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Thomas Evans

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The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories

by Ann VanderMeer

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Thomas Evans said: " This Massive Book covers 100 years of weird fiction with 110 stories across multiple cultures proving that great weird fiction knows no bounds of time or geography. It's nearly 1200 pages and comes pretty close at being the definitive representative This Massive Book covers 100 years of weird fiction with 110 stories across multiple cultures proving that great weird fiction knows no bounds of time or geography. It's nearly 1200 pages and comes pretty close at being the definitive representative anthology of weird fiction.

The first thing to notice besides the sheer weight of the damn thing is the authors. Lovecraft, Dunsany, Bradbury, Bloch, King, Barker, Gaiman and more well known writers grace their stories onto this book. If you are a fan of the genre, or a fan of certain authors, you've more than likely read their stories in other collections. I myself have read King's The Man in the Black Suit, Lovecraft's The Dunwitch Horror, and Clive Barker's The Hills, The Cities in other books. This is only a downside if you're very familiar with these authors and have read their work intimately. There are stories in here that are bound to be new to you, and that will likely be the majority of tales in this book.

Each story covers a new year and is chronological in order. This really shows the evolution of the genre(and writing) as a whole. The year by year progress is one of my favorite aspects of this anthology. Giving a brief bio of each author is also a great touch. Learning about H.F. Arnold was really interesting. With writers I wasn't familiar with I had more detail on their contributions to horror, pulp, and dark fiction. The downside is, as with all collections, some stories might not be to your taste. Older tales can be a bit heavy on the prose, newer tales might feel contemporary, but it's all on your tastes. I've yet to have a problem with anything I've read so far.

My biggest complaint, and one that I regret is getting the damned paperback. The book is huge, the paper is thin. I'm afraid it's going to fall apart. I am getting a hardcover at some point just to save myself the hassle of trying to read the thing.

It's easily in my top five books I own. The Weird is educational as much as it's thought provoking, spine-tingling reading. Buy the hardcover. It's the easiest recommendation I'll ever make. ...more "

Aug 11, 2014 02:08AM · see review