting.]

M. Rickert always bring something new and wonderful to her short stories, and "Sleeping with Angels" is no exception. It deals with a friendship between two teenage girls, one of them abused, but with a dark twist few writers could envision. As often, the genre elements in Rickert's story are only as prominent as they need to be to add a tinge of the unnatural to the powerful emotions of real life.

In "Shadow," Steve Rasnic Tem offers a portrait of generational paranoia. An old videotape offers insight into the frenzied last days of a relative who once lived in the house where the protagonist now dwells, but the protagonist has her own brand of insanity to face. Though somewhat insubstantial, the story makes good use of the way in which the ordinary can become dangerous and strange in the eyes of a paranoid (or a horror writer). [Like his wife's story earlier, this one lingers in the mind.]

Pat Cadigan's "Truth and Bone" features a family whose members develop peculiar talents when they reach a certain age. The narrator discovers that she knows exactly how everyone she meets will die-- and tries to prevent an imminent tragedy, with results that will be obvious to anyone who's ever read a story about trying to change the future. Where the story shines is its portrayal of this unconventional but all too human family and the ways in which it copes (and sometimes doesn't cope) with its members' skills.

As anyone who has sat through the dogged explanations that drag down the last third of The Ring can tell you, horror sometimes works better without explanations. Nicholas Royle's "The Reunion," by declining to explain the mysterious...echoes that strike a man at his wife's medical school reunion, brings across the protagonist's bewilderment and sense of the uncanny. As in a dream, the answers seem forever within sight but just out of reach in this quietly creepy story.

In "The Tell," Kaaron Warren offers the anthology's middle variation on Poe's final days. Yet this story isn't exactly about Poe, but about his legacy of nightmares and the different ways it might be passed on by artists of other sorts. This is another story that lacks straightforwardness and easy narrative flow and is all the better for it. I'm not sure I quite understand it yet, but I know it works.

"The Heaven and Hell of Robert Flud" is Poe re-envisioned, by David Prill, in the American Gothic mode, complete with decayed and eeriely silent farmhouse. It's difficult to explain this tale's grim appeal without giving away which Poe inspired it and how, so I'll say only that a traveling salesman finds his way to that rundown farm, with just the kind of outcome you're already hoping for.

"Flitting Away" is Kristine Kathryn Rusch's story of a woman who struggles to survive and unlock the secret of a brutal assault. The secret turns out to be quite intentionally uninteresting; I take Rusch's real-life point here but am not sure that it serves the story as well as it might. Still, the portrayal of psychological disconnect due to shock and trauma is at once beautiful and sad, with an authentic stream-of-consciousness air.

Lucius Shepard's "Kirikh'quru Krokundor" presents the reader with characters and a milieu that retain the feel of Poe despite being utterly unlike anything he would have written. An expedition to a South American settlement once occupied by a splinter religious sect may be the narrator's best chance to resolve an old conflict with an ex-girlfriend, but the atmosphere at the settlement may bring about a kind of resolution he never expected. Their complicated past and uncertain future add a frisson of character to the supernatural events of this satisfying novelette.

At first "Lowland Sea" seems to be a capable and thoughtful but hollow update of a certain famous Poe story, but as the conclusion nears it becomes clear just how Suzy McKee Charnas has improved upon Poe's construction, with a development that should perhaps have been obvious to this reader but wasn't. The final image of this one is a killer. [I reread this one recently in Datlow's Best Horror of the Year: Volume Two. I hadn't remembered the final twist, which is still lovely, but this time I was more struck by the story's evocation of the social world of its protagonists.]

My own favorite story in Poe is the final offering, "Technicolor" by John Langan. What begins as a rather conceited literature professor's ponderous lecture about the meaning of "The Masque of the Red Death" develops into a spine-tingling meditation on the power of the imagination, with a side-trip into a third account of Poe's final days. Further plot summary would only dull this story's effect. The contrast between the narrator's banal self-regard and the chilling reality he reveals is perhaps "Technicolor"s strongest feature.

It might seem appropriate to end this review on a summarizing note, trying to unify the anthology's stories in some way, but I'm not sure any such unity could be created that wouldn't be facile. Nor is one necessary: the joy of a theme anthology is in the variety of approaches the writers bring to it. The stories in Poe emphasize the timelessness of Poe's concerns and the breadth of his appeal by taking his work in nineteen different directions; all they have in common is that each represents writing of the highest caliber. [All I can think of to add is that this is perhaps my favorite of the many excellent Ellen Datlow-edited or co-edited anthologies I've read. Check it out if you enjoy subtle, innovative modern horror.]

