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The Bleeding Edge: Dark Barriers, Dark Frontiers
This acclaimed volume features one of the most distinguished lineups of any original anthology published in recent years-ranging from legends such as Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, George Clayton Johnson, Earl Hamner, Jr., and Dan O'Bannon to such leading contemporary figures as Nancy Kilpatrick, John Shirley, Joe R. Lansdale, and Steve Rasnic Tem. While basically hewing to the genre of weird fiction, The Bleeding Edge runs the gamut of subject-matter, from the ghost story to Lovecraftian horror to fantasy. There is something for everyone in this wondrously diverse book-the only point of consistency is the exemplary quality of the material.
"Nolan and Brock have put together a compelling anthology of dark short fiction that includes unused Twilight Zone scripts and unpublished work by the likes of Ray Bradbury and Richard Matheson. There is something for everyone in the 20 stories and scripts."-Publishers Weekly
"This volume is a snapshot of the extraordinarily rich and varied modes of writing that have dominated weird fiction over the past fifty to seventy-five years. . . . In these days when 'theme' anthologies all too often produce monotonous sameness in motif and treatment, it is refreshing to come upon a volume as multifaceted as this one."-from S. T. Joshi's Foreword
"Nolan and Brock have put together a compelling anthology of dark short fiction that includes unused Twilight Zone scripts and unpublished work by the likes of Ray Bradbury and Richard Matheson. There is something for everyone in the 20 stories and scripts."-Publishers Weekly
"This volume is a snapshot of the extraordinarily rich and varied modes of writing that have dominated weird fiction over the past fifty to seventy-five years. . . . In these days when 'theme' anthologies all too often produce monotonous sameness in motif and treatment, it is refreshing to come upon a volume as multifaceted as this one."-from S. T. Joshi's Foreword
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
1 person is currently reading
70 people want to read
About the author
William F. Nolan
372 books239 followersWilliam F. Nolan is best known as the co-author (with George Clayton Johnson) of Logan's Run -- a science fiction novel that went on to become a movie, a television series and is about to become a movie again -- and as single author of its sequels. His short stories have been selected for scores of anthologies and textbooks and he is twice winner of the Edgar Allan Poe Special Award from the Mystery Writers of America.
Nolan was born in 1928 in Kansas City Missouri. He attended the Kansas City Art Institute and worked as an artist for Hallmark Cards. He moved to California in the late 1940s and studied at San Diego State College. He began concentrating on writing rather than art and, in 1952, was introduced by fellow Missouri native (and established writer) Ray Bradbury to another young up-and-coming author, Charles Beaumont. Moving to the Los Angeles area in 1953, Nolan became along with Bradbury, Beaumont, and Richard Matheson part of the "inner core" of the soon-to-be highly influential "Southern California Group" of writers. By 1956 Nolan was a full-time writer. Since 1951 he has sold more than 1500 stories, articles, books, and other works.
Although Nolan wrote roughly 2000 pieces, to include biographies, short stories, poetry, and novels, Logan’s Run retains its hold on the public consciousness as a political fable and dystopian warning. As Nolan has stated: “That I am known at all is still astonishing to me... "
He passed away at the age of 93 due to complications from an infection.
Nolan was born in 1928 in Kansas City Missouri. He attended the Kansas City Art Institute and worked as an artist for Hallmark Cards. He moved to California in the late 1940s and studied at San Diego State College. He began concentrating on writing rather than art and, in 1952, was introduced by fellow Missouri native (and established writer) Ray Bradbury to another young up-and-coming author, Charles Beaumont. Moving to the Los Angeles area in 1953, Nolan became along with Bradbury, Beaumont, and Richard Matheson part of the "inner core" of the soon-to-be highly influential "Southern California Group" of writers. By 1956 Nolan was a full-time writer. Since 1951 he has sold more than 1500 stories, articles, books, and other works.
