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Angler In Darkness: A Collection
A collection of short fiction, spanning nearly a decade of fishing in the sunless depths of the imagination, some brought to light here for the first time.
A frontiersman of bizarre pedigree is peculiarly suited to tracking down a group of creatures rampaging across the settlements of the Texas Hill Country…..
A great white hunter is shaken to his core by a quarry he cannot conceive of….
A bullied inner city kid finds the power to strike back against his tormentors and finds he can’t stop using it….
Outraged plumbing plots its revenge….
Here Blackfoot Indians hunt the undead, the fate of nations is decided by colossal monsters, a salaryman learns the price of abandoning his own life, and even the Angel of Death tells his story.
EIGHTEEN 'CATCHES' FROM AN ANGLER IN DARKNESS
A frontiersman of bizarre pedigree is peculiarly suited to tracking down a group of creatures rampaging across the settlements of the Texas Hill Country…..
A great white hunter is shaken to his core by a quarry he cannot conceive of….
A bullied inner city kid finds the power to strike back against his tormentors and finds he can’t stop using it….
Outraged plumbing plots its revenge….
Here Blackfoot Indians hunt the undead, the fate of nations is decided by colossal monsters, a salaryman learns the price of abandoning his own life, and even the Angel of Death tells his story.
EIGHTEEN 'CATCHES' FROM AN ANGLER IN DARKNESS
- GenresHorror
386 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 1, 2017
8 people are currently reading
14 people want to read
About the author
Edward M. Erdelac
80 books115 followersEdward M. Erdelac is the author of thirteen novels including the acclaimed Judeocentric/Lovecraftian weird western series Merkabah Rider, Rainbringer: Zora Neale Hurston Against The Lovecraftian Mythos, Conquer, Monstrumfuhrer from Comet Press, Terovolas from JournalStone Publishing, and Andersonville from Random House/Hydra.
Born in Indiana, educated in Chicago, he lives in the Los Angeles area with his wife and a bona fide slew of kids and cats.
Born in Indiana, educated in Chicago, he lives in the Los Angeles area with his wife and a bona fide slew of kids and cats.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 13, 2017
***this review originally appeared on The Ginger Nuts of Horror website***
Despite what the cover art would have you believe, Angler in Darkness, the first short story collection from Edward M. Erdelac (author of such novels as Andersonville, Monstrumführer, Terovolas, and the Merkabah Rider series), contains approximately zero razor-toothed mega-fish snacking on grizzled old sailors. The title of this collection, and the image on its face, instead refers to Erdelac’s philosophy of storytelling: That is, he fancies himself something of a mariner, trawling the briny murk of his imagination for whatever prizes he’s lucky enough to catch.
Sure enough, sometimes Erdelac lands a big meaty marlin. Others times it’s a dinky li’l minnow. Not everything in this collection is a five-star seafood dinner, but props to Erdelac for wading out there in the water time and time again, ever ready to cast his net. And fret not, Monster Kids; there may not be any jumbo-sized carnivorous sea creatures, but there’s still plenty of mountain-dwelling kaiju beasties, subterranean blood-sucking tendrils, sex-crazed ape-men, and even colon-slurping killer toilets!
Boasting a similar range of diversity are Erdelac’s settings. Angler in Darkness’ conflicts play out against backgrounds as varied as pre-Columbian America all the way on up to near-future Japan. Notably, at least half of the tales here could be classified as Weird Westerns. The decision to order them chronologically according to time period is an odd one, and, if the collection is read through from start to finish, it results in a feeling of redundancy as similar pieces begin to blur together (two different tales of Native-American vampirism back-to-back, really?). The resulting effect makes it so that Angler in Darkness is one of those rare collections where jumping around randomly from story to story is actually recommended.
Still, anchoring his tales with an immersive, meticulous attention to detail, as well as liberal splashes of tongue-in-cheek humor and thoughtful nods to real-world mythology and folklore, Erdelac displays great strength in the vivid evocation of time and place. Sure, more than a few stories drag—sometimes because they feel needlessly padded in the middle, other times because they don’t know when to end—but Erdelac is clearly having a blast indulging himself throughout this collection. That indulgence doesn’t always translate into a blast for his readers, though, so it’s a give and take: The leisurely, detail-oriented style enhances the sense of setting and mood, but it comes at the cost of immediacy and drive. Individual mileage may vary.
More broadly drawn than Erdelac’s settings are his characters, sometimes to a problematic degree. In fact, an unfortunate number feel like caricatures, complete with ill-advised dialogue which, at times, treads dangerously close to racial stereotyping.
At its best, Erdelac’s reliance on trope-driven characterization lends his stories a mythic resonance—witness the namesake Texas Ranger from “Bigfoot Walsh,” a taciturn mountain of a man tracking a clan of all-too-familiar missing-link monstrosities who’ve been massacring the locals, and who may have more in common with him than he’d like to admit. At its worst, devices which Erdelac probably assumes enhance verisimilitude just come across as cringe-worthy—witness the ebonics-spewing drug-dealers in the otherwise exceptional “Conviction,” a magical-realist revenge fable about a sensitive inner-city misfit cleaning up Chicago’s notorious Cabrini Green projects with reality-warping superpowers.
Despite this, there is an attitude of playful exuberance throughout Erdelac’s work which makes his misfires arguably forgivable; whenever he stumbles into a sore spot it never feels malicious. As with any fisherman’s haul, there are a few duds here that should probably get thrown back into the wine-dark sea from whence they came, and, granted, even the tastiest catches could benefit from a quick wash and a thorough deboning, but readers with an appetite for those specific delicacies which constitute Erdelac’s specialty (i.e. pulpy creature-features couched in well-realized historical settings) will find Angler in Darkness a satisfying feast indeed.
Despite what the cover art would have you believe, Angler in Darkness, the first short story collection from Edward M. Erdelac (author of such novels as Andersonville, Monstrumführer, Terovolas, and the Merkabah Rider series), contains approximately zero razor-toothed mega-fish snacking on grizzled old sailors. The title of this collection, and the image on its face, instead refers to Erdelac’s philosophy of storytelling: That is, he fancies himself something of a mariner, trawling the briny murk of his imagination for whatever prizes he’s lucky enough to catch.