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eight years ago after reading this anthology I noted that it was 'good fun' but eight years later I remember nothing, not even reading it. What does that mean?

[Kaaron Warren · Rating 4 out of 5]

All great stories, with my favourites being "Lowland Sea" by Suzy McKee Charnas and "The Pickers" by Melanie Tem.

[Paulo "paper books only" · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is an anthology of short stories dedicated or inspired by Edgar Allan Poe.
There are a lot of stories and unfortunately the vast majority didn't work for me althought there were some good. Beyond Porch and Portal or Lowland sea. If you enjoy Poe or gothic horror you will enjoy this tales althought they don't feel horror enough for me.

[Amy Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better anthologies I've read recently. There's only one that I genuinely disliked. There were a few other "meh" ones. The rest, I very much enjoyed. The crown jewel is absolutely Technicolor (the very last story), but most of the rest are absolutely worthwhile to read (even if I quibbled over the execution on some of them). Highly recommended, overall.

Illimitable Domain by Kim Newman (4 stars, 2.5 tentacles) - Madcap romp through horror movies of the 50's and on, slowly being colonized by Poe-ness. Silly, and a lot of fun. I'd be interested to see someone try to take the same concept and instill an atmosphere of creeping dread, but I don't know if it could be done.
The Pickers by Melanie Tem (3 stars, 3 tentacles) - A study in grief, and scavenging. Well-written, but I found it more odd than compelling.
Beyond Porch and Portal by E. Catherine Tobler(3.5 stars, 2.5 tentacles) - Here it was, heading for a nice Lovecraftian ending, only to be snatched away. Mostly. Tale of Poe's death, and life, and not-fairy bargains. I probably would have liked it better had it ended a few paragraphs sooner.
The Final Act by Gregory Frost (2 stars, 3 tentacles) - Odd revenge scenario. Well written, but not to my taste. I will say that the ending surprised me.
Strappado by Laird Barron (3.5 stars, 4 tentacles) - Huh. This is the first Laird Barron story I've read that I (mostly) liked. Cautionary tale about knowing what you're getting into before you sign up. Barron still includes more visceral details than I think necessary, or this one would be 4 stars.
Mountain House by Sharyn McCrumb (5 stars, 1 tentacle) - Rather poignant ghost story. More sweet than creepy.
The Pikesville Buffalo by Glen Hirshberg (3 stars, 2 tentacles) - I wanted more from this one. It was an interesting concept, but it was just sort of thrown out there, with no grounding or attempt at explanation. Lacking that, it just seemed odd. I mean, there wasn't even a Lovecraftian descent into madness on the part of the MC. * shrugs *
The Brink of Eternity by Barbara Roden (3.5 stars, 2 tentacles) - Probably the best part of this one was the details that were historically authentic. Story-wise, I was less enthused. The alternating structure worked well, but I wanted more from it. With the Arctic environment, I was hoping for something more like Mountains of Madness (but less incoherent). Still enjoyable, just a bit blah, imo.
The Red Piano by Delia Sherman (4 stars, 4 tentacles) - Ah, that's more like it! Suitably creepy ghost (maybe vampire?) story, featuring dueling pianos, and a nicely satisfying ending.
Sleeping with Angels by M. Rickert (2 stars, 2.5 tentacles) - I didn't really get much out of this one. Some interesting ideas, with an undercurrent of self-loathing homophobia, and not much to balance that. The day after reading this one, I looked at the title and had zero memory of what it had been about, and had to go look back and see, so it didn't make much impression on me. Just ... bland. Maybe trying too hard to be a morality play.
Shadow by Steve Rasnic Tem (4 stars, 3.5 tentacles) - Interestingly creepy, with a reveal that surprised me (and I'm debating whether or not it quite fit what came before, but maybe it does). It's the sort of story where mostly I want to see more of what the world looks like, how it all is supposed to fit, and get annoyed when that view is lacking. Nicely Lovecraftian, though.
Truth and Bone by Pat Cadigan (3 stars, 2 tentacles) - The setup for this story is more interesting than the story itself, imo. It reminds me of the Smedrys in Sanderson's Alcatraz stories. People in the family "know" things, or, rather each has "a thing" they "know" (whether someone is lying, where someone has been in the past 24 hours, what other people have forgotten). But instead of exploring this idea, and how each "talent" might be useful, Cadigan focuses on something going wrong with a particular talent, and, well, it was a bit predictable once the ball got rolling. I'm mostly giving it 3 stars for the potential; the story itself was more like 2.5 stars.
The Reunion by Nicholas Royle (4 stars, 3.5 tentacles) - This was a rather lovely beginning to a story, but then it just ended, without anything that felt like a real resolution, just as it was starting to get genuinely interesting. I very much wanted to see how it played out, and what other weirdness there might be.
The Tell by Kaaron Warren (4 stars, 4 tentacles) - Very nicely done, and creepy, but the ending felt a bit rushed. Features a nightmare-inducing heart.
The Heaven and Hell of Robert Flud by David Prill (3.5 stars, 5 tentacles) - This felt a bit like Color Out of Space meets Dunwich Horror (though the author cites some Poe stories that I have not read as his influence). Suitably creepy, with a fitting ending.
Flitting Away by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (2 stars, 1 tentacle) - Mundane, everyday horror, described in horrific detail. It's quite well-written, and compelling, but not what I wanted out of a Poe-inspired tale.
Kirikh’quru Krokundor by Lucius Shepard (1 star, 3.5 tentacles) - Another one that's well-written, but was not at all to my taste. I find it odd that Shepard's thoughts on a Poe story fragment about someone looking for the most beautiful place on Earth led him to this sex-soaked concoction. * sigh * Not recommended, unless mindless jungle orgies are your thing.
Lowland Sea by Suzy McKee Charnas (4 stars, 2 tentacles) Modern version of Masque of the Red Death, with a somewhat less mystical resolution. Very well-put-together.
Technicolor by John Langan (5 stars, 5 tentacles) - Very nicely done. Sort of Masque of the Red Death meets The King in Yellow. Very nice build-up, until, suddenly, everything clicks and you realize what's actually going on. Honestly, the collection was worth the price for this one alone. [Which is convenient, since it was the first one I read, despite being the last in the collection.]

