Secret Stories: Tales from the Secret History

by F. Paul Wilson

The Secret History of the World - a history of humanity that remains undiscovered, unexplored, and unknown. Some of this Secret History has been revealed in the Adversary Cycle, some in the Repairman Jack novels, and bits and pieces in other, seemingly unconnected works. Taken together, even these millions of words barely scratch the surface of what has been going on behind the scenes, hidden from the workaday world. In Secret Stories F. Paul Wilson has gathered some of the shorter pieces of the Secret History and placed them for convenience between a single set of covers. He's left out the pieces available as stand-alones (like "The Compendium of Srem") or collected in Quick Fixes, and has concentrated instead on those published in scattered collections and anthologies over the years. To each story Wilson has added commentary as to how it earned its place in the Secret History.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fantasy

266 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 22, 2019

About the author

Francis Paul Wilson is an author, born in Jersey City, New Jersey. He writes novels and short stories primarily in the science fiction and horror genres. His debut novel was Healer (1976). Wilson is also a part-time practicing family physician. He made his first sales in 1970 to Analog and continued to write science fiction throughout the seventies. In 1981 he ventured into the horror genre with the international bestseller, The Keep, and helped define the field throughout the rest of the decade. In the 1990s he became a true genre hopper, moving from science fiction to horror to medical thrillers and branching into interactive scripting for Disney Interactive and other multimedia companies. He, along with Matthew J. Costello, created and scripted FTL Newsfeed which ran daily on the Sci-Fi Channel from 1992-1996.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/fpaulw...

Reviews

[Peter Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Secret Stories by F. Paul Wilson


I read a few of F. Paul Wilson's libertarian "LaNauge Federation" stories back in the 1980s. When Wilson shifted to horror, I didn't follow.

Now, I'm captivated by the shared universe that he seems to be linking together. In this book, Wilson offers a number of short stories with the background on the stories and how they fit into his meta-narrative about "secret histories."

I enjoyed the stories. They were well-drafted and captivating. I particularly like the stories set in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. I've never considered New Jersey as particularly mysterious or occult, but the Pine Barrens come across as outre.

All in all, I think I need to get cracking on catching up on the Repairman Jack and other series.

[Alex McConnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Secret Stories is a collection of short fiction from F Paul Wilson that concern his overarching story mythos, the Secret History. Fans of Wilson will be glad to see these story collected and laid out in a chronological order, with excellent story notes describing just how and where they fit into his mythos.
If you’re not aware, Wilson has running through the majority of his novels a mythos concerning the past history of the world and a hidden dimension. Having read a number of these books I was excited to see the short stories collected here with neat explanations.
The stories themselves made a good sample of Wilson’s ability, ranging from historical fictions (Aryans and Absinthe), sword and sorcery (Demonsong) and straight gory horror (Pelts). Readers get a nice mix of stories here and should be wholly satisfied.
Standout tales are the aforementioned Aryans and Absinthe, set at the brink of the Second World War and giving a real grimy feel for a continent in economic and political upheaval.
The Barrens - A long standing Wilson story and what seems to be an early genesis for his mythos. A trip through the rural Pine Barrens on a hunt for the supernatural reads very well but doesn’t work out so well for the protagonists…
Lastly the mentioned Pelts was a fast and visceral imagining of what it might be like on the other end of the fur industry.
All in all well worth the time and an essential for fans of Wilson’s writing.

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very short collection of short stories. Quick and interesting read for new fans of Wilson and his Secret Histories. Long time fans will be sad to find nothing new between the covers of this collection. Some tales are more obscure but in the decades I've been a fan I've read everything here in other places. I was hoping for at least on 'never before released' story but, alas it was not to be. Don't get me wrong, these stories are good, well worth reading and it's been years since I encountered some but I really hoped for new words and he did introduce and briefly discuss each short story, so there's that.

[John Michael Strubhart · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a groovy collection! My favorite was "Pelts." It's gory, which is uncharacteristic of the author, but the story is like nothing I've ever read before. There are some significant reveals about The Secret History of the World, so if you're into that thread, you must read this book. I'm a huge fan of F Paul Wilson. I read The Keep first back in the 80's and although the movie was a dud, book was not!! Somehow, Wilson's works fell out of my "currently reading" bag and I rediscovered him in late 2021. He is currently my favorite author. In my opinion, you can't go wrong reading anything he has ever written.

[Fahms33 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing new here but a collection of short stories for fans of Wilson's "extended universe" including an encounter between Glaken and Rasalom long before Jack came into the picture. Good for a quick read

[Kevin Furr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a random collection of stories, that, while not about Jack, are in the Repairman Jack/Secret Histories cycle. Sometimes, kind of tenuously and only because Wilson says so. But I really can't get enough F Paul Wilson short stories, so here's another anthology for the collection.

[14 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome short stories throughout the Secret History.

"Pelts" contains the most grizzly scene FPW has ever done. Holy shit.

[Mommacat · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded up

[Joane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of these stories have dumb endings. I thought I was going to be impressed by this author but was a bit disappointed.