This is no April Fool's, my Library Journal column in the April 2024 issue is out now! In this post I have gathered the titles with my three words and links to my full draft reviews on Goodreads. Click through for more readalikes and more appeal information.
First this month's STARS:
- The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim
- Midwest Gothic by Scott Thomas
- Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil by Ananda Lima
How To Make a Horror Movie and Survive by Craig DiLouie
Ghostroots: Stories by ’Pemi Aguda
The Z-Word by Lindsay King-Miller
Cuckoo by Gretchen Felker-Martin
And the 5th book is not on Goodreads yet so I will post the full draft review here. I'll move it over to Goodreads like the others when it is available.
Beyond the Bounds of Infinity: An Anthology of Diverse Cosmic Horror edited by Vaughan A. Jackson and Stephanie Pearre coming out in June by Raw Dog Screaming Press. Coming June 2024.
Cosmic Horror is popular precisely because its horror stems from a powerful force that is indifferent to human suffering, a feeling to which people can unfortunately relate. But it also has a public relations problem as its founder, Lovecraft, was not only virulently xenophobic but also, embedded this hatred into his stories. Thankfully a new generation of authors, the very best of which identify as the people Lovecraft despised, are taking the genre back. Editors, Jackson and Pearre, set out to share tales created by marginalized voices inviting guest authors like S.A. Cosby and Mary SanGiovanni to anchor the volume while saving 15 of the 19 slots for an open call that resulted in 350 submissions. The resulting anthology highlights the vibrancy and breadth of the genre, as readers are taken on a journey from the attention grabbing second person voice, ominous static, and immersive anxiety of Timaeus Bloom’s opener straight through to the closing terrors that emerge from L. Marie Wood’s movie director in an impossible situation, a story that leaves readers with the uneasy, Lovecraftian realization that the fear may never let up, and in fact, it may already be too late for us all.
Verdict: A great introduction to both today's Cosmic Horror and a plethora of new, talented voices. An easy handsell to fans of Jordan Peele, The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle, or the work of rising star, Hailey Piper.
Three Words That Describe This Book: existential dread, wide range of writing styles, compelling
No comments:
Post a Comment