Although Nolan wrote roughly 2000 pieces, to include biographies, short stories, poetry, and novels, Logan’s Run retains its hold on the public consciousness as a political fable and dystopian warning. As Nolan has stated: “That I am known at all is still astonishing to me... "
He passed away at the age of 93 due to complications from an infection.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 19, 2010
The Good
With a collection of works from legends like: Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, Dan O’Bannon, George Clayton Johnson, William F. Nolan, Earl Hamner, Joe R. Lansdale, and more, It is easy to see why people would want to own this book. I was pleasantly surprised when reading this book. I expected the contributions of such giants to be well-written, but what I didn’t see coming was the devilish charm that the “lesser-known” authors lent to this anthology.
“Just a Suggestion” written by John Shirley (who, as many of you may (or may not) know, helped write the screenplay for “The Crow“) is a phantastic ghost story. The main character, a mischievous ghost, haunts a Costco where he messes with the lives of those who come and go. The ghost eventually grows weary of his days at the mega market and follows a family home. That is where the real fun starts!
Gary A. Braunbeck, author of “A Certain Disquieting Darkness”, takes us on a journey of madness through sound. This Lovecraftian piece, is definitely one of my favorites in the book. It’s the tale, told from the viewpoint of an insane man to a reporter, of an experiment revolving around the reactions of psychiatric patients to different sounds and tones. The experiments go on for quite a while – until something goes very wrong.
“At the Riding School” by Cody Goodfellow is a great strange tale about a riding school and their unusual practices. This one is far too easy to spoil, but I will say it is *well* worth the read.
This is not to say that all the legendary writers didn’t bring their A-game to the book. My favorite story was, “The Boy Who Became Invisible” by Joe R. Lansdale. This story is about a young man who is bullied and ignored, and his final revenge on those who wronged him.
After each story there is a bio of the author and their thoughts on the story they put in this anthology. I really enjoyed this aspect of the book. It’s like a little window into the writer’s soul. It’s a shame these were badly formatted — but we’ll get to that later.
The Bad
Theme, theme, where is the theme? If there was a theme to this book (and according to the editors there was – “breaking down Dark Barriers”, “and assaulting Dark Frontiers”) then I certainly missed it. A good anthology runs smoothly together and is filled with great works from each contributor. I often got the feeling that people dug through their old papers and grabbed rejected material that the editors gladly published just to have legendary names in the book.
For example, Ray Bradbury‘s “Some of My Best Friends Are Martians”, the story they chose to open the book is perhaps one of the weakest pieces in the book (and I am a HUGE Bradbury fan). It is a short story that was meant to be a commentary on race relations. But it felt limp and lifeless. This was not the best way to start the book.
William F. Nolan (one of the editors) had a story in this book. I was fortunate to get to spend a lot of time with Bill last Fall and Winter. I am very fond of him. He is a very nice man. We spent enough time together that when I read his story in this book, I was a little shocked. It is, with some name and occupation changes, essentially a autobiography of the last few years of his life. I am not exactly sure how this fit into their “theme”.
And I found myself puzzled by this “how does it fit” time and time again.
The Ugly
Let’s talk for a little while about the book itself. Now, I know I have admittedly been spoiled by publishers like Tartarus Press, Medusa Press, and more — but these people sell fine books that are worth every penny they charge because of the content and presentation.
The content in Cycatrix Press’s “The Bleeding Edge” is a mixed bag at best. Though there are some terrorific pieces, there are also some groan worthy pieces – and as I mentioned in the last section the theme seemed muddled.
This book originally was a $64.95 book. It is reduced now to $59.95. Now, if I am going to fork over that much cash for a book there is a certain standard of quality I expect (see my commentary on Tartarus Press [books are usually $50] and Medusa Press [books around $35] to see what I mean).
The publishers claim that the book has “opaque vellum pages” – when in reality the pages are thin and transparent. Though they “were printed with 100% vegetable inks using windpower” something to be commended for, the print work was shoddy at best. There were dozens of cases in which letters were missing and often entire words. You can guess what the author meant by context, but you shouldn’t have to.
The formatting of the book is amateurish at best. There is no gutter space between the title of the anthology/story title and the top of the page. The same can be said about the numbers on the bottom.
They use images as breaks in the story as opposed to the traditional ***. This would be fine, if it made sense throughout the book. Nancy Kilpatrick‘s story (a commentary on the Goth world and aging) has butterflies as breaks. I can’t even tell what the images are at the beginning of Gary A. Braunbeck‘s story. Using these images was really more of a distraction than anything else.