Sure enough, sometimes Erdelac lands a big meaty marlin. Others times it’s a dinky li’l minnow. Not everything in this collection is a five-star seafood dinner, but props to Erdelac for wading out there in the water time and time again, ever ready to cast his net. And fret not, Monster Kids; there may not be any jumbo-sized carnivorous sea creatures, but there’s still plenty of mountain-dwelling kaiju beasties, subterranean blood-sucking tendrils, sex-crazed ape-men, and even colon-slurping killer toilets!
Boasting a similar range of diversity are Erdelac’s settings. Angler in Darkness’ conflicts play out against backgrounds as varied as pre-Columbian America all the way on up to near-future Japan. Notably, at least half of the tales here could be classified as Weird Westerns. The decision to order them chronologically according to time period is an odd one, and, if the collection is read through from start to finish, it results in a feeling of redundancy as similar pieces begin to blur together (two different tales of Native-American vampirism back-to-back, really?). The resulting effect makes it so that Angler in Darkness is one of those rare collections where jumping around randomly from story to story is actually recommended.
Still, anchoring his tales with an immersive, meticulous attention to detail, as well as liberal splashes of tongue-in-cheek humor and thoughtful nods to real-world mythology and folklore, Erdelac displays great strength in the vivid evocation of time and place. Sure, more than a few stories drag—sometimes because they feel needlessly padded in the middle, other times because they don’t know when to end—but Erdelac is clearly having a blast indulging himself throughout this collection. That indulgence doesn’t always translate into a blast for his readers, though, so it’s a give and take: The leisurely, detail-oriented style enhances the sense of setting and mood, but it comes at the cost of immediacy and drive. Individual mileage may vary.
More broadly drawn than Erdelac’s settings are his characters, sometimes to a problematic degree. In fact, an unfortunate number feel like caricatures, complete with ill-advised dialogue which, at times, treads dangerously close to racial stereotyping.
At its best, Erdelac’s reliance on trope-driven characterization lends his stories a mythic resonance—witness the namesake Texas Ranger from “Bigfoot Walsh,” a taciturn mountain of a man tracking a clan of all-too-familiar missing-link monstrosities who’ve been massacring the locals, and who may have more in common with him than he’d like to admit. At its worst, devices which Erdelac probably assumes enhance verisimilitude just come across as cringe-worthy—witness the ebonics-spewing drug-dealers in the otherwise exceptional “Conviction,” a magical-realist revenge fable about a sensitive inner-city misfit cleaning up Chicago’s notorious Cabrini Green projects with reality-warping superpowers.
Despite this, there is an attitude of playful exuberance throughout Erdelac’s work which makes his misfires arguably forgivable; whenever he stumbles into a sore spot it never feels malicious. As with any fisherman’s haul, there are a few duds here that should probably get thrown back into the wine-dark sea from whence they came, and, granted, even the tastiest catches could benefit from a quick wash and a thorough deboning, but readers with an appetite for those specific delicacies which constitute Erdelac’s specialty (i.e. pulpy creature-features couched in well-realized historical settings) will find Angler in Darkness a satisfying feast indeed.
December 13, 2017
Here we have a collection of tales, most collected from previous publications; with some that were previously unpublished. You have a fairly diverse group here; starting off with a slew of weird Westerns, and then giving us a mix of kaiju stories, Irish mob tales with a supernatural twist, tales inspired by Japanese folklore, and unique takes on classic stories.
This is one of the rare anthologies where, quite frankly, every story is a winner. There are no middling or marginal entries here. If you haven't read any of Erdelac's work before, consider this a perfect primer, or sampling platter. I really enjoy the interests from which he sources his material, and he always seeks tirelessly to put fresh/unique twists on all of them. Many stories have elements of the weird and horrific, and he makes sure to grant these takes legitimacy via logical execution. Also, he writes some of the best, bloodiest action scenes out there.
I will say that the arrangement of the stories threw me a bit. The collection is front-loaded with the Western tales, and then the remaining stories are somewhat randomly ordered. Also, there were a few typos throughout - averaging about one or two per entry. No dealbreaker for me; but they are out there.
But, again, great stories, and a sweet cover to boot! Here are my takes on the individual entries. Enjoy!
The Mound of the Night Panther: The first story in the collection tells the tale of Auguste Oudin; a trapper of French and Indian heritage who sets off on hunt for gold, and instead unearths a terrible history lesson.
After bringing some priests down to the States from Canada, Oudin barters with a local Indian boy for a gold-flecked gaming piece. To him, this is a veritable treasure map, leading to a claim, and prosperity. However, what he finds instead are a collection of huge monumental mounds; too massive to be barrows, and permeating with a palpable aura of foreboding.
Setting up camp, Oudin finds himself approached by an Indian elder; who begins to share with him the history of the sacred land...
Ok, you can tell from the premise that all will probably not go well here. However, what makes this story pop is Erdelac's respect for the source material, attention to detail, and talent for portraying vivid, brutal acts of violence. Native American lore is ripe with great material; and in this tale we hear of the Mishipijiw, the terrifying "water panther". We also find ourselves awash in the blood-soaked pages of this culture's history.
On a personal level, there is another reason why this story resonated with me. I remember when I was a little kid, we went on a school trip to the Museum of Natural History. Well, actually, it was a fairly popular school trip destination, but I remember one time most of all. Maybe I was the right age for being impressionable to the material, maybe it was a great tour guide. But in this visit, I first learned the story of Romulus and Remus, as well as the Indian tribes that played games in great arenas, with their very lives on the line. And now, Erdelac has incorporated elements from both legends; tales from separate continents, into one powerful short story.
All in all, a direct premise yields anything but a simple story. Erdelac pulls you back in time, drags you through a hallucinogenic nightmare, and leaves you in a place where the tenuous membrane between reality and legend isn't just blurred, it is torn to shreds. Great story to kick off an anthology.
Killer of the Dead: Here we have another 'weird Western'; but in this case, it's a fast, violent piece with all the surprise and power of a sudden gut-punch. The premise here is simple and direct: a young Indian boy, staying up late to greet the men of the village when they return from a hunt, bears witness to a quartet of pale riders as they massacre they village. There is a twist, of course; these riders are not just typical white men: they are not only in for wanton slaughter; they also suck the very life out of their victims.
