The Architecture of Fear

by Kathryn Cramer

Original anthology collecting fourteen haunted house stories including a posthumous novella by Robert Aickman and shorter fictions by Gene Wolfe, Ramsey Campbell, Charles L. Grant, Karl Edward Wagner, Dean R. Koontz, Joyce Carol Oates, Michael Bishop, and others. Winner of the World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Anthologies, Supernatural

Hardcover

First published July 1, 1991

About the author

Kathryn Cramer lives in Westport, NY. She is an editor of the Hieroglyph project sponsored by the Center for Science and the Imagination at Arizona State University. Her story, "Am I Free to Go?" was published by Tor.com in December 2012.

She co-edited the Year's Best Fantasy and Year's Best SF series with David G. Hartwell. Her most recent historical anthologies include The Space Opera Renaissance and The Hard SF Renaissance, both co-edited with Hartwell. Their previous hard SF anthology was The Ascent of Wonder (1994).

She is working on a film adaptation of her story "You, in Emulation" with director Edward Cornell.

Reviews

[Jack Tripper · Rating 3 out of 5]

1989 Avon Books mass-market. Original stories from Karl Wagner, Skipp & Spector, Joyce Carol Oates, Ramsey Campbell, Charles L. Grant, and more (plus one previously published story, "The Fetch," from Robert Aickman). And oh yeah, Dean Koontz. Hurrah. Not a fan of what little I've read of his, but I'm willing to give one of his shorts a shot ("Down in the Darkness").

[Ignacio Senao f · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pues un engaño de libro. Fijarse en la porta y en el título, si le damos la vuelta al libro dice que son 14 relatos de casas encantadas. Pues ¡uno solo es de casas encantadas! Los demás no tienen absolutamente nada que ver, es más, la mayoría se desarrollan en el exterior. Pero para colmo son de una calidad nefasta.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

A highly uneven collection of horror stories, but worth picking up for Robert Aickman’s outstandingly atmospheric “The Fetch” alone. “Nesting Instinct” by Scott Baker was also really impressive, and my very first Dean Koontz experience, “Down in the Darkness,” was super creepy as well—I’m now looking forward to trying one of his novels on for size. Most of the rest of these were unfortunately not all that memorable, and some were even downright mediocre, but given the fact that the three standout stories add up to 116 pages out of the 297 total, if you’re interested in a less traditional offering of haunted house-type stories, this is a collection that’s well worth owning.

Table of Contents:

•In the House of Gingerbread by Gene Wolfe
•Where the Heart Is by Ramsey Campbell
•Ellen, in Her Time by Charles L. Grant
•Nesting Instinct by Scott Baker
•Endless Night by Karl Edward Wagner
•Trust Me by Joseph Lyons
•The Fetch by Robert Aickman
•Visitors by Jack Dann
•Gentlemen by John Skipp and Craig Spector
•Down in the Darkness by Dean R. Koontz
•Haunted by Joyce Carol Oates
•In the Memory Room by Michael Bishop
•Tales from the Original Gothic by John M. Ford
•The House that Knew No Hate by Jessica Amanda Salmonson

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

These stories were kind of hit or miss. The two I enjoyed most were by Dean Koontz (about a mysterious door that shows up in a man's new home and sets him on a journey into true evil) and a story by Joyce Carol Oates which I'd read before but enjoyed revisiting.

[[on hiatus, probably forever] The rockabilly werewolf from Mars · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the better horror anthologies of the 80s, this book contains stories from some of my favourite writers of that era (and also one of my least favourites). It helps that the subject matter is of great interest to me, as much of my favourite horror fiction tends to fall into the subgenre that this anthology focuses on.

In The House Of Gingerbread
A story by one of the better science fiction writers, this one shows him equally good in the horror genre. It serves partially as a retelling of the "Hansel and Gretel" story, combined with a haunted house story. The scene in which something is heard moving in a locked closet is one of the most unsettling moments in the book.

