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Night Visions #9
Night Visions 9
Dreams of Dr. Ladybank by Thomas Tessier
Jack's Demon; Last Time I Saw Grandma; Moose Oysters; Born Again; Fygyu by James Kisner
Introduction to Untcigahunk; Chrysalis; Little Brother speaks; Love on the Rocks; Deal with the Devils; Redman; the Birch Whistle by Rick Hautala
Jack's Demon; Last Time I Saw Grandma; Moose Oysters; Born Again; Fygyu by James Kisner
Introduction to Untcigahunk; Chrysalis; Little Brother speaks; Love on the Rocks; Deal with the Devils; Redman; the Birch Whistle by Rick Hautala
- GenresHorrorAnthologies
260 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1991
About the author
F. Paul Wilson
379 books2,052 followersFrancis 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...
http://us.macmillan.com/author/fpaulw...
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 2, 2017
This is copy 474 of 475 editions of the limited signed edition. All original stories by Thomas Tessier, James Kisner, and Rick Hautala with an introduction by F. Paul Wilson and illustrations by Phil Parks. Signed by all five contributors.
March 28, 2020
Currently Reading 4/5
Dreams of Dr. Ladybank by Thomas Tessier 4.3 stars!
Before Night Visions 9, I wouldn't have known James Kisner from Don Kirshner. Spank you very much F. Paul Wilson! Kisner knits R-rated humor throughout his PG-13 horror stories as if he was Kisner the Crypt Keeper.
Jack's Demon (4.3 stars) immediately immersed me in a whirlpool of 1980s horror déjà vu. Demon/body horror/serial killer, period piece mash-up. Up there with Robert Bloch's best 80's work.
Last Time I Saw Grandma (4.2 stars) Everyone experiences a moment as a child when you realize you're going to die. Such bleakness shatters the narrator's childhood. Thinking of thinking, having thought, the being you've been will stop being. However, there are worst things than death.
Moose Oysters (3.5 stars) If you're familiar with mountain oysters, then you have an inkling where this story is headed. Best moose hunt story I've ever read. I read for the horror, but the Moose shed the dread, and James Kisner's humor usurped the terror.
"The Hounds of Hell would chew them alive, for all eternity, spitting out their flesh, shitting it out, making them eat their own shitten flesh,..."
-Born Again
Born Again (3.9 stars) Brimstone and hell-fire preaching, whiskey drinking reverend terrorizes his flock with a vivid version of hell. Kisner's description of hell rivals James Joyce's depiction of hell in "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" for extreme pain. Seriously funny. Kisner's tales tend to fade out like songs from 60s and 70s records. That's not a bad thing. That said, don't expect tornado twists endings like Lovecraft's "The Shadow Out of Time".
Fygyu (3.7 stars) James Kisner wove motifs in-and-out of his five stories. Every time a homeless person in New York City cranked out a "Fugyou!", it tickled my funny-bone, about the same time a filet knife sawed off some poor soul's neck bone. An angel gets it wings every time a bell rings. If it's a Kisner tale: There will be blood, knives, and comeuppance.
Rich Hautala section- Under construction.
Dreams of Dr. Ladybank by Thomas Tessier 4.3 stars!
Before Night Visions 9, I wouldn't have known James Kisner from Don Kirshner. Spank you very much F. Paul Wilson! Kisner knits R-rated humor throughout his PG-13 horror stories as if he was Kisner the Crypt Keeper.
Jack's Demon (4.3 stars) immediately immersed me in a whirlpool of 1980s horror déjà vu. Demon/body horror/serial killer, period piece mash-up. Up there with Robert Bloch's best 80's work.
Last Time I Saw Grandma (4.2 stars) Everyone experiences a moment as a child when you realize you're going to die. Such bleakness shatters the narrator's childhood. Thinking of thinking, having thought, the being you've been will stop being. However, there are worst things than death.
Moose Oysters (3.5 stars) If you're familiar with mountain oysters, then you have an inkling where this story is headed. Best moose hunt story I've ever read. I read for the horror, but the Moose shed the dread, and James Kisner's humor usurped the terror.
"The Hounds of Hell would chew them alive, for all eternity, spitting out their flesh, shitting it out, making them eat their own shitten flesh,..."
-Born Again
Born Again (3.9 stars) Brimstone and hell-fire preaching, whiskey drinking reverend terrorizes his flock with a vivid version of hell. Kisner's description of hell rivals James Joyce's depiction of hell in "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" for extreme pain. Seriously funny. Kisner's tales tend to fade out like songs from 60s and 70s records. That's not a bad thing. That said, don't expect tornado twists endings like Lovecraft's "The Shadow Out of Time".