Killer of the Dead gives us a setup, a conflict, and a resolution; but the execution ensures that it yields much more than that. Erdelac focuses on the right details to make each character identifiable and memorable (especially the villains). This is a difficult task when working within a very tight word count. The violence is also well done; brutal and pulpy. But, perhaps my highest praise can be awarded to the "vampire elements": for example, the imagery of their cheeks drawing in as they take deep drinks from their prey is something that sticks with you.
This is a great little story. As said, it's very short, and very violent. There is no expository backstory involved; but the details given tell you all you need to know. Actually, allow me to correct myself - there is a bit of backstory, if you take the minute to read the author's intro. Here, Erdelac lists some of the inspirations that went into this tale; including the criminally underrated vampire film Near Dark.
Bigfoot Walsh: The third story in the anthology is also a Western tale. Here we have the first person POV of Keidel, a liberal-minded Dutch doctor who helps both settlers as well as local Indians. He joins up with a group of Texas Rangers to investigate a brutal raid (read: murder spree) that the Rangers are eager to pin upon the Comanche Indians (with whom the locals have a tenuous treaty in place). With the dual hope of preserving this treaty, as well as assisting any survivors, he sets off with them.
Along the way, they meet up with the titular Walsh, a quite literal Sasquatch type who is an excellent tracker/pathfinder for the Rangers. He has some leads of his own in his mind as to who the culprits are, and the group sets out with new purpose. No one, in the end, is quite prepared for what they are about to face.
Bigfoot Walsh is yet another excellent entry. Violence is the very lifeblood here; and of the first three stories, this is the one that yields the most primal ferocity and pent-up rage; as the story escalates from a routine search into something akin to Eaters of the Dead.
On top of all the other great elements here, it is the character of Walsh that seals the deal. Erdelac makes him into such an interesting entity that he outright steals every scene that he is in.
If there is one thing that I could cite as a detraction to the tale, it's the character of Keidel. I know he is integral in that he will 'bear witness' to what transpires, but I think he could've done more to show his overall mettle in the climactic action piece. Other than that, solid all around.
Devil's Cap Brawl: This is the story that first introduced me to Erdelac's work; and I originally read it in the Kaiju Rising anthology. So, I'll just copy paste that review here:
This was a fun one. Devil's Cap Brawl is set in the Dead West universe (also published by Ragnarok, I've read a bit of the first book - Those Poor, Poor, Bastards by Tim Marquitz - and really enjoyed it).
In this story, workers for a railroad baron literally unearth a long-buried miscreant monster as they go about blasting through the titular mountain. Luckily for them, they find that they have a rather unconventional ally on their side. I really don't want to get too much into it, for the sake of avoiding spoilers.
The writing here, as in the other Dead West books, is balls to the wall and full throttle. A lot of the stories in this anthology have curses, but this takes it to a new level, peppered throughout with some quite politically incorrect language. The fact that the protagonists nickname was bestowed upon him for the sheer volume of blasphemous language he uses is one clue. The fact that he is also a brash, back street brawling Irishman in the 1800's in charge of Indians and Chinamen should give you another hint of what kind of language is in store.
Erdelac does a great job in painting the scenery, fleshing out his monster, and choreographing the action. I had a bit of trouble at first with the "good guy", but he made it work. This story is the badass bastard offspring of the frantic coupling of classic Western pulp tales and good old fashioned giant monster stories.
Spearfinger: In Spearfinger, a Cherokee half-breed sheriff named Ben Burnham is on the trail of a town ne'er do well who has committed a pretty heinous crime. As his quarry flees up a mountain, attempting an egress to Arkansas, Burnham, the victim's loved ones, and all else involved find themselves within the domain of a horrifying creature known as Spearfinger.
Although this is another Western story, Erdelac flexes some serious horror chops in this outing. He imbues his characters with enough depth and personal baggage to make them all empathetic, an his depiction of the titular creature is pretty bone-rattling. But his best work is in the descriptions and detailing, shown in such colorful metaphors as comparing the click-clacking of branches in the wind to "the applause of skeletal hands". That's good stuff right there.
See also some influences from other books and movies peppered throughout. The crime committed by the slow-minded Waterback carries shades of Cormac McCarthy's "Child of God". There are also scenes evocative of the body-snatcher horrors of "The Thing".
This is a great story that I will avoid going into too much detail on, so as to avoid spoilers. But it is Erdelac at his violent, terrifying top form.
In Thunder's Shadow: I really enjoyed the premise of this story. Set during the Bone Wars, we follow academic Calvin Pabodie and his grizzled guide Neb Bukes as he sets out to research the area where a fossil was discovered.
In this story, Erdelac gleefully fleshes out a full-blown dinosaur adventure based upon the old, staged Huachuca/Thunderbird photos. Coupling his already mentioned versatile and colorful prose with truly memorable characters yields a yarn the spoke directly to my younger, dinosaur-obsessed self.
Pabodie is a classic, textbook academic character on a quest for a new discovery. Bukes, on the other hand, absolutely steals the show. He is a cantankerous combination of Rooster Cogburn and Matthew McConaughey's character in Reign of Fire.
I cannot laud enough Erdelac's job in making the pteranodons seem 'real' here. Instead of just trying to impress the reader with size or danger, he makes them living flesh; as if they are terrifying entities that you can reach out and touch - or ones that could reach out and snatch you.
Also, this story has some of the most vivid and imaginative violence in the whole book. I mean, in how many stories does the protagonist get knocked out cold by a donkey leg blown off in an explosion? You tell me.
The Blood Bay: I am reviewing these stories as I read them; but I'm predicting that this might just be the best tale in the anthology. The Blood Bay, as Erdelac explains in the introduction, plays off of the narrative of Steinbeck's 'The Red Pony' (one of my least favorite books of all time), and then ups the ante by incorporating such legendary equines as the Man-Eating Horses of Diomedes and Alexander the Great's own steed, Bucephalus.
In The Blood Bay, we meet Jonas, a sullen young boy whose father has absconded for greener pastures; leaving him in the care of his alcoholic mother and bitter grandmother. After a gruesome turn of events, his father comes to collect him, and try to integrate him into the better life that he has made for himself. This is no easy transition for a boy already molded by bitterness; although a glimmer of hope soon arrives in the form of the titular steed.