[E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

My story, "Beyond Porch and Portal" graces these pages.

[Vicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three 1/2 stars. Some of the stories were awesome, some not so much.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

a reasonably decent collection of stories, not Datlow's finest for sure... but i will say i rather enjoy a non-themed collection, or something less specific, since trying to write an homage to Poe just puts it right out there how fucking genius he was at the macabre and eerie and perverse and therefore how hard it is to follow that awesomeness...
so, to the entries...
: Kim Newman/Illimitable Domain - yeah, i’ve seen all those films too… but what’s the story?
: Melanie Tem/The Pickers - creeptastic and unsettlingly icky…
: E. Catherine Tobler/Beyond Porch and Portal - not much meat to it, just Poe-ish tells…
: Gregory Frost/The Final Act - kind of shows the difference between seasoned writers and newbies :)
: Laird Barron/Strappado - love love love the haunted house/snuff film vibe… slow and thin, but still nasty and unseemly…
: Sharon McCrumb/The Mountain House - Poe and NASCAR… not a good mix at all. nope.
: Glen Hirshberg/The Pikesville Buffalo - kind of odd; old ladies and buffaloes… made me think of that sentence that’s grammatically correct but contains only the word “buffalo” 14 times o something… yeah, THAT odd.
: Barbara Roden/The Brink of Eternity - a subtle touch of Cthulhu woven through… great writing!
: Delia Sherman/The Red Piano - homage to the ladies of Poe… brought to mind Hammer Films imagery…
: M. Rickert/Sleeping with the Angels - the postscript is better than the tale itself…
: Steve Rasnic Tem/Shadow - did not get much from this. final two paragraphs the best part.
: Pat Cadigan/Truth and Bone - never a big fan of “altering what might be the future”, but this was kinda OK.
: Nicholas Royle/The Reunion -
: Kaaron Warren/The Tell - fabulous ending, but rough to get there…
: David Prill/The Heaven and Hell of Robert Flud - definitely a Gothic strain running though this one…
: Kristin Kathryn Rusch/Flitting Away - the best story in this book, and arguably the best articulation of the loss of safety due to rape i have ever read. stunning. sad. awful.
: Lucius Shepard/Kirikh'quru Krokundor - kinda hits the perverse angle, albeit a tad late in the tale… could have been a tighter-woven narrative…
: Suzy McKee Charnas/Lowland Sea - piles a lot of socially conscious terribleness in right off the jump, but it doesn’t overwhelm the tale, and a gruesome tale it is…
: John Langan/Technicolor - ace take on “Masque of the Red Death”, just creeps up on you slowly, then slits your achilles tendons with a cheese knife...

