Deep Into That Darkness Peering [Hardcover]

I read a lot of horror short fiction but this has got to be the BEST collection I've ever come across...and it's huge so you really get your money's worth. Very dark, great atmosphere. Stories that stay with you long after you've finished reading. I especially love the section of short stories with his nameless necromancer and Self the demonic familiar, these stories alone would make the book worth the cost. (Mr. Piccirilli says in the interview on the last pages that he's working on a novel with these two charachters and I can't wait!)Mr. Piccirilli has such a poetic voice so it's no suprise there's a few of his poems included here. I can't recomend this book highly enough.

The first book that I ever read by Piccarilli was Hexes, and remember saying to myself, in near shock, "this guy can actually write!" Since then, I've read all of his available books and have not yet found any of his works which did not live up to the first impression. His prose is good enough to be enjoyed just on its own, never dull or hackneyed, and most of his stories, even the most horrific, are spiced with malicious wit and dark humor. Piccarilli certainly does write terrific stories, and he has that rare ability to endow his characters with flesh and blood in only a few well chosen lines. So we've got great stories, excellent prose , humor and wit,and utterly real characters. What more do you want? You could ask for versatility, which is another facet of Deep into That Darkness Peering. The stories, which are as elegantly structured as fine architecture, range from thrillers to out and out blood and guts horror to sensuous prose poems. And then there are the Self stories, which alone are worth the price of this book. You simply have to read these, they are so amazingly original, and so....I'm searching for adjectives here...let's just say that you will believe them. Absolutely. The Necromancer is real, and so is Self. This is probably the best collection of horror stories by one author I have encountered since those by Lovecraft and Derleth . And, if anybody in the film business is reading this, take note: there are several stories in this volume which would make much more interesting movies than most of the thriller/horror movies I have seen recently.

As a short story writer, Piccirilli proves himself a master of the snap shot, of the slice of life--he plunges you headlong into various worlds, makes his points, then ushers you out, leaving you to reflect on what you've experienced. To help pull this off, his stories have to be utterly convincing, which, for the most part, they are. Whether writing about Lovecraftian horrors ("Inside the Works"), supernatural noir ("Familiar Child"), or crafting a story for a shared theme anthology ("Of Persephone, Poe and the Whisperer" or "Broken 'Neath the Weight of Wraiths"), Piccirilli makes you feel as though you're looking over someone's shoulder rather than reading a story--his prose has an accessibility that belies the deeper nature of his work as a whole. As Ed Gorman once said, he's "a great storyteller, one of those people who seizes you by the throat and just doesn't let go."

In addition to a number of memorable stand-alone short stories and poems, the book also features ten pieces in Piccirilli's popular "Self" series, which he uses as vehicles to provide a unique take on a variety of myths and legends. Throw in an informative, wide ranging interview with the author conducted by horror great Richard Laymon, and you have a truly memorable collection.