Black Static

Today we have Canadian writer and editor Michael Kelly in the hot seat (I didn't review any of his anthologies in Black Static #19, but two of his stories book-ended the Stephen Jones edited Mammoth Book of Best New Horror #21, which is no mean achievement).

This is Michael's contribution to our 'Anthology Month':-

Favourite Anthology

The one book (let alone anthology) I'd take with me to a deserted island is David G. Hartwell's large omnibus The Dark Descent. This book (along with Charles Beaumont's The Howling Man) was my formative introduction to the short horror form. 

Hartwell has compiled an all-star cast: Robert Aickman, Clive Barker, Algernon Blackwood, Ramsey Campbell, William Faulkner, Shirley Jackson, Stephen King, J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Edith Wharton, and many others. The stories are varied and literate, and chilling. It's the perfect anthology for the October season.

What makes this book truly special, though, is Hartwell's exhaustive introduction, where he examines the variant strains (moral allegory, psychological, and supernatural ambiguity) of horror fiction in cogent detail. The book is also divided into three sections, 'The Color of Evil', 'A Fabulous Formless Darkness', and 'The Medusa in the Shield', devoted to those three varying strains. Each tale is also prefaced by an edifying story note and author biography.

Some of my personal favourite stories can be found in this anthology. They include 'Bright Segment' by Theodore Sturgeon, 'Born of Man and Woman' by Richard Matheson, 'The Beautiful Stranger' by Shirley Jackson, 'Schalken the Painter' by J. Sheridan Le Fanu, and Fritz Leiber's 'Smoke Ghost.'

To anyone interested in the history of short horror fiction, this book is a must-have.

About Me

I'm a Canadian author and editor. My recent short fiction has appeared in Best New Horror #21, Hint Fiction, and Supernatural Tales. My collection, Undertow & Other Laments, was favourably reviewed in Black Static #17.

I've edited the anthologies Songs From Dead Singers (2002), Apparitions (a Shirley Jackson Award finalist, 2009), and Chilling Tales (2011). I also run Undertow Publications, and edit its flagship publication Shadows & Tall Trees, a literary journal. The inaugural issue, featuring fiction from Adam Golaski, Joel Lane, Nicholas Royle, Simon Strantzas, and others, will be available soon.