Fygyu (3.7 stars) James Kisner wove motifs in-and-out of his five stories. Every time a homeless person in New York City cranked out a "Fugyou!", it tickled my funny-bone, about the same time a filet knife sawed off some poor soul's neck bone. An angel gets it wings every time a bell rings. If it's a Kisner tale: There will be blood, knives, and comeuppance.
Rich Hautala section- Under construction.
November 4, 2017
A wildly uneven compilation consisting of an amazing, depraved novella by Thomas Tessier and a bunch of short stories by James Kisner and Rick Hautala. Kisner is the reason I bought this book, as I've enjoyed most of the novels I've read by him. He's kind of like Richard Laymon in that I know there are flaws in alot of his work, but I'm very, very entertained by most of it. His short stories in this collection didn't blow me away. In fact, they seemed downright clunky after F. Paul Wilson's fantastic introduction (in which he gives a short history of the horror boom and traces the beginning of its bust) and Thomas Tessier's incredibly messed up, perverse, depraved and amazing novella, "The Dreams of Dr. Ladybank". This novella blew me away. It is incredibly filthy, head shakingly disgusting, and extremely vivid. It might make you sick. The only other work I've read by Tessier was "The Nightwalker" and I wasn't impressed. This thing was so screwed up and well written that I'll have to hold my nose and read more stuff by him.
Kisner's stories just seem really tame and almost read like he wrote them while wearing mittens after Tessier's masterpiece of depravity. "Fugyu" was great, a dark tale of a serial killer who preys on the homeless, but it had a terrible conclusion that was way off tonally and kicked the chilling tale into Troma territory. Rick Hautala rounds out the book with a continuation of his "Little Brothers" universe. I liked "Little Brothers", but these stories aren't particularly great. At their best they read like 80s horror movies shrunk down to 20 minutes, at their worst they are a complete chore, as in the pieces written as Native American folklore. Its like the in depth prequel nobody asked for.
I came into this book as a Kisner completist, was underwhelmed by his stories and have grown an appreciation for nasty ass Thomas Tessier, who I will read more of, definitely.
Kisner's stories just seem really tame and almost read like he wrote them while wearing mittens after Tessier's masterpiece of depravity. "Fugyu" was great, a dark tale of a serial killer who preys on the homeless, but it had a terrible conclusion that was way off tonally and kicked the chilling tale into Troma territory. Rick Hautala rounds out the book with a continuation of his "Little Brothers" universe. I liked "Little Brothers", but these stories aren't particularly great. At their best they read like 80s horror movies shrunk down to 20 minutes, at their worst they are a complete chore, as in the pieces written as Native American folklore. Its like the in depth prequel nobody asked for.
I came into this book as a Kisner completist, was underwhelmed by his stories and have grown an appreciation for nasty ass Thomas Tessier, who I will read more of, definitely.
January 22, 2018
I've read several of the "Night Visions" series by Dark Harvest before and have, til now, been both impressed and happy with the writing and the stories included.
This issue, unfortunately, fell short of what I had come to expect. In previous books I had experienced both new ideas for short horror stories and also been introduced to lesser known writers, now getting some much deserved notice.
My standard reaction and comments to a disappointing novel or anthology are generally focused on what I found good or positive in the writing, more so than the negatives. I am not published, therefore I am uncomfortable panning someone else's efforts, especially when I often see books I hated, rated a five by others, with understandable explanations as to why. Taste is taste - to each his/her own.
With that said, I feel strongly that this issue was either edited very poorly, or that at least one, if not two of the contributing authors, pulled crap from their archives at the moment before deadline because they forgot they had committed to supplying something new and unique. In fact, one author seems to actually admit the rehashing of some of his earlier work.
In closing, I will continue to recommend this series but suggest you skip issue #9.
This issue, unfortunately, fell short of what I had come to expect. In previous books I had experienced both new ideas for short horror stories and also been introduced to lesser known writers, now getting some much deserved notice.
My standard reaction and comments to a disappointing novel or anthology are generally focused on what I found good or positive in the writing, more so than the negatives. I am not published, therefore I am uncomfortable panning someone else's efforts, especially when I often see books I hated, rated a five by others, with understandable explanations as to why. Taste is taste - to each his/her own.
With that said, I feel strongly that this issue was either edited very poorly, or that at least one, if not two of the contributing authors, pulled crap from their archives at the moment before deadline because they forgot they had committed to supplying something new and unique. In fact, one author seems to actually admit the rehashing of some of his earlier work.
In closing, I will continue to recommend this series but suggest you skip issue #9.
February 25, 2016
A solid and quite enjoyable collection, my favorites were from Rick Hautala who skillfully weaved his several shorts together in an interesting way. Mostly intriguing short stories with very few duds, the short about spending Summer's with grandma was incredibly poignant, had me reminiscing about my own, and then threw me for quite a turn!
The greats more than make up for the few lackluster, definitely worth the read!
The greats more than make up for the few lackluster, definitely worth the read!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews