Really, Really, Really, Really Weird Stories

by John Shirley

John Shirley takes us on a journey from the mildly bizarre to the downright weird and then some in this, his latest collection of short fiction. The book incorporates some of Shirley's classic stories along with some revised and hard to find material and is highlighted by nine never before published works. A must have for the Shirley reader or collector. Includes art work by Alan M. Clark.

Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller, a national bestseller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors.

Genres: Short Stories, Horror, Collections, Anthologies

Paperback

First published March 1, 1999

About the author

John Shirley won the Bram Stoker Award for his story collection Black Butterflies, and is the author of numerous novels, including the best-seller DEMONS, the cyberpunk classics CITY COME A-WALKIN', ECLIPSE, and BLACK GLASS, and his newest novels STORMLAND and A SORCERER OF ATLANTIS.

He is also a screenwriter, having written for television and movies; he was co-screenwriter of THE CROW. He has been several Year's Best anthologies including Prime Books' THE YEAR'S BEST DARK FANTASY AND HORROR anthology, and his nwest story collection is IN EXTREMIS: THE MOST EXTREME SHORT STORIES OF JOHN SHIRLEY. His novel BIOSHOCK: RAPTURE telling the story of the creation and undoing of Rapture, from the hit videogame BIOSHOCK is out from TOR books; his Halo novel, HALO: BROKEN CIRCLE is coming out from Pocket Books.

His most recent novels are STORMLAND and (forthcoming) AXLE BUST CREEK. His new story collection is THE FEVERISH STARS. STORMLAND and other John Shirley novels are available as audiobooks.

He is also a lyricist, having written lyrics for 18 songs recorded by the Blue Oyster Cult (especially on their albums Heaven Forbidden and Curse of the Hidden Mirror), and his own recordings.

John Shirley has written only one nonfiction book, GURDJIEFF: AN INTRODUCTION TO HIS LIFE AND IDEAS, published by Penguin/Jeremy Tarcher.

John Shirley story collections include BLACK BUTTERFLIES, IN EXTREMIS, REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY WEIRD STORIES, and LIVING SHADOWS.

source: Amazon

Reviews

[Smiley III · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like Dan Simmons and Thomas Pynchon, the range and off-hand knowledge of "behind the scenes" backstories Shirley drops borders on the astonishing ("Where did he GET all this stuff?").

Reading this, I felt like Martin (on The Simpsons) playing the My Dinner with Andre video game (when all the other kids at the arcade are playing Terminator 2, or what-have-you), pushing the joystick forward and hitting the "Tell me MORE!" button.

[Jesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certainly truth in titling. Not sure the "really weird" stories are measurably less weird than the "really, really, really, really weird" entries, but you have to appreciate the amount of time he must have spent distinguishing among the four levels of weird. What's not-weird is the genre mix: a couple of Lovecraftian noirs, an At the Mountains of Madness riff (which is kinda meh, honestly), a bunch of what I think of as 90s Bay Area sf (we have some startup with tech whose mass-usage effects we hadn't really thought out...oops), which honestly feels like non-fiction these days, a bunch of religious/demi-religious takes on what we'll do for transcendence or a plausible analogue (another period context clue; there's a Heaven's-Gate rewrite, and several cyberpunk-type tech-as-religion stories), and some truly crazed crime stories, including two tabloid-sex takes (one at the start and one near the end) that are completely off the rails, which I mean as a compliment. A lot of these just sort of passed through me and continued on, though--there aren't a ton of real characters here, just situations, and so if the situation isn't that compelling, or if it needs human depth to resonate, that tends to be a problem. Those tabloid-sex stories, though...unforgettable.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really,really, really, really like to play weird video games, read and watch weird stuff so this was right up the alley most people don't go down. I was fascinated by the stories, had to re-read some sentences, LOL, horrified, disgusted and a few "really, he went there?!" moments.

[Miguel Azevedo]

Need a hug, John?

[Donald · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read three of his short story collections, and although stories overlap between the three, each story is indelibly in a perfect spot in each. I only wish I had found these books earlier!

[Warren R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The stories in this collection are well written and unforgettable. I still go back and reread "Skeeter Junkie" from time to time. Truly great fiction.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I read the updated 2022 reissue that has four new stories in it. These stories were indeed truly weird. Most intense was “Ten Things to Be Grateful For.” Good stuff.