Gifted to Jonas by his appeasing father, there is a wildness and fierceness about this new horse; as well as something unsettling to all those around. As misfortune begins to falls upon Jonas' new 'family', we quickly realize that this is not just a wild-spirited horse; it is no less than a creature transplanted from the aforementioned mythologies. And, while we see the thin veneer of the 'perfect life' of Jonas' father, Famous Fallon, erode over the course of the tale, we cannot help but stare in awe at the perfect bond between the boy and his horse.
It is, indeed, the depth of the characters that make this story the minor masterpiece that it is. It is the strength of these characters that bolster the premise, which is so ludicrous that it is bold. I was blown away by the character of Jonas - here we have a true representation of a boy hardened way too early in life, due primarily to the actions of those who should have looking out for him instead of themselves. The harsh life lessons he learns early on are the drivers for his tightly coiled anger and reticence. And, it frightens me to a degree; since I have seen boys my son's age, around where we live, who come from tough or broken homes, who carry themselves and speak much in the same way as Jonas. I find myself seeing their faces as I read the words coming out of his mouth.
The action and violence in this story is much like as in the other tales; it is dark, brutal, bloody, oftentimes sudden and shocking, but never over the top or superfluous to the narrative. It must be a difficult balance to strike; but it is done successfully here.
The Blood Bay is a frightening story that will likely haunt you for days after reading it.
The Exclusive: According to the author intro for this tale, this one ties into the Merkabah Rider series, which has definitely been on the TBR horizon for a while. This tale might be responsible for moving it up a few rungs in reading expediency.
In The Exclusive, we meet Barry Twiggs, a reporter at a New Mexico newspaper who most decidedly opts to step on precisely the wrong toes (continuously) when he commits to printing all the dirt he can dig up on local magnate Tom Cotter. This leads to harassment, assaults, and, finally his untimely death. However, in this surprisingly clever and deep story, death is just the beginning. For, in this story, death brings Death, and Twiggs offers the proposal to hear His side of the story.
I don't know how much the Angel of Death appears in the Merkabah Rider series; but, if he is handled this well in them, he might just be the kind of scene-stealer that Death in the Discworld series always was.
The best part of this yarn come in when Erdelac uses Death (or, properly, Samael) as a mouthpiece to recount happenings from the very beginning of time. We get hints about Satan's fall from grace, and of Adam and Lilith's earliest transgressions and petulance. These are very engrossing and interesting portions.
Erdelac also makes Samael a sympathetic soul: a being who is, in turns, stoic, withdrawn, rageful, dutiful, and mournful. But, what allows us to find commonality with him is that he has, like all of us, suffered at one point from that most tragic, and deeply felt hurt of all: the loss of love.
The portrayal of Twiggs is well done, also. Personally, his banter with Samael gets a bit too cute at times, but I can understand the Erdelac is trying to keep some levity flowing through some otherwise sombre material. Plus, as we can see over the full course of the story, Twiggs is not just a one-note narrator. Like Death, he has a story to tell as well. And, it is a truly heartbreaking one.
Tell Tom Tildrum: Ah, yes, there was some really good stuff in this story. Although, I will say, to truly enjoy this tale at its fullest, you might want to do a bit of homework first. Definitely read the author's intro, as well as Erdelac's blog post about what went into making this tale. Then, if you aren't familiar with them, read up on some of the notorious exploits of "white hunters" as well as the Happy Valley Set.
So, this story first appeared in an anthology called 'Tales from the Bell Chair', the premise of which posited an exclusive club which members could only join by regaling the current members with a shocking personal tale, and having it be riveting enough to garner their approval. Nice. Very cool.
In Tell Tom Tildrum, the prospective new member is one Captain Howe, who will choose to tell a certain story from among his drink and drug-addled days of running with the Happy Valley folks. The tale he tells recounts a lion hunt that goes horribly, horribly wrong. And that's all I'll say on that, so as to avoid spoilers.
Erdelac's 'method writing', making the setting so palpable that it allows for complete reader immersion, is what truly elevates the story here. It is not just making the horizon feel alive; there is something great in how he captures the mindset of these people; for whom their personal hedonism allowed them to blithely eschew anything that even remotely resembled a moral compass.
For me, the end sequence came off as a bit over the top - well, to be honest, I never wanted the story to leave Kenya - but, it does make sense in the tying up the narrative, so I can't complain. It also incorporates the angle of citing the classic fable "The King o' the Cats". Plus, the closing lines are, in equal amounts, beautiful and jarring.
Mighty Nanuq: As previously mentioned, my first exposure to Erdelac came from his Kaiju Rising contribution. Little did I know just how many 'giant monster' tales he has under his belt. Here we have another stellar kaiju outing from him, with a tale that originally appeared in Mechanoid Press' anthology "Monster Earth". I guess the premise in that collection is that each country has a "national kaiju" of sorts; akin to the country specific jaegers in Pacific Rim. Not sure if all of these stories tie in to WWII, however.
So, in Mighty Nanuq, Erdelac chooses to focus on the titular creature, the local representative for - Canada. Well, not exactly the first country to pop into one's mind when veering towards discourse on the Great War, but Erdelac has stated that he wanted to do a story focusing on the Inuit, and this was a grand opportunity.
Nanuq focuses on Hal Anawak, who is retiring from his post in Canadian Intelligence; and his relationship with his estranged, angry young activist nephew Matthew. Actually, I should clarify on the importance of the activist angle real quick - in the backdrop of this story is the occupation of Alcatraz Island by Native Americans in the late 60's. I had never in fact heard of this story; and I appreciate an author who can send you running to the history books without shoving an agenda down your throat.
Matthew is more of a rally attending, fist pumping activist; and he harbors a bit of resentment for his uncle, whom he believes to have sold his heritage to become the white man's stooge. Over the course of the story, he is going to get a real education.
Erdelac manages to pack a lot into this story. I don't know if it is a part of this anthology, or just this story, that these monster stories showcase a relationship between the monster and a "master" of sorts (one who as either direct control or influence; with Nanuq it is the latter). As Hal helps Matthew come to grips with his shaman lineage, we get a flashback to WWII, and how Hal began his work with the Canadian government. This is where we get to the meat of the kaiju action, as Nanuq does battle with an abominable, stitched together Nazi horror.
