The Urban Bizarre

by Nick Mamatas (Editor), Tim Pratt, Heather Shaw

Contents:

They tell me urban fiction sells, or, The war against reality / Nick Mamatas
Tuck / Michael Hemmingson
Anxiety Branson, Social Security hustler / Charlie Anders
Amy / Ann Sterzinger
Electric complex / K.Z. Perry
Ruby Tuesday / Tsaurah Litzky
Dick for eternity / Jeff Somers
Blue Chuck does Thrilltown / Heather Shaw & Tim Pratt
The last clean spot / Ian Grey
Cue the circus music fantastic / Frank Markopolos
A dangerous day / Douglas W. Texter
The defragmentation of Thomas Crane / Jeff Somers
Highway to Hell / Michael P. Belfiore
Perhaps the snail / James Maxey
Long Island iced tea / Michael Hemmingson

180 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Nick Mamatas is the author of the Lovecraftian Beat road novel Move Under Ground, which was nominated for both the Bram Stoker and International Horror Guild awards, the Civil War ghost story Northern Gothic, also a Stoker nominee, the suburban nighmare novel Under My Roof, and over thirty short stories and hundreds of articles (some of which were collected in 3000 Miles Per Hour in Every Direction at Once). His work has appeared in Razor, Village Voice, Spex, Clamor, In These Times, Polyphony, several Disinformation and Ben Bella Books anthologies, and the books Corpse Blossoms, Poe's Lighthouse, Before & After: Stories from New York, and Short and Sweet.

Nick's forthcoming works include the collection You Might Sleep... (November 2008) and Haunted Legends, an anthology with Ellen Datlow (Tor Books 2009).

A native New Yorker, Nick now lives in the California Bay Area.

Reviews

[Taru Luojola · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tämä oli kyllä nimensä mukaisesti sangen bisarri kirja. Enemmän tai vähemmän päättömiä novelleja, joissa tapahtui odottamatta seksiä, väkivaltaa, kuolemaa ja huumeita. Tai no en nyt tiedä onko se niin odottamatonta tällaisen antologian kohdalla... No enivei, tuotantoarvot eivät ole kovin korkealla.

[Helen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a volume of sensationalistic, over-the-top short stories edited by Nick Mamatas. The stories seemed to improve with the better ones toward the end of the volume, but in general, they mostly resembled bad dreams, or were similar to the depraved atmosphere of dive bars. I guess I'm the wrong customer for this sort of fiction, but I read the whole book anyway.

Most of these stories include sexual references, in some of them women are objectified - seem to be put into situations that may match the (male) author's domination fantasies, or may even appeal to male readers for the same reason. I suppose some of the writing is gratuitously prurient; does everything need to be described - does it really advance the plot?

The later stories I thought were stronger - some almost tall tales, science fiction/fantasy stories with erotic overtones. Here and there, you might find some interesting characterizations, but mostly, the characters are cardboard-like, and seemingly despised by the authors (even). The plots seem to consist of drunken or drugged encounters, many different varieties of hard times, bad luck, or escaping bad luck.

This is really a forgettable book (to me at least). On the other hand, I don't think I wasted my time reading it, since it does give a glimpse into seemingly common male fantasies, or fantasies male authors probably think their (male) readers will harbor/appreciate: "Life is mostly misery, it's best to narcotize ourselves to this reality either through drink or drugs, but occasionally every guy falls in love with either a sexy/spunky/interesting woman" or alternatively "Life is mostly misery, but amidst the catastrophe and bad luck of life, you might get a break involving sex/money/drugs, and then you might be glad you survived that far to enjoy the break." Recurring elements in all these stories are either the slum misery of crash pads, eternal partying, impressive cars, weapons of all sorts, gambling, prostitution/"skanks," as well as purely fantasy elements like the Devil becoming incarnate, as well as the appearance of angels, others having supernatural powers, and so forth.

I suppose some might find the volume amusing - I'm not sure why I kept reading. I guess out of curiosity of what would happen next. It did keep my attention - it certainly wasn't dull. But it was just a literary debauchery in a way, a long drunken pointless spree with no over-riding message. Maybe the pointless randomness was the point of the book, or of the stories collectively: "Life is miserable, pointless, any pleasure that comes along should be grabbed since there is guaranteed more misery just around the corner."

[Danni · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love short stories. I love unsettling stories. This definitely fit the bill.

That said though, I was mostly disappointed with this. I picked it up earlier in the year then put it down and didn't go back to it. The ideas were definitely good and unsettling, but the writing itself was a let down.

The exception though, was "A Dangerous Day" by Douglas W. Texter. That one rattled my cage a bit, mostly because I could very easily seeing this being done in this day and age.

[isaacq · Rating 4 out of 5]

multi-author short story collections are always risky. the styles and approaches can switch so widely that your mileage is guaranteed to vary. i don't know if this particular book was just better-curated than most or what, but only 1 or 2 stories were stinkers and most of the rest were quite engaging. 4 stars feels too generous, this isn't something i'll ever read again... but 3 stars would be stingy so enjoy that extra star, Urban Bizarre.

[br · Rating 4 out of 5]

Многовато ебли, но в целом хорошо.

[Veach Glines · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edgy. Compilation of pr0n-esque gritty, dark, horror, fantasy fiction. Unusual. Nice.