What I'm Reading: 2 Online Only Reviews from Booklist

I have reviews of a collection by a bestselling author and an anthology highlighting the work of a forgotten classic author, both as e-only reviews out for Booklist right now. As always, draft reviews are below. I highly recommend both for all library collections.

Please note, online reviews have a much higher word count so I don't have much in my "further appeal" section for these books.

In the Mad Mountains: Stories Inspired by HP Lovecraft

By Joe R. Lansdale

Oct. 2024. 256p. Tachyon, paper, $16.95 (9781616964245). 
First published September 27, 2024 (Booklist Online).

Lansdale has captured the hearts of readers with his quirky characters, sardonic wit, and gritty tone. His latest collection gathers 8 stories, published in various anthologies since 2009, stories he describes in the book’s introduction as the “best” inspired by Lovecraft that he has written. Taking on the troublesome racism and sexism of the classic author head-on, Lansdale also actively eschews Lovecraft’s use of cumbersome prose, instead employing his trademark direct and folksy narrative voice to the Lovecraftian concept of “the Old Ones,” terrifying but also alluring beings from another realm, trying to intrude upon our world. The result is a collection that makes the enduring appeal of Lovecraft’s brand of existential dread and terrifying nihilism more accessible to today’s readers. Looking into well mined tropes such as selling your soul, the supernatural detective, and a stranded polar ship, Lansdale adds a layer of Cosmic Horror which makes these stories both familiar and fresh at the same time. There are even characters from across the literary landscape that make some fun appearances from Huck Finn to Auguste Dupin to his own Dana Roberts and more. Readers new to Lovecraftian Horror should start with “The Tall Grass,” the shortest story in the volume, and one that perfectly captures the visceral and immersive pull of Cosmic Horror as a subgenre. A man steps off a train, gets lost in a field, and experiences a terror like he has never known. Lansdale has a wide fan base for good reason, but this book presents a wonderful opportunity to expand it even further by suggesting this collection to fans of 21st Century Cosmic Horror authors such as Hailey Piper and Lucy Snyder.

Three Words That Describe This Book: Quirky Characters, Sardonic, Direct and Folksy Narration

Further Appeal: Lansdale is very popular. Readers, even those who do not read Horror will be interested int his one. Also every story has a great introduction setting it up by Lansdale himself writtenin his distinctive voice.

Readalikes: Any cosmic horror or Lovecraftian story is a good read here. The House of Bone and Rain by Gabino Iglesias and The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle. But use any resource to find more options for readalikes. This may introduce new people to Lovecraftian Horror, so be ready. (click the link for more titles from me)

Side note: one of the stories here was first published in The Gods of H.P. Lovecraft, an anthology I reviewed for Booklist back in 2015. 

Also, I will have a giveaway of my review copy on the Horror blog next week. Stay tuned.

Where the Silent Ones Watch: Stories of the Borderland, the Night Land, the Sargasso Sea, and More!

Edited by James Chambers

Oct. 2024. 278p. Hippocampus, paper, $25  (9781614984436). 
First published September 27, 2024 (Booklist Online).

William Hope Hodgson may be the most powerful and the most neglected fantasist and horror writer of the twentieth century, argues Chambers, the Bram Stoker Award Winning editor of this collection of 26, original to this volume, stories and poems that celebrate the author and his legacy. Using the ideas, themes and narrative devices of the classic author, one of the foundational voices in Weird Fiction, as their springboard, the contributing authors showcase how his style of wildly imaginative, atmospheric horror, featuring malevolent, unexplainable, supernatural forces as they enter our known world, told in a confessional first person narration that heighten the unease with every word, still resonates today. Readers can expect strange happenings on trains and boats, in space or isolated towns, even in the shadow of Elvis Preseley’s death and amidst Black Lives Matter protests– some places Hodgson set his own stories and others which he could never have imagined. However, what elevates this collection is in how the authors place Hodgson-esque ideas into modern settings while eschewing the classic author’s tendency to use distractingly ornate prose. These choices work in tandem to heighten the fear for a 21st Century reader both in these 26 pieces and Hodgson’s own tales as well. The table of contents includes a nice mix of authors whose works are already widely available on library shelves such as Steve Rasnic Tem, Linda D. Addison, Wendy N. Wagner, John Langan, and Andy Davidson, but there are also plenty of up and coming voices worth checking out. For example, Todd Keisling’s “Little House on the Borderland,” takes the themes and fear inherent in Hodgson’s own classic novel, House on the Borderland, but frames it in the world of podcasts and social media while the anthology’s unforgettable opening story, “The Events at Apoka Station” by Pete Rawlik and Sal Ciano uses a fateful train ride to tell an unsettling story that is both timelessly terrifying and yet clearly set in our present. A great option for Weird fiction fans new and old.

Three Words That Describe This Book: confessional narration, malevolent forces, fantastical Horror

Further Appeal: This anthology gave me a brand new appreciation for Hodgson. Just as the Lansdale Collection above will draw people to Lovecraft, this book will bring people back to Hodgson.

Also, Hippocampus Press is a very trustworthy press. Click here to learn more about them.

Readalikes: Any books by Chambers, the editor, or anyone in the TOC will be a great place to begin-- besides Hodgson himself. I have reviewed books by many of the authors.

Here is the list of authors from the publishers website:

Linda D. Addison • David Agranoff • Meghan Arcuri • Sal Ciano • Michael Cisco • L. E. Daniels • Andy Davidson • Aaron Dries • Patrick Freivald • Teel James Glenn • Maxwell Ian Gold • Nancy Holder • Todd Keisling • John Langan • Adrian Ludens • Lee Murray • Lisa Morton • Peter Rawlik • Sam Rebelein • Ann K. Schwader • Steve Rasnic Tem • Tim Waggoner • Wendy N. Wagner • Kyla Lee Ward • Robert E. Waters • L. Marie Wood • Stephanie M. Wytovich