Kudos on a well-choreographed battle, too. Erdelac hit all the right notes on a giant monster scrap - size, scope, and brutality. On paper, Nanuq might seem a bit bland - just a huge polar bear wit bright blue eyes. But, in the finished product, he is a sight to behold.
Erdelac shows strong finesse in other detailing aspects as well. In describing a Nazi U-Boat and its crew, he perfectly portrays the shape of it and the different uniforms of the crew in basically the space of a paragraph. He does this by stressing the important details and letting the reader's imagination fill in the blanks.
Finally, the story caps off with a return to the 'present' of 1969. And, in tying things up, he integrates elements of duty, heritage, and racial politics, all withou
This is one of the rare anthologies where, quite frankly, every story is a winner. There are no middling or marginal entries here. If you haven't read any of Erdelac's work before, consider this a perfect primer, or sampling platter. I really enjoy the interests from which he sources his material, and he always seeks tirelessly to put fresh/unique twists on all of them. Many stories have elements of the weird and horrific, and he makes sure to grant these takes legitimacy via logical execution. Also, he writes some of the best, bloodiest action scenes out there.
I will say that the arrangement of the stories threw me a bit. The collection is front-loaded with the Western tales, and then the remaining stories are somewhat randomly ordered. Also, there were a few typos throughout - averaging about one or two per entry. No dealbreaker for me; but they are out there.
But, again, great stories, and a sweet cover to boot! Here are my takes on the individual entries. Enjoy!
The Mound of the Night Panther: The first story in the collection tells the tale of Auguste Oudin; a trapper of French and Indian heritage who sets off on hunt for gold, and instead unearths a terrible history lesson.
After bringing some priests down to the States from Canada, Oudin barters with a local Indian boy for a gold-flecked gaming piece. To him, this is a veritable treasure map, leading to a claim, and prosperity. However, what he finds instead are a collection of huge monumental mounds; too massive to be barrows, and permeating with a palpable aura of foreboding.
Setting up camp, Oudin finds himself approached by an Indian elder; who begins to share with him the history of the sacred land...
Ok, you can tell from the premise that all will probably not go well here. However, what makes this story pop is Erdelac's respect for the source material, attention to detail, and talent for portraying vivid, brutal acts of violence. Native American lore is ripe with great material; and in this tale we hear of the Mishipijiw, the terrifying "water panther". We also find ourselves awash in the blood-soaked pages of this culture's history.
On a personal level, there is another reason why this story resonated with me. I remember when I was a little kid, we went on a school trip to the Museum of Natural History. Well, actually, it was a fairly popular school trip destination, but I remember one time most of all. Maybe I was the right age for being impressionable to the material, maybe it was a great tour guide. But in this visit, I first learned the story of Romulus and Remus, as well as the Indian tribes that played games in great arenas, with their very lives on the line. And now, Erdelac has incorporated elements from both legends; tales from separate continents, into one powerful short story.
All in all, a direct premise yields anything but a simple story. Erdelac pulls you back in time, drags you through a hallucinogenic nightmare, and leaves you in a place where the tenuous membrane between reality and legend isn't just blurred, it is torn to shreds. Great story to kick off an anthology.
Killer of the Dead: Here we have another 'weird Western'; but in this case, it's a fast, violent piece with all the surprise and power of a sudden gut-punch. The premise here is simple and direct: a young Indian boy, staying up late to greet the men of the village when they return from a hunt, bears witness to a quartet of pale riders as they massacre they village. There is a twist, of course; these riders are not just typical white men: they are not only in for wanton slaughter; they also suck the very life out of their victims.
Killer of the Dead gives us a setup, a conflict, and a resolution; but the execution ensures that it yields much more than that. Erdelac focuses on the right details to make each character identifiable and memorable (especially the villains). This is a difficult task when working within a very tight word count. The violence is also well done; brutal and pulpy. But, perhaps my highest praise can be awarded to the "vampire elements": for example, the imagery of their cheeks drawing in as they take deep drinks from their prey is something that sticks with you.
This is a great little story. As said, it's very short, and very violent. There is no expository backstory involved; but the details given tell you all you need to know. Actually, allow me to correct myself - there is a bit of backstory, if you take the minute to read the author's intro. Here, Erdelac lists some of the inspirations that went into this tale; including the criminally underrated vampire film Near Dark.
Bigfoot Walsh: The third story in the anthology is also a Western tale. Here we have the first person POV of Keidel, a liberal-minded Dutch doctor who helps both settlers as well as local Indians. He joins up with a group of Texas Rangers to investigate a brutal raid (read: murder spree) that the Rangers are eager to pin upon the Comanche Indians (with whom the locals have a tenuous treaty in place). With the dual hope of preserving this treaty, as well as assisting any survivors, he sets off with them.
Along the way, they meet up with the titular Walsh, a quite literal Sasquatch type who is an excellent tracker/pathfinder for the Rangers. He has some leads of his own in his mind as to who the culprits are, and the group sets out with new purpose. No one, in the end, is quite prepared for what they are about to face.
Bigfoot Walsh is yet another excellent entry. Violence is the very lifeblood here; and of the first three stories, this is the one that yields the most primal ferocity and pent-up rage; as the story escalates from a routine search into something akin to Eaters of the Dead.
On top of all the other great elements here, it is the character of Walsh that seals the deal. Erdelac makes him into such an interesting entity that he outright steals every scene that he is in.
If there is one thing that I could cite as a detraction to the tale, it's the character of Keidel. I know he is integral in that he will 'bear witness' to what transpires, but I think he could've done more to show his overall mettle in the climactic action piece. Other than that, solid all around.
Devil's Cap Brawl: This is the story that first introduced me to Erdelac's work; and I originally read it in the Kaiju Rising anthology. So, I'll just copy paste that review here:
This was a fun one. Devil's Cap Brawl is set in the Dead West universe (also published by Ragnarok, I've read a bit of the first book - Those Poor, Poor, Bastards by Tim Marquitz - and really enjoyed it).
In this story, workers for a railroad baron literally unearth a long-buried miscreant monster as they go about blasting through the titular mountain. Luckily for them, they find that they have a rather unconventional ally on their side. I really don't want to get too much into it, for the sake of avoiding spoilers.