Charnas' "Flitting Away" is a million star story, easily, and takes this from a two star book to four stars... seriously folks, it is THAT DAMNED AMAZING... Langan's "Technicolor" is another standout, though nowhere near the overwhelming quality of Charnas'... read that story!

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Poe” edited by Ellen Datlow is “19 New Tales Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe.” This anthology contains a variety of authors each of which is given an introduction by Ms. Datlow, then their story is presented, then the authors have an afterward to explain their inspiration. I appreciated this format, as it allows the connections to Poe’s original work to be made explicit.

There are of course those stories inspired by the well-known works of Poe, but there are also tales based in much lesser known stories, or by Poe’s life and mysterious death. I found many of the stories very memorable, while others were less gripping. However, the quality of the works selected by Ms. Datlow are uniformly good. This is to be expected, as she is one of the best anthologists and editors of our time. This collection would be a good choice for fans of Edgar Allan Poe, or for those who like dark fantasy or horror.

[Amber Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

FINALLY I finished this. Out of 19 stories, I was into about 6 or 7, especially Kim Newman's story "Illimitable Domain". But mostly stuff I either flat out didn't like or was extremely underwhelmed by.

[Orrin Grey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read and enjoyed several anthologies by Ellen Datlow now, but I didn't enjoy Poe as much as, say, The Dark or Inferno. It's not that the stories are any worse, on balance--most of the stories in Poe are actually quite good--I just found this one to be somewhat disappointing, though not for any reason I can readily pin down. I guess the closest I could come would be to say that, while I do love Poe--who doesn't?--I found little enough of the things I love most about him in most of these stories.

That said, there are several gems:

The first story in the book, Kim Newman's "Illimitable Domain," is without a doubt my favorite. It's great fun, for a start, and the mixture of fact and fiction is spectacular, probably moreso than even I realize. It's a great way to start the book, too, it's just too bad that the rest of the book isn't more like it.

I also liked Delia Sherman's "The Red Piano." Though the ending seemed to happen somewhat suddenly, the story had a nice atmosphere and, most importantly, I could exactly hear Vincent Price saying all of the Roderick Usher-alike's lines in my head. I also enjoyed Pat Cadigan's "Truth and Bone," and, though you will seldom see me say something like this, would be happy to read more adventures of that same unusual family.

The last story I'm going to mention is also the last story in the book, John Langan's unique "Technicolor," which proves as nice a capstone as "Illimitable Domain" was a starting point. To say much more about it would probably be to ruin some of its effect (if I've not already), so I'll leave it at that.

Like I said, there were lots of other good stories--and none of them were bad--those are just the ones that I enjoyed the most, or that lingered most with me.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always seem to compare Edgar Allan Poe to Alfred Hitchcock. Both were masters of horror – one with words while the other was visually dynamic. Both men were capable of scaring their audiences without the blood and gore of horror today. While people now-a-days try to copy or even beat these two masters, they will never come close to the wonderful stories Poe and Hitchcock produced. They will always have people compared to them and their works but I don’t believe that it is possible for anyone to top them in the two different categories. Both were geniuses of their times.

Here are individual reviews of the stories I've read so far:

“Illimitable Domain” was not very good. I found it to just rattle on and on and just end really with no explanation. Because this was the first of the 12 short stories, I began to lose interest in the entire book and found it hard to give the others a chance. But because I enjoy Edgar Allan Poe, I read on.

“The Pickers” was better that the first story, but again not very good. The ending also left questions unanswered. Who exactly were the Pickers and how did they become what they are? Why did Toni just give up like she did and let the pickers take her apart? This story reminds me of Hitchcock’s The Birds for some strange reason.

“Beyond Porch and Portal” was excellent. It held just enough mystery to keep the horror just on the edge so you’re just slightly creeped out but not scared out of you mind. It took me until almost the end to realize that she had died the minute she chose to go with Reynold and figure out his secret. I loved how the author chose to write the story in the time that Poe was alive. It helped to add to the suspense.

“The Final Act” was pretty good. I didn’t expect for McGowren to be dead. Just one question: Who killed him? Laurel or Len? I could have done without all the cursing. Most of the time in stories I find it unnecessary, especially in this one. That was always one thing I’ve enjoyed about reading Poe was that he never cursed that I can remember.

I will put a full review when I finish it.

