What I'm Reading: Strange Stones and Haunted Ecologies

The current issue of Booklist has 2 reviews by me. Details below, including my three words and bonus appeal information to help you book talk this title. 

First up, a fun satire of Lovecraft by two Horror veterans.

Strange Stones
By Edward Lee & Mary SanGiovanni
Jan. 2025. 140p. Clash, paper, $16.95  (9781960988416). 
REVIEW. First published November 1, 2024 (Booklist).

Weird fiction scholar, Professor Everard is a regular on the Horror convention circuit giving lectures and sleeping women attendees. While promoting his latest book– proclaiming Lovecraft to be a hack- he angers a beautiful witch, both with his bad take and lecherousness. She casts a spell that sends Everard into Lovecraft's stories, forcing him to use his knowledge of the author’s work to get himself out of danger– without losing his life or his mind, difficult challenges for any Lovecraft protagonist. Presenting a modern retelling of Lovecraft, stripped of the original’s archaic language, with full acknowledgement of Lovecraft’s horrific world view, Lee (a critically acclaimed author of Extreme Horror) and SanGiovanni (an award winning novelist and Lovecraft scholar) have created an immersive, visceral, and existentially terrifying tale, injected with just the right amount of satire, a story that showcases what is enduring about Lovecraft’s work, inviting new readers in the process, much like in I Am Providence by Mamatas, The Ballad of Black Tom by LaValle, and Sister, Maiden, Monster by Snyder.

Three Words That Describe This Book: retelling, Cosmic Horror, satire

Further Appeal: Okay first and foremost this book is so entertaining. Even if you know nothing about Lovecraft it is a heavy satire with so much humor. Anyone can understand that Everard is a jerk who is caught in a nightmare. He needs to use his deep knowledge of Lovecraft to try to escape and he slowly learns to appreciate the author he argued in print was a hack.

If you don't know anything about Lovecraft, no problem. The story is good on its own. That is the sign of

good satire, when it makes sense to those in the know but it is still a good read even if the reader has no knowledge beyond what is in the book.

Also like the very best satire, love for the original that it is attacking shine through-- brightly

This is a short book, it is immersive and fun to read. Good ending as well. And the puzzle frame will have wide appeal-- he is trapped in Lovecraft's horrific world and needs to use the clues from the stories to get out.  

Since Lovecraft retellings, especially those that acknowledge the problematic nature of the author and his work, are in high demand, you should grab this one for your collections. The authors are both critically acclaimed and the small press-- Clash-- is available through your regular ordering channels.

Readalikes: The three above are a great starting point with the Mamatas as the closest readalike. Of course many might want to read more Lovecraft. For them I highly suggest The New Annotated HP Lovecraft: Beyond Arkham edited by Leslie Klinger.

If it is the heavy satire of a problematic classic which people like, I would HIGHLY suggest Dr. No by Percival Everett. That one is a satire of Ian Fleming's James Bond. I reviewed it here. It was the best audio book I listened to this year.

I will be offering this book and 1 more as a 2 books prize pack on the #HorrorForLibraries giveaway later this week. Stay tuned to the horror blog for details.

Next up is a collection by an author and librarian

Haunted Ecologies 

By Corey Farrenkopf

Feb. 2025. 188p. JournalStone, paper, $15.95  (9781685101404); e-book (9781685101411). 
REVIEW. First published November 1, 2024 (Booklist).

Farrenkopf (Living in Cemeteries) crafts compelling, haunting, and thought-provoking stories with this collection of 15 tales. An immersive volume, each story firmly places the reader in the natural world– from malicious forests to soggy condos to the open ocean– allowing them to experience the setting alongside the fear. For instance, in “Growth/Decay,” a young woman finds happiness replacing dating with visits to the local woods, even as the forest asks for more in return. Or in “Dredging the Bay,” the mystery of a drowned body leads to Lovecraftian inspired ends. What is most striking about Farrenkopf’s work, however, is in how quickly he traps the reader in the nightmare, like in the three-page, Pushcart Prize nominated “Fences and Full Moons”– an emotionally devastating werewolf tale. Like the very best eco-horror, these stories are menacingly askew, offering readers a world that is just outside their reality, and yet, close enough that the terror hits close to home similarly to Annihilation by VanderMeer, What Moves the Dead by Kingfisher, and Breakable Things by Khaw.

Three Words That Describe This Book: menacing, immersive, eco-horror

Further Appeal: I reviewed Farrenkopf's debut novel, Living in Cemeteries, last Spring and I really liked it. I have also reviewed anthologies in which his stories have appeared. In fact, one of the stories here appealed in Tiny Nightmares, an anthology I reviewed in LJ back in 2020. I always enjoy his work and this collection is no different.

The natural world is key to every story but how he does it differently in each tale is interesting to watch unfold. They are haunting and menacing of course, but also thought provoking as well. The terror is right in your face because the settings are mundane-- places you know and can visualize on your own-- and with the horror right there, just under the surface, well, this collection will have you looking at the nature around you with a skeptical eye for weeks after finishing it.

This is more than cli-fi. In fact, there is very little of that. This is eco-horror in the truest sense. It is supernatural horror just under the surface of the natural world around us. Very unsettling. 

This is a great collection by another trusted small press-- JournalStone-- who also have distribution through your regular sources. No reason not to order it. Plus, Farrenkopf is a librarian in MA, so let's support one of our own here. 

Readalikes: Anything eco-horror works. Cli-fi not as much. Suggestions to start are above. Anything by VanderMeer as well. In fact, fans of VanderMeer should be given this collection ASAP.  

Also Eden by Tim Lebbon which I reviewed in Booklist in 2020.