The writing here, as in the other Dead West books, is balls to the wall and full throttle. A lot of the stories in this anthology have curses, but this takes it to a new level, peppered throughout with some quite politically incorrect language. The fact that the protagonists nickname was bestowed upon him for the sheer volume of blasphemous language he uses is one clue. The fact that he is also a brash, back street brawling Irishman in the 1800's in charge of Indians and Chinamen should give you another hint of what kind of language is in store.
Erdelac does a great job in painting the scenery, fleshing out his monster, and choreographing the action. I had a bit of trouble at first with the "good guy", but he made it work. This story is the badass bastard offspring of the frantic coupling of classic Western pulp tales and good old fashioned giant monster stories.
Spearfinger: In Spearfinger, a Cherokee half-breed sheriff named Ben Burnham is on the trail of a town ne'er do well who has committed a pretty heinous crime. As his quarry flees up a mountain, attempting an egress to Arkansas, Burnham, the victim's loved ones, and all else involved find themselves within the domain of a horrifying creature known as Spearfinger.
Although this is another Western story, Erdelac flexes some serious horror chops in this outing. He imbues his characters with enough depth and personal baggage to make them all empathetic, an his depiction of the titular creature is pretty bone-rattling. But his best work is in the descriptions and detailing, shown in such colorful metaphors as comparing the click-clacking of branches in the wind to "the applause of skeletal hands". That's good stuff right there.
See also some influences from other books and movies peppered throughout. The crime committed by the slow-minded Waterback carries shades of Cormac McCarthy's "Child of God". There are also scenes evocative of the body-snatcher horrors of "The Thing".
This is a great story that I will avoid going into too much detail on, so as to avoid spoilers. But it is Erdelac at his violent, terrifying top form.
In Thunder's Shadow: I really enjoyed the premise of this story. Set during the Bone Wars, we follow academic Calvin Pabodie and his grizzled guide Neb Bukes as he sets out to research the area where a fossil was discovered.
In this story, Erdelac gleefully fleshes out a full-blown dinosaur adventure based upon the old, staged Huachuca/Thunderbird photos. Coupling his already mentioned versatile and colorful prose with truly memorable characters yields a yarn the spoke directly to my younger, dinosaur-obsessed self.
Pabodie is a classic, textbook academic character on a quest for a new discovery. Bukes, on the other hand, absolutely steals the show. He is a cantankerous combination of Rooster Cogburn and Matthew McConaughey's character in Reign of Fire.
I cannot laud enough Erdelac's job in making the pteranodons seem 'real' here. Instead of just trying to impress the reader with size or danger, he makes them living flesh; as if they are terrifying entities that you can reach out and touch - or ones that could reach out and snatch you.
Also, this story has some of the most vivid and imaginative violence in the whole book. I mean, in how many stories does the protagonist get knocked out cold by a donkey leg blown off in an explosion? You tell me.
The Blood Bay: I am reviewing these stories as I read them; but I'm predicting that this might just be the best tale in the anthology. The Blood Bay, as Erdelac explains in the introduction, plays off of the narrative of Steinbeck's 'The Red Pony' (one of my least favorite books of all time), and then ups the ante by incorporating such legendary equines as the Man-Eating Horses of Diomedes and Alexander the Great's own steed, Bucephalus.
In The Blood Bay, we meet Jonas, a sullen young boy whose father has absconded for greener pastures; leaving him in the care of his alcoholic mother and bitter grandmother. After a gruesome turn of events, his father comes to collect him, and try to integrate him into the better life that he has made for himself. This is no easy transition for a boy already molded by bitterness; although a glimmer of hope soon arrives in the form of the titular steed.
Gifted to Jonas by his appeasing father, there is a wildness and fierceness about this new horse; as well as something unsettling to all those around. As misfortune begins to falls upon Jonas' new 'family', we quickly realize that this is not just a wild-spirited horse; it is no less than a creature transplanted from the aforementioned mythologies. And, while we see the thin veneer of the 'perfect life' of Jonas' father, Famous Fallon, erode over the course of the tale, we cannot help but stare in awe at the perfect bond between the boy and his horse.
It is, indeed, the depth of the characters that make this story the minor masterpiece that it is. It is the strength of these characters that bolster the premise, which is so ludicrous that it is bold. I was blown away by the character of Jonas - here we have a true representation of a boy hardened way too early in life, due primarily to the actions of those who should have looking out for him instead of themselves. The harsh life lessons he learns early on are the drivers for his tightly coiled anger and reticence. And, it frightens me to a degree; since I have seen boys my son's age, around where we live, who come from tough or broken homes, who carry themselves and speak much in the same way as Jonas. I find myself seeing their faces as I read the words coming out of his mouth.
The action and violence in this story is much like as in the other tales; it is dark, brutal, bloody, oftentimes sudden and shocking, but never over the top or superfluous to the narrative. It must be a difficult balance to strike; but it is done successfully here.
The Blood Bay is a frightening story that will likely haunt you for days after reading it.
The Exclusive: According to the author intro for this tale, this one ties into the Merkabah Rider series, which has definitely been on the TBR horizon for a while. This tale might be responsible for moving it up a few rungs in reading expediency.
In The Exclusive, we meet Barry Twiggs, a reporter at a New Mexico newspaper who most decidedly opts to step on precisely the wrong toes (continuously) when he commits to printing all the dirt he can dig up on local magnate Tom Cotter. This leads to harassment, assaults, and, finally his untimely death. However, in this surprisingly clever and deep story, death is just the beginning. For, in this story, death brings Death, and Twiggs offers the proposal to hear His side of the story.
I don't know how much the Angel of Death appears in the Merkabah Rider series; but, if he is handled this well in them, he might just be the kind of scene-stealer that Death in the Discworld series always was.
The best part of this yarn come in when Erdelac uses Death (or, properly, Samael) as a mouthpiece to recount happenings from the very beginning of time. We get hints about Satan's fall from grace, and of Adam and Lilith's earliest transgressions and petulance. These are very engrossing and interesting portions.
Erdelac also makes Samael a sympathetic soul: a being who is, in turns, stoic, withdrawn, rageful, dutiful, and mournful. But, what allows us to find commonality with him is that he has, like all of us, suffered at one point from that most tragic, and deeply felt hurt of all: the loss of love.