The intros by each of the editors were centered… why? They also did this with every bio and “the author says” sections. I am not sure what the reason for this was, but I found it jarring. They also published a few screenplays and stage plays. When they did so they changed the font and the formatting. This was also jarring. I could see wanting to print these in the proper format, but if they had kept the same font it wouldn’t have been such a stark change.
The contents pages in the “trade hard cover” (which is a misnomer – a trade is “An edition of a book published for distribution to the general public through booksellers” this book is a limited edition run and mainly available through their website) has all of the things available only in the “deluxe edition” listed. Why? Are they milking and trying to get collectors to buy both versions?
Last but not least — the editors made this anthology about them. They signed every edition of the book. They put their pictures on the jacket cover. They included their own stories in the book. They have their names everywhere and as often as possible. I find this a bit tacky. Their next book will be titled “The Devil’s Coattails” and it somehow seems very suiting.
Final Thoughts:
Frankly, if I had spent $64.95 on this book I would have been very upset. Particularly when I could get a book of much better quality (content and presentation) for less money. There are some good stories in this book and as a lover of dark and strange fiction I enjoyed reading some of the unpublished stories/screenplays/plays of legendary writers. But when it comes down to it, I couldn’t in good conscience recommend that anyone spend their hard earned money on this book. I give this book a 2 out of 5. (3.5 for the content and minus 1.5 for the quality)
For the complete review with links visit: http://sheneverslept.com/newsandrevie...
With a collection of works from legends like: Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, Dan O’Bannon, George Clayton Johnson, William F. Nolan, Earl Hamner, Joe R. Lansdale, and more, It is easy to see why people would want to own this book. I was pleasantly surprised when reading this book. I expected the contributions of such giants to be well-written, but what I didn’t see coming was the devilish charm that the “lesser-known” authors lent to this anthology.
“Just a Suggestion” written by John Shirley (who, as many of you may (or may not) know, helped write the screenplay for “The Crow“) is a phantastic ghost story. The main character, a mischievous ghost, haunts a Costco where he messes with the lives of those who come and go. The ghost eventually grows weary of his days at the mega market and follows a family home. That is where the real fun starts!
Gary A. Braunbeck, author of “A Certain Disquieting Darkness”, takes us on a journey of madness through sound. This Lovecraftian piece, is definitely one of my favorites in the book. It’s the tale, told from the viewpoint of an insane man to a reporter, of an experiment revolving around the reactions of psychiatric patients to different sounds and tones. The experiments go on for quite a while – until something goes very wrong.
“At the Riding School” by Cody Goodfellow is a great strange tale about a riding school and their unusual practices. This one is far too easy to spoil, but I will say it is *well* worth the read.
This is not to say that all the legendary writers didn’t bring their A-game to the book. My favorite story was, “The Boy Who Became Invisible” by Joe R. Lansdale. This story is about a young man who is bullied and ignored, and his final revenge on those who wronged him.
After each story there is a bio of the author and their thoughts on the story they put in this anthology. I really enjoyed this aspect of the book. It’s like a little window into the writer’s soul. It’s a shame these were badly formatted — but we’ll get to that later.
The Bad
Theme, theme, where is the theme? If there was a theme to this book (and according to the editors there was – “breaking down Dark Barriers”, “and assaulting Dark Frontiers”) then I certainly missed it. A good anthology runs smoothly together and is filled with great works from each contributor. I often got the feeling that people dug through their old papers and grabbed rejected material that the editors gladly published just to have legendary names in the book.
For example, Ray Bradbury‘s “Some of My Best Friends Are Martians”, the story they chose to open the book is perhaps one of the weakest pieces in the book (and I am a HUGE Bradbury fan). It is a short story that was meant to be a commentary on race relations. But it felt limp and lifeless. This was not the best way to start the book.