Where The Heart Is
Ramsey Campbell is one of the best horror writers of the modern era, and it should be no surprise that this is one of the best stories in the book. In it, the renovation of a house where the narrator once lived leads to changes to their memory. An original idea told very well.

Ellen, In Her Time
A fairly traditional ghost story, written by one of the best horror writers of the 80s, although he has fallen into obscurity today (I genuinely suspect that I may be Grant's youngest fan). The connection to the anthology's theme seems tenuous, but definitely worth reading.

Nesting Instincts
A woman visiting France stays in a strange house, with which she becomes increasingly obsessed. Unnerving, in some undefinable way, with thematic similarities to the novel Burnt Offerings.

Endless Night
A series of descriptions of the protagonist's recurring nightmares. Intriguing, but I admit that I didn't quite get it.

Trust Me
A man who's daughter suffers from a nightmare tries an unusual method of dealing with the situation.

The Fetch
A gothic horror story about a family curse, in the form of a faceless woman who emerges from a nearby lake to foretell tragedy. Very atmospheric and quite good.

Visitors
An unconventional ghost story set in a hospital.

Gentlemen
A story of possession set in a dive bar.

Down In The Darkness
A man who moves into a new house finds a door that shouldn't be there. An interesting start, but it doesn't really go anywhere; and the story hinges on a pretty unlikely coincidence. I've never been a huge fan of Koontz, but this is probably the best thing I've read of his.

Haunted
Two teenagers begin trespassing on various abandoned farms, and find something disturbing on one of them. Quite atmospheric, and much better than the previous story, this one is perhaps something of a minor classic of 80s short horror fiction.

In The Memory Room
A man at a funeral parlor speaks to the corpses there. Perhaps too oblique for its own good, but still interesting.

Tales From The Original Gothic
Almost metafictional story about an investigation at a strange house where various horror cliches occur as some manifestation of the house. Very strange, but enjoyable; one of the stronger stories here.

The House That Knew No Hate
Some people move into a house that once belonged to the grandparents of one of them, various events from the past seem to recur.

[bluetyson]

The Architecture of Fear by Kathryn Cramer (1991)

[Ginger · Rating 2 out of 5]

very intriging, edge of seat story.

[Reuxbot · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked Architecture up because the description read that it was an "original anthology collecting fourteen haunted house stories," and I love haunted house stories so I was excited to read it. But to say these are haunted house stories would be using the term loosely. While there are some technically haunted houses in this collection of stories, overall I felt the collection was just disappointing. I literally fell asleep during four of them.

I will say that they were often well written, but seemed to be more about the exploration of a theme or a writing exercise rather than an attempt to tell a good story.

[Ronald Wise · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of fourteen original short stories, all of dark fantasy, and all involving a building of some sort. They were all at least entertaining and captivating. There were five I found to be superb in both story development and word craftsmanship: “Ellen, In Her Time” by Charles L. Grant; “Nesting Instinct” by Scott Baker; “Down in the Darkness” by Dean R. Koontz; “Haunted” by Joyce Carol Oates; and “The House that Knew No Hate” by Jessica Amanda Salmonson.

[Claudia Angélica · Rating 3 out of 5]

El libro tiene 14 relatos, leí 6, 2 me gustaron y solamente 1 logró atemorizarme, y se trata de "En la oscuridad" escrito por Dean R. Koontz. El resto no cumple con las características de un relato de terror, ni siquiera psicológico, siendo historias poco conclusivas, y que dejan bastantes interrogantes al finalizar.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

These eerie tales are all loosely connected by the 'architecture' theme, for better or worse. Not a homerun by any stretch, but a nice variety of ideas and authors. Also, the short bibliography of 'house-related horror' at the back is much appreciated.

[Bill Borre]

"In the House of Gingerbread" by Gene Wolfe - A detective visits a woman after she collects insurance policies for her husband that died from asbestos and her son that died from eating the house paint.

"Ellen, In Her Time" by Charles L. Grant - The protagonist is haunted by his dead love.

"Nesting Instinct" by Scott Baker - wc
"Down in the Darkness" by Dean R. Koontz - wc