The portrayal of Twiggs is well done, also. Personally, his banter with Samael gets a bit too cute at times, but I can understand the Erdelac is trying to keep some levity flowing through some otherwise sombre material. Plus, as we can see over the full course of the story, Twiggs is not just a one-note narrator. Like Death, he has a story to tell as well. And, it is a truly heartbreaking one.
Tell Tom Tildrum: Ah, yes, there was some really good stuff in this story. Although, I will say, to truly enjoy this tale at its fullest, you might want to do a bit of homework first. Definitely read the author's intro, as well as Erdelac's blog post about what went into making this tale. Then, if you aren't familiar with them, read up on some of the notorious exploits of "white hunters" as well as the Happy Valley Set.
So, this story first appeared in an anthology called 'Tales from the Bell Chair', the premise of which posited an exclusive club which members could only join by regaling the current members with a shocking personal tale, and having it be riveting enough to garner their approval. Nice. Very cool.
In Tell Tom Tildrum, the prospective new member is one Captain Howe, who will choose to tell a certain story from among his drink and drug-addled days of running with the Happy Valley folks. The tale he tells recounts a lion hunt that goes horribly, horribly wrong. And that's all I'll say on that, so as to avoid spoilers.
Erdelac's 'method writing', making the setting so palpable that it allows for complete reader immersion, is what truly elevates the story here. It is not just making the horizon feel alive; there is something great in how he captures the mindset of these people; for whom their personal hedonism allowed them to blithely eschew anything that even remotely resembled a moral compass.
For me, the end sequence came off as a bit over the top - well, to be honest, I never wanted the story to leave Kenya - but, it does make sense in the tying up the narrative, so I can't complain. It also incorporates the angle of citing the classic fable "The King o' the Cats". Plus, the closing lines are, in equal amounts, beautiful and jarring.
Mighty Nanuq: As previously mentioned, my first exposure to Erdelac came from his Kaiju Rising contribution. Little did I know just how many 'giant monster' tales he has under his belt. Here we have another stellar kaiju outing from him, with a tale that originally appeared in Mechanoid Press' anthology "Monster Earth". I guess the premise in that collection is that each country has a "national kaiju" of sorts; akin to the country specific jaegers in Pacific Rim. Not sure if all of these stories tie in to WWII, however.
So, in Mighty Nanuq, Erdelac chooses to focus on the titular creature, the local representative for - Canada. Well, not exactly the first country to pop into one's mind when veering towards discourse on the Great War, but Erdelac has stated that he wanted to do a story focusing on the Inuit, and this was a grand opportunity.
Nanuq focuses on Hal Anawak, who is retiring from his post in Canadian Intelligence; and his relationship with his estranged, angry young activist nephew Matthew. Actually, I should clarify on the importance of the activist angle real quick - in the backdrop of this story is the occupation of Alcatraz Island by Native Americans in the late 60's. I had never in fact heard of this story; and I appreciate an author who can send you running to the history books without shoving an agenda down your throat.
Matthew is more of a rally attending, fist pumping activist; and he harbors a bit of resentment for his uncle, whom he believes to have sold his heritage to become the white man's stooge. Over the course of the story, he is going to get a real education.
Erdelac manages to pack a lot into this story. I don't know if it is a part of this anthology, or just this story, that these monster stories showcase a relationship between the monster and a "master" of sorts (one who as either direct control or influence; with Nanuq it is the latter). As Hal helps Matthew come to grips with his shaman lineage, we get a flashback to WWII, and how Hal began his work with the Canadian government. This is where we get to the meat of the kaiju action, as Nanuq does battle with an abominable, stitched together Nazi horror.
Kudos on a well-choreographed battle, too. Erdelac hit all the right notes on a giant monster scrap - size, scope, and brutality. On paper, Nanuq might seem a bit bland - just a huge polar bear wit bright blue eyes. But, in the finished product, he is a sight to behold.
Erdelac shows strong finesse in other detailing aspects as well. In describing a Nazi U-Boat and its crew, he perfectly portrays the shape of it and the different uniforms of the crew in basically the space of a paragraph. He does this by stressing the important details and letting the reader's imagination fill in the blanks.
Finally, the story caps off with a return to the 'present' of 1969. And, in tying things up, he integrates elements of duty, heritage, and racial politics, all withou
December 13, 2017
An amazing collection of supernatural themed stories, with a diverse range of myths, from vampires to dinosaurs, ghosts to werewolves, located mostly in the US but also a couple of them in Japan. There's certainly a story for everyone but I enjoyed every last one of them.
If you are fan of horror, the occult and good scary stories, do yourself a favor and pick this one!
If you are fan of horror, the occult and good scary stories, do yourself a favor and pick this one!
September 14, 2017
***this review originally appeared on The Ginger Nuts of Horror website***
Despite what the cover art would have you believe, Angler in Darkness, the first short story collection from Edward M. Erdelac (author of such novels as Andersonville, Monstrumführer, Terovolas, and the Merkabah Rider series), contains approximately zero razor-toothed mega-fish snacking on grizzled old sailors. The title of this collection, and the image on its face, instead refers to Erdelac’s philosophy of storytelling: That is, he fancies himself something of a mariner, trawling the briny murk of his imagination for whatever prizes he’s lucky enough to catch.
Sure enough, sometimes Erdelac lands a big meaty marlin. Others times it’s a dinky li’l minnow. Not everything in this collection is a five-star seafood dinner, but props to Erdelac for wading out there in the water time and time again, ever ready to cast his net. And fret not, Monster Kids; there may not be any jumbo-sized carnivorous sea creatures, but there’s still plenty of mountain-dwelling kaiju beasties, subterranean blood-sucking tendrils, sex-crazed ape-men, and even colon-slurping killer toilets!
Boasting a similar range of diversity are Erdelac’s settings. Angler in Darkness’ conflicts play out against backgrounds as varied as pre-Columbian America all the way on up to near-future Japan. Notably, at least half of the tales here could be classified as Weird Westerns. The decision to order them chronologically according to time period is an odd one, and, if the collection is read through from start to finish, it results in a feeling of redundancy as similar pieces begin to blur together (two different tales of Native-American vampirism back-to-back, really?). The resulting effect makes it so that Angler in Darkness is one of those rare collections where jumping around randomly from story to story is actually recommended.