William F. Nolan (one of the editors) had a story in this book. I was fortunate to get to spend a lot of time with Bill last Fall and Winter. I am very fond of him. He is a very nice man. We spent enough time together that when I read his story in this book, I was a little shocked. It is, with some name and occupation changes, essentially a autobiography of the last few years of his life. I am not exactly sure how this fit into their “theme”.
And I found myself puzzled by this “how does it fit” time and time again.
The Ugly
Let’s talk for a little while about the book itself. Now, I know I have admittedly been spoiled by publishers like Tartarus Press, Medusa Press, and more — but these people sell fine books that are worth every penny they charge because of the content and presentation.
The content in Cycatrix Press’s “The Bleeding Edge” is a mixed bag at best. Though there are some terrorific pieces, there are also some groan worthy pieces – and as I mentioned in the last section the theme seemed muddled.
This book originally was a $64.95 book. It is reduced now to $59.95. Now, if I am going to fork over that much cash for a book there is a certain standard of quality I expect (see my commentary on Tartarus Press [books are usually $50] and Medusa Press [books around $35] to see what I mean).
The publishers claim that the book has “opaque vellum pages” – when in reality the pages are thin and transparent. Though they “were printed with 100% vegetable inks using windpower” something to be commended for, the print work was shoddy at best. There were dozens of cases in which letters were missing and often entire words. You can guess what the author meant by context, but you shouldn’t have to.
The formatting of the book is amateurish at best. There is no gutter space between the title of the anthology/story title and the top of the page. The same can be said about the numbers on the bottom.
They use images as breaks in the story as opposed to the traditional ***. This would be fine, if it made sense throughout the book. Nancy Kilpatrick‘s story (a commentary on the Goth world and aging) has butterflies as breaks. I can’t even tell what the images are at the beginning of Gary A. Braunbeck‘s story. Using these images was really more of a distraction than anything else.
The intros by each of the editors were centered… why? They also did this with every bio and “the author says” sections. I am not sure what the reason for this was, but I found it jarring. They also published a few screenplays and stage plays. When they did so they changed the font and the formatting. This was also jarring. I could see wanting to print these in the proper format, but if they had kept the same font it wouldn’t have been such a stark change.
The contents pages in the “trade hard cover” (which is a misnomer – a trade is “An edition of a book published for distribution to the general public through booksellers” this book is a limited edition run and mainly available through their website) has all of the things available only in the “deluxe edition” listed. Why? Are they milking and trying to get collectors to buy both versions?
Last but not least — the editors made this anthology about them. They signed every edition of the book. They put their pictures on the jacket cover. They included their own stories in the book. They have their names everywhere and as often as possible. I find this a bit tacky. Their next book will be titled “The Devil’s Coattails” and it somehow seems very suiting.
Final Thoughts:
Frankly, if I had spent $64.95 on this book I would have been very upset. Particularly when I could get a book of much better quality (content and presentation) for less money. There are some good stories in this book and as a lover of dark and strange fiction I enjoyed reading some of the unpublished stories/screenplays/plays of legendary writers. But when it comes down to it, I couldn’t in good conscience recommend that anyone spend their hard earned money on this book. I give this book a 2 out of 5. (3.5 for the content and minus 1.5 for the quality)
For the complete review with links visit: http://sheneverslept.com/newsandrevie...
December 1, 2010
It only takes a short conversation with this book's editing team Jason V. Brock(of Dark Discoveries magazine) and William F. Nolan (Logan's Run and Dark Universe) to know they put a ton of work into this anthology. It's been a long time since an anthology had such a treasure trove of authors involved. Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson(Both father and son), Joe R. Lansdale, Dan O' Bannon, and Gary Braunbeck to name a few. More importantly for me personal favorites John Shirley, Lisa Morton and Cody Goodfellow. In the horror underground rumors of well known authors in the field being turned down and rigorous editing cuts only helped to create a buzz for this release.