[Alison C · Rating 3 out of 5]

The new anthology by Ellen Datlow, Poe, consists of 19 original stories written for this volume by the likes of Kim Newman, Lucius Shepard, Sharyn McCrumb, Suzy McKee Charnas and Kristine Kathryn Rusch, the only guideline being that the story must be based on a story or poem by Edgar Allan Poe. As with any anthology, there are stories I liked more than others; given Datlow's editorial acumen, however, all of them are written well. There are a few based on such obscure Poe stories or poems that it hardly seemed fair to include them in a general anthology of this nature - unless the reader was a Poe scholar, there'd be no way for her to know the origin of the inspiration! - but fortunately that applies only to a few in this group of tales. I had several favourites, and no doubt any lover of Poe's work will want to read these stories and will find favourites of their own. I still find Datlow's editorial introductions somewhat annoying - she's brisk to the point of offensiveness at times, and always has been - but that's a very minor quibble. Recommended, especially for people who know and love the Old Master's work!

[Mate77 · Rating 3 out of 5]

As is the case with almost all short story collections, some turned out to be great, some good, some forgettable. This collection provided a few surprisingly excellent stories, my favourties where ''The Red Piano'' by Delia Sherman (although a little cliched the story contained an atmosphere Poe himself would be proud of), ''Truth and Bone'' by Pat Cadigan (I wish she would expand this one into a novel, great story) and ''Technicolor'' by John Langan (this one builds up slowely to a great ending, teriffic story).
I liked more stories in this collection than I didn't like and that's as good as praise as a short story collection, in witch each story was written by a different author, can really get.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This anthology, edited by Ellen Datlow, celebrates the 200th anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe's birth. It contains 19 original stories written by various authors (i.e. Gregory Frost, Pat Cadigan, Sharyn McCrumb, Kim Newman, etc.) and all are inspired by a poem, essay or story by Poe. Each story is followed by an afterward explaining which work was the inspiration for theirs. I really enjoyed this collection and was surprised at how many of Poe's works I was unaquainted with. One of my favorite contributions was "Beyond Porch and Portal" by E. Catherine Tobler, which gives an unusual but interesting explanation of why Poe was found, shortly before his death, wandering around in clothes that were not his own. If you enjoy Poe's work, I would certainly recommend this collection.

[Ellen Herbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just about any collection edited by Ellen Datlow is superior. Upon the anniversary of Poe's birthday/death ? last year, there were several volumes released of short stories inspired by the dark master. I was mildly disappointed in all of them, but just picked up (at the library), this effort and can report that it surpasses all others. Delicious, imaginative, dark and lingering, all the participants put forth great effort and delivered up a lovely, curl up with candlelit, page turning indulgence.

[B · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book hoping to find a story or two that I could teach alongside the Poe stories that inspired them. Most of the selections in the first half of the book are based on Poe's poetry. The later stories draw more from his fiction. In some cases, the connections between Poe's work and the stories seem tenuous at best, but I probably will use at least one of the stories next semester.

[Anneliese · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some pretty interesting stories in this collection. I personally felt at a slight disadvantage due to not knowing a lot of Poe's stories; the last time I read any of his short stories was years ago, and so I missed the fun of guessing which of his stories inspired each of the authors. Not all the stories were perfect, but most of them were delightfully creepy and pretty engaging.

[G (galen) · Rating 3 out of 5]

An intriguing collection of short stories. Using inspirations gleaned from Poe's work (some more obviously than others) this handful of writers flesh out their own highly imaginative tales, intent on bringing a tiny chill to the reader's spine.

[Michelle Leah Olson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Poe so much, this compilation was fun. My favorite was The Red Piano, but there were 19 very different Poe inspired works and I thoroughly enjoyed each Author's take on their favorite or most inspiring. :)

[Boyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like most anthologies, there are some good, and some that could be better. I think it was nice though, that so many paid tribute to this fine writer on the 200th anniversary of his birth, which makes me smile.

[Brandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love stories collected by Ellen Datlow (editor). This set does not disappoint. There was only one story that I skipped. The rest of the stories are excellent. I found myself staying up late for, "just one more..."

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://greenmanreview.com/book/book_d...

[E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Includes my story, "Beyond Porch and Portal."

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice collection of stories inspired by Poe. I especially liked the one set in Pikesville MD!

[Charlie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the reimaginings here really bury the origin stories. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I didn't get a "Poe-like tone" from most of the ones I read.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm sad to say that I didn't enjoy this as much as I expected to. While I did enjoy the nods to Poe's work, I think some of the magic got lost in the contemporary settings.

[Garrett Nicolai · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few good stories, but I felt the premise failed. Many of the stories are only distantly connected to anything Poe.