Still, anchoring his tales with an immersive, meticulous attention to detail, as well as liberal splashes of tongue-in-cheek humor and thoughtful nods to real-world mythology and folklore, Erdelac displays great strength in the vivid evocation of time and place. Sure, more than a few stories drag—sometimes because they feel needlessly padded in the middle, other times because they don’t know when to end—but Erdelac is clearly having a blast indulging himself throughout this collection. That indulgence doesn’t always translate into a blast for his readers, though, so it’s a give and take: The leisurely, detail-oriented style enhances the sense of setting and mood, but it comes at the cost of immediacy and drive. Individual mileage may vary.
More broadly drawn than Erdelac’s settings are his characters, sometimes to a problematic degree. In fact, an unfortunate number feel like caricatures, complete with ill-advised dialogue which, at times, treads dangerously close to racial stereotyping.
At its best, Erdelac’s reliance on trope-driven characterization lends his stories a mythic resonance—witness the namesake Texas Ranger from “Bigfoot Walsh,” a taciturn mountain of a man tracking a clan of all-too-familiar missing-link monstrosities who’ve been massacring the locals, and who may have more in common with him than he’d like to admit. At its worst, devices which Erdelac probably assumes enhance verisimilitude just come across as cringe-worthy—witness the ebonics-spewing drug-dealers in the otherwise exceptional “Conviction,” a magical-realist revenge fable about a sensitive inner-city misfit cleaning up Chicago’s notorious Cabrini Green projects with reality-warping superpowers.
Despite this, there is an attitude of playful exuberance throughout Erdelac’s work which makes his misfires arguably forgivable; whenever he stumbles into a sore spot it never feels malicious. As with any fisherman’s haul, there are a few duds here that should probably get thrown back into the wine-dark sea from whence they came, and, granted, even the tastiest catches could benefit from a quick wash and a thorough deboning, but readers with an appetite for those specific delicacies which constitute Erdelac’s specialty (i.e. pulpy creature-features couched in well-realized historical settings) will find Angler in Darkness a satisfying feast indeed.
Despite what the cover art would have you believe, Angler in Darkness, the first short story collection from Edward M. Erdelac (author of such novels as Andersonville, Monstrumführer, Terovolas, and the Merkabah Rider series), contains approximately zero razor-toothed mega-fish snacking on grizzled old sailors. The title of this collection, and the image on its face, instead refers to Erdelac’s philosophy of storytelling: That is, he fancies himself something of a mariner, trawling the briny murk of his imagination for whatever prizes he’s lucky enough to catch.
Sure enough, sometimes Erdelac lands a big meaty marlin. Others times it’s a dinky li’l minnow. Not everything in this collection is a five-star seafood dinner, but props to Erdelac for wading out there in the water time and time again, ever ready to cast his net. And fret not, Monster Kids; there may not be any jumbo-sized carnivorous sea creatures, but there’s still plenty of mountain-dwelling kaiju beasties, subterranean blood-sucking tendrils, sex-crazed ape-men, and even colon-slurping killer toilets!
Boasting a similar range of diversity are Erdelac’s settings. Angler in Darkness’ conflicts play out against backgrounds as varied as pre-Columbian America all the way on up to near-future Japan. Notably, at least half of the tales here could be classified as Weird Westerns. The decision to order them chronologically according to time period is an odd one, and, if the collection is read through from start to finish, it results in a feeling of redundancy as similar pieces begin to blur together (two different tales of Native-American vampirism back-to-back, really?). The resulting effect makes it so that Angler in Darkness is one of those rare collections where jumping around randomly from story to story is actually recommended.
Still, anchoring his tales with an immersive, meticulous attention to detail, as well as liberal splashes of tongue-in-cheek humor and thoughtful nods to real-world mythology and folklore, Erdelac displays great strength in the vivid evocation of time and place. Sure, more than a few stories drag—sometimes because they feel needlessly padded in the middle, other times because they don’t know when to end—but Erdelac is clearly having a blast indulging himself throughout this collection. That indulgence doesn’t always translate into a blast for his readers, though, so it’s a give and take: The leisurely, detail-oriented style enhances the sense of setting and mood, but it comes at the cost of immediacy and drive. Individual mileage may vary.
More broadly drawn than Erdelac’s settings are his characters, sometimes to a problematic degree. In fact, an unfortunate number feel like caricatures, complete with ill-advised dialogue which, at times, treads dangerously close to racial stereotyping.
At its best, Erdelac’s reliance on trope-driven characterization lends his stories a mythic resonance—witness the namesake Texas Ranger from “Bigfoot Walsh,” a taciturn mountain of a man tracking a clan of all-too-familiar missing-link monstrosities who’ve been massacring the locals, and who may have more in common with him than he’d like to admit. At its worst, devices which Erdelac probably assumes enhance verisimilitude just come across as cringe-worthy—witness the ebonics-spewing drug-dealers in the otherwise exceptional “Conviction,” a magical-realist revenge fable about a sensitive inner-city misfit cleaning up Chicago’s notorious Cabrini Green projects with reality-warping superpowers.
Despite this, there is an attitude of playful exuberance throughout Erdelac’s work which makes his misfires arguably forgivable; whenever he stumbles into a sore spot it never feels malicious. As with any fisherman’s haul, there are a few duds here that should probably get thrown back into the wine-dark sea from whence they came, and, granted, even the tastiest catches could benefit from a quick wash and a thorough deboning, but readers with an appetite for those specific delicacies which constitute Erdelac’s specialty (i.e. pulpy creature-features couched in well-realized historical settings) will find Angler in Darkness a satisfying feast indeed.
January 31, 2023
Erdelac is a phenomenally detailed writer who goes the extra mile with his historical research and eye for the unusual. I've been waiting a long time for an anthology that compiles his short story work from the past decade and this one hit the mark. If you enjoy stories from the genres of historical fiction, western, Lovecraftian/Chtulu Mythos, weird western, esoteric mysticism, Hasidic mysticism, or horror, then Erdelac will blow you away with his work.
August 4, 2020
Some good stories, couple of really fun ones, a couple of real stinkers. So about average overall, worth checking out.
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