As I opened the beautifully laid out and packaged limited edition book I was worried it could not live up to the hype.The sheer presence of Ray Bradbury and Richard Matheson rose eyebrows, these are not re-prints so the excitement level is justified. One of the ways they achieved this high stature of names, was by not limiting the collection to prose. This book included screenplays(An excerpt from O'Bannon's Omnivore),plays(The Matheson's Madri-Gall),teleplays (George Clayton Johnson and Norman Cowin) and an essay (Frank M. Robinson). The diversity in form is interesting and I enjoyed it. Not sure
I'll be honest with you the Bradbury story is to me the weakest story in the book. I know how hard it is to believe, but this story may be unpublished, but is not exactly a new story. It's a politically charged piece that he wrote in the 50's."Some of My Best Friends are Martians," about inter-racial dating. At this point the story's only value is as relic showing how far we have come. I know Bradbury is one the world's greatest living legends in the field but as opener it didn't do much for me.
Luckily the story after "Just a Suggestion" by John Shirley (author of Demons and Bleak History) is a fantastic ghost story about a haunting at a costco. Anyone reading my blog knows JS is my favorite author and it is no surprise that his story is at the top of my list. Next behind it for best of the collection would be Joe R. Lansdale's short but effective "The Boy who Became Invisible" which is both disturbing and evocative in only a few pages. Some of the shortest stories are the most effective, case in point co-editor William F. Nolan's short but touching piece.
There are many stories I consider highlights, ironically these are written less by the living legends but by the younger voices. Nancy Kilpatrick's Goth erotica tale "Hope and the maiden", Lisa Morton's "Silk City" and Cody Goodfellow's super bizarro "At the riding school." were among my favorites.
The Bleeding Edge lives up to it's hype, not only that but it's soy inked and wind power produced and edited by two ethical vegetarians. This book is a green horror classic in the making. The kind of high quality that doesn't happen every day in our field. It presents a cross section of styles and forms, but best of all it's authors stretch through several generations of horror. Packaged with beautiful art and laid-out with a reader friendly system of pictures and bios at the end of the stories this book is not to be missed. Great job by Brock and Nolan I can't wait for the follow-up, best part is they have already promised it will come.
As I opened the beautifully laid out and packaged limited edition book I was worried it could not live up to the hype.The sheer presence of Ray Bradbury and Richard Matheson rose eyebrows, these are not re-prints so the excitement level is justified. One of the ways they achieved this high stature of names, was by not limiting the collection to prose. This book included screenplays(An excerpt from O'Bannon's Omnivore),plays(The Matheson's Madri-Gall),teleplays (George Clayton Johnson and Norman Cowin) and an essay (Frank M. Robinson). The diversity in form is interesting and I enjoyed it. Not sure
I'll be honest with you the Bradbury story is to me the weakest story in the book. I know how hard it is to believe, but this story may be unpublished, but is not exactly a new story. It's a politically charged piece that he wrote in the 50's."Some of My Best Friends are Martians," about inter-racial dating. At this point the story's only value is as relic showing how far we have come. I know Bradbury is one the world's greatest living legends in the field but as opener it didn't do much for me.
Luckily the story after "Just a Suggestion" by John Shirley (author of Demons and Bleak History) is a fantastic ghost story about a haunting at a costco. Anyone reading my blog knows JS is my favorite author and it is no surprise that his story is at the top of my list. Next behind it for best of the collection would be Joe R. Lansdale's short but effective "The Boy who Became Invisible" which is both disturbing and evocative in only a few pages. Some of the shortest stories are the most effective, case in point co-editor William F. Nolan's short but touching piece.
There are many stories I consider highlights, ironically these are written less by the living legends but by the younger voices. Nancy Kilpatrick's Goth erotica tale "Hope and the maiden", Lisa Morton's "Silk City" and Cody Goodfellow's super bizarro "At the riding school." were among my favorites.
The Bleeding Edge lives up to it's hype, not only that but it's soy inked and wind power produced and edited by two ethical vegetarians. This book is a green horror classic in the making. The kind of high quality that doesn't happen every day in our field. It presents a cross section of styles and forms, but best of all it's authors stretch through several generations of horror. Packaged with beautiful art and laid-out with a reader friendly system of pictures and bios at the end of the stories this book is not to be missed. Great job by Brock and Nolan I can't wait for the follow-up, best part is they have already promised it will come.
Read
January 26, 2011Collection of old and new horror short stories & teleplays, with hits and misses. My favorite was Gary A. Braunbeck's "A Certain Disquieting Darkness".
