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sisteray's review
3.0
If you see a book with this title, and you see the cover to either the original Fawcett release or the new Valancourt release it's hard not to imagine that you are in for a collection of horror stories. Wrong.
That's not at all what's happening in this collection. The only horror story here is Men Without Bones, maybe a couple might be considered horror stories because some people might die here or there. Even the Brighton Monster would be a stretch to say it's a horror story.
So, fine. Expectations aside, what's here? There's a lot of speculative "weird" fiction with some half decent ideas mixed in with some straightforward human stories. Busto is a Ghost, The Ape and the Mystery, Bone for Debunkers all are grounded entirely in reality and aren't strange fiction in any way.
A big problem with most of these stories is that Kersh goes through this ritualistic justification to tell these stories by having some character tell the story to another character and then have that character relay the information to you as the reader. It's a bizarre hold over from late 19th century ghost stories to allow for an element of mystery and obfuscation. But with these stories, everything played straight. There weren't any unreliable narrators, it was just people telling stories that they heard from other characters. So you'd have some long-winded unnecessary set-up with no reward. Sometimes, the story would end and he'd even forget that the person telling the story was telling another person's story and it would just be over. So why would we need the middle man? Most of the good stuff, and there was good stuff, felt encased in wax with no immediacy, because the stories were so removed.
That said, I liked some of these stories. I think that Whatever Happened To Corporal Cuckoo was the highlight of the book and a good way to close it (although, I fear that people might give up on the book before getting to it). Men With Bones was a solid chiller with a silly twist, but whatever. And I liked The King Who Collected Clocks, although I thought it was too long for what it was because of the set-up. The rest were fine.
I will say I read through it pretty quickly. His style once you get past the shaggy-dog nonsense, chopped along. Really, only The Ape and The Mystery and The Queen of Pig Island (sadly the books opener) were a complete waste of time. It's just that in a world where time is limited and you aren't going to read all the books that you really want to read, maybe think about that before picking this up.
That's not at all what's happening in this collection. The only horror story here is Men Without Bones, maybe a couple might be considered horror stories because some people might die here or there. Even the Brighton Monster would be a stretch to say it's a horror story.
So, fine. Expectations aside, what's here? There's a lot of speculative "weird" fiction with some half decent ideas mixed in with some straightforward human stories. Busto is a Ghost, The Ape and the Mystery, Bone for Debunkers all are grounded entirely in reality and aren't strange fiction in any way.
A big problem with most of these stories is that Kersh goes through this ritualistic justification to tell these stories by having some character tell the story to another character and then have that character relay the information to you as the reader. It's a bizarre hold over from late 19th century ghost stories to allow for an element of mystery and obfuscation. But with these stories, everything played straight. There weren't any unreliable narrators, it was just people telling stories that they heard from other characters. So you'd have some long-winded unnecessary set-up with no reward. Sometimes, the story would end and he'd even forget that the person telling the story was telling another person's story and it would just be over. So why would we need the middle man? Most of the good stuff, and there was good stuff, felt encased in wax with no immediacy, because the stories were so removed.
That said, I liked some of these stories. I think that Whatever Happened To Corporal Cuckoo was the highlight of the book and a good way to close it (although, I fear that people might give up on the book before getting to it). Men With Bones was a solid chiller with a silly twist, but whatever. And I liked The King Who Collected Clocks, although I thought it was too long for what it was because of the set-up. The rest were fine.
I will say I read through it pretty quickly. His style once you get past the shaggy-dog nonsense, chopped along. Really, only The Ape and The Mystery and The Queen of Pig Island (sadly the books opener) were a complete waste of time. It's just that in a world where time is limited and you aren't going to read all the books that you really want to read, maybe think about that before picking this up.
jkastin's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
shanehawk's review
3.0
3.5 stars
When approaching this collection, keep in mind the stories were published over the span of three decades ranging from the late thirties to late sixties. I wouldn't venture to call this a pure horror or science fiction collection but rather speculative. Some resemble a shaggy-dog story while others offer plenty of oddness to smirk at and enjoy.
Harlan Ellison's introduction for Kersh still holds up despite his sloppy love for the man. Keep in mind Ellison is an idol in the sci-fi arena and his anthology Dangerous Visions is supposed to be a milestone in science fiction. I own it and have been very slowly savoring its stories over the years. It was originally published a year before this book.
Valancourt Books is an indispensable resource for contemporary horror fiction fanatics. They're known to purchase rights for long-forgotten novels and collections and reprint them for the new generation. Kersh's collection belongs in this category of republished forgotten gems.
I listened to the Audible version of this collection which was narrated by the fantastic Matt Godfrey. I noticed that he has narrated many Valancourt publishings — he's one of the best narrators in the game.
When approaching this collection, keep in mind the stories were published over the span of three decades ranging from the late thirties to late sixties. I wouldn't venture to call this a pure horror or science fiction collection but rather speculative. Some resemble a shaggy-dog story while others offer plenty of oddness to smirk at and enjoy.
Harlan Ellison's introduction for Kersh still holds up despite his sloppy love for the man. Keep in mind Ellison is an idol in the sci-fi arena and his anthology Dangerous Visions is supposed to be a milestone in science fiction. I own it and have been very slowly savoring its stories over the years. It was originally published a year before this book.
Valancourt Books is an indispensable resource for contemporary horror fiction fanatics. They're known to purchase rights for long-forgotten novels and collections and reprint them for the new generation. Kersh's collection belongs in this category of republished forgotten gems.
I listened to the Audible version of this collection which was narrated by the fantastic Matt Godfrey. I noticed that he has narrated many Valancourt publishings — he's one of the best narrators in the game.
gengelcox's review
3.0
[a:Harlan Ellison|7415|Harlan Ellison|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1377708311p2/7415.jpg] was supposed to have named Kersh as his favorite writer, but as I had never read him before I sought out a story of his that had been included in both his most famous collection, [b:Nightshade and Damnation|3325546|Nightshade & Damnations|Gerald Kersh|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1223040841l/3325546._SY75_.jpg|3363472], as well in a number of other anthologies. First strike against it, it’s a post-apocalypse story. It’s done well, and I like how it begins, with a native chief telling the explorer that he doesn’t want to go to that area, The Bad Place, because there are Little People there. The story thus proceeds to reveal why exactly it’s a bad place and why there are little people there. It’s told well enough, but there wasn’t anything about the story that would prompt me to recommend it to others.
myxomycetes's review
5.0
A collection of short stories from the 1940s and 1950s, somewhat pulpy, but it’s a testament to Kersh’s style and POV that he has aged better than most.
I’d heard Kersh’s name for a while now and knew his work from Jules Dassin’s “Night & the City” before I knew who he was. I definitely recommend this book.
I’d heard Kersh’s name for a while now and knew his work from Jules Dassin’s “Night & the City” before I knew who he was. I definitely recommend this book.
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