12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
How can you go wrong?, Jun 3 2010
By Funky Werepig - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Darkness: Two Decades of Modern Horror (Paperback)
FROM THE FUNKY WEREPIG
This is one of the easiest reviews to write. Datlow has assembled 25 stories from the best in the biz spanning back two decades. And there isn't a slacker in the bunch. Each and every story is a spot-on example of what made these talents the ones we all aspire to be. The list of names is almost ridiculous to put into one book: Stephen King, Joe Lansdale, Clive Barker, Ramsey Campbell, Joyce Carol Oates, Neil Gaiman, Peter Straub. It goes on and on.
One of the things I truly enjoyed about this anthology was that Datlow didn't go for the easy story choices. Quite often she chose a tale that showed the author stretching in a different direction from what we are used to seeing. In doing so, it put a stamp on the book that made it seem more personal. You can tell these are Datlow's favorites and with her expertise, that makes a huge difference.
Another factor I enjoyed is getting to read established and decorated writers I haven't had a chance to dive into yet. In some instances, their stories were the ones I enjoyed the most. Steve Rasnic Tem hit me hard with his story `Heat'. I loved Terry Dowling's `Stitch'. I am sad to admit I haven't read as much Dan Simmons or Poppy Z Brite as I should have. But after being sucked in by their stories here, I'm going to change that.
In a recent interview, Datlow said that these shouldn't be considered The Best of Twenty Years of Horror because she didn't get to include all the great writers she wanted to. And there was difficulty in choosing some of the stories. Seriously, how do you pick the `one' King or Lansdale or Campbell short story?
But the truth is Datlow is also being respectful and professional. DARKNESS is about as close to horror perfection as any fan could ask for in an anthology.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Never going to let you go . . ., May 3 2010
By Danel P. Olson - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Darkness: Two Decades of Modern Horror (Paperback)
If your lovely task for the last twenty years was to read stories--hundreds and hundreds of scary, inexplicable, sordid and taboo stories each year--which would stay in your mind at the end of two decades? That is the question asked by America's premier anthologist of the uncanny, Ellen Datlow, and that's what's between these covers.
Astonished by their strange power, she admits that this book's stories "still thrill me and chill me when I read them. I remember the characters . . . " (10). Certainly the stories in DARKNESS: TWO DECADES OF MODERN HORROR have an untraceable power that, like some mystic perfume, surrenders us again and again. The elements, structure, pace, revelations, and voice react together, and we forget time. Something in them lives and shocks and seduces. Such true moments of dark awe in art are rare. I have had a chance to teach some of these shadowy tales before from their earlier appearances and have seen how they obsess readers. (I'm thinking now of King's "Chattery Teeth," Barker's "Jacqueline Ess ...," Wolfe's "The Tree is My Hat," and Dowling's "Stitch"). I am now eager to teach the rest that Ms. Datlow summoned.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
I Had Wondered Where The Great Short Fiction Was Hiding..., Jan 4 2011
By letters2mary - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Darkness: Two Decades of Modern Horror (Paperback)
...and I found it here. I must admit that I am not a horror/science fiction/mystery/fantasy fan, and I picked this book up on a whim, hoping it would be an improvement over the noir-city related anthologies that I have found disappointing. This is a stellar collection which has (mercifully!) opened up new doors for exploration. I eagerly look forward to reading more of almost every writer represented here. Thank you, Ms. Datlow, for your fine critical eye and your hard work in putting this together. (By the way, I enjoyed the introductory comments on the authors, but I was somewhat fearful of spoilers. As with some of the stories, I learned to squint and peek.)