November 2, 2025
A solid anthology, but since it's unthemed, it really is everywhere. I can't say I disliked anything in it though. Plenty of classics.
December 23, 2012
(Dammit, I didn't make a note of when I started reading this. Probably within the month.)
A solid collection with one weak point and a few very good ones. There was a distinct disunity of style and format (teleplays and scripts) that was actually rather appealing.
The Bradbury story that opened the collection struck me as the weakest of the bunch, and it's pretty hard for me to say that; I love Bradbury. It felt almost absurd, and not much else. Contrast the script/vignette by the Mathesons, "Madri-Gall", which felt absurd in much the same way but that I also found deeply funny.
The other scripts were solid, but I found them less engaging. Nolan's (nearly-)autobiographical piece and Robinson's essay weren't what I'd call horror stories, but I was glad to read them, and glad they were included.
Smith's "Love and Magick" was interesting; while the style initially seemed almost a parody, it settled into itself, and I was getting faint echoes of Piccirilli's Necromancer and Self stories. Smith said he was trying to write a horror story that wasn't simply a morality tale, and I think he managed to avoid both that and the "bad things happen because bad things happen" trope very well.
On particularly good notes, I found Tem's story "Red Light" to be the most affecting of the bunch; it did a beautiful job of painting a protagonist that I didn't particularly like, felt sympathy for despite some of the things that came up, and was horrified for, and with, at the end. The anthology also has Goodfellow's "At the Riding School", which I was glad to see again; it got picked up for The Best Horror of the Year Volume 3 and it's a smart, dark, upsetting, sad piece. I was glad to see it again.
(Also: One of the stories made me want to throw the book at the wall, and I don't treat books that way. I wasn't particularly familiar with the writer's work, and while their writing was enjoyable besides that, I won't be going looking for more.)
A solid collection with one weak point and a few very good ones. There was a distinct disunity of style and format (teleplays and scripts) that was actually rather appealing.
The Bradbury story that opened the collection struck me as the weakest of the bunch, and it's pretty hard for me to say that; I love Bradbury. It felt almost absurd, and not much else. Contrast the script/vignette by the Mathesons, "Madri-Gall", which felt absurd in much the same way but that I also found deeply funny.
The other scripts were solid, but I found them less engaging. Nolan's (nearly-)autobiographical piece and Robinson's essay weren't what I'd call horror stories, but I was glad to read them, and glad they were included.
Smith's "Love and Magick" was interesting; while the style initially seemed almost a parody, it settled into itself, and I was getting faint echoes of Piccirilli's Necromancer and Self stories. Smith said he was trying to write a horror story that wasn't simply a morality tale, and I think he managed to avoid both that and the "bad things happen because bad things happen" trope very well.
On particularly good notes, I found Tem's story "Red Light" to be the most affecting of the bunch; it did a beautiful job of painting a protagonist that I didn't particularly like, felt sympathy for despite some of the things that came up, and was horrified for, and with, at the end. The anthology also has Goodfellow's "At the Riding School", which I was glad to see again; it got picked up for The Best Horror of the Year Volume 3 and it's a smart, dark, upsetting, sad piece. I was glad to see it again.
(Also: One of the stories made me want to throw the book at the wall, and I don't treat books that way. I wasn't particularly familiar with the writer's work, and while their writing was enjoyable besides that, I won't be going looking for more.)
January 30, 2013
Not my reviews, but I will post online review links here:
From Publisher's Weekly: Review
From Cemetery Dance (about the mass signing): 'Back from the EDGE'
From Horror Drive-In: BLEEDING EDGE Review
From The Zone: Book Review
There are MANY others, but that's enough for now...
+++++
From Publisher's Weekly: Review
From Cemetery Dance (about the mass signing): 'Back from the EDGE'
From Horror Drive-In: BLEEDING EDGE Review
From The Zone: Book Review
There are MANY others, but that's enough for now...
+++++
Want to read
October 8, 2014This is the trade edition signed by William F. Nolan and Jason V. Brock and is one of four hundred printed. There are also 100 copies of the limited edition signed by all contributors.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews