Short stories: Where do you get 'em?
04-03-03, 08:55 AM
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Short stories: Where do you get 'em?
I've been on a mission. Lately, I've been focusing on short fiction. Anyone read shorts? If so, what are some good magazines to read sci-fi, mystery, and horror shorts?
I've read primarily ELLERY QUEEN mag and ASIMOV and a few other main stream ones, but I'm looking for some more obscure ones.
Ideas? What about some good, recent anthologies?
I've read primarily ELLERY QUEEN mag and ASIMOV and a few other main stream ones, but I'm looking for some more obscure ones.
Ideas? What about some good, recent anthologies?
04-03-03, 11:26 AM
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B2K - Try the McSweeney's Mammoth Anthology of Thrilling Tales (or stories, I'm not sure); it's a trade paperback from Vintage, with new, specially commissioned genre stories from the likes of Neil Gaiman, Michael Crichton, Dave Eggars, Stephen King, Elmore Leonard, Michael Chabon, Rick Moody (whose dystopian sci-fi novella is worth the cover cost alone)... It's really terrific.
04-03-03, 12:31 PM
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Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery magazine
http://www.themysteryplace.com/ahmm/index.shtml
And check out the many book anthologies of short stories.
My friend Jan Burke has a collection of mystery shorts out right now in a book called 18.
Also, check out the Flesh & Blood series for mysteries with an erotic twist.
Lawrence Block has some great collections.
All these should be at your library if you don't want to pay.
http://www.themysteryplace.com/ahmm/index.shtml
And check out the many book anthologies of short stories.
My friend Jan Burke has a collection of mystery shorts out right now in a book called 18.
Also, check out the Flesh & Blood series for mysteries with an erotic twist.
Lawrence Block has some great collections.
All these should be at your library if you don't want to pay.
04-03-03, 12:50 PM
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Willie, I actually already picked up McSweeney's book.
And Boat, thanks for the info. I'm sure I'll look into single author's books, right now I'm more interested in trying out different shorts by different authors. In other words, mags/anthologies by various writers.
And Boat, thanks for the info. I'm sure I'll look into single author's books, right now I'm more interested in trying out different shorts by different authors. In other words, mags/anthologies by various writers.
04-03-03, 02:15 PM
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It's really sort of hard to come up with "recent" anthologies. It seems like short fiction has sort of dried up in the publishing field over the past five years. And a lot of the anthos I see just look cheesey beyond belief.
For Sci-Fi short stories, I would suggest "Dangerous Visions" edited by Harlan Ellison. There's a new, in-print 35th Anniversary edition available from iBooks. Ellison also edited a sequel, called "Again, Dangerous Visions," but it's still out of print, so you should check out used bookstores. ADV has had a lot of different editions... hardcover, trade paperback, and a two-volume mass market edition. If you get the MMPBs, make sure you have them both.
Also worth getting is "Mirrorshades" THE definitive cyberpunk anthology, edited by Bruce Sterling. It's OOP, but paperbacks show up occasionally in used bookstores.
For the best Sci-Fi shorts, your best bet would be to find single author compilations. William Gibson's "Burning Chrome" comes to mind, as does "The Philip K Dick Reader," a "best of" comp of his shorts. Also, "Heatseeker" by John Shirley - that was only released as a small press hardcover by SCREAM/Press.
Now, onto horror.
Probably the best ongoing horror related magazine is "Cemetery Dance." It comes out on a fairly regular schedule, and costs five dollars for over 100 pages of stories, columns, interviews, and reviews.
As for anthology books, decent horror anthologies are more plentiful than sci-fi anthologies. Probably the longest running one is the "Hot Blood" series, ed. by Jeff Gelb. It ran for ten volumes throughout the 90s, and went on hiatus for a while, but it's back with a new Vol. XI. The earlier ten volumes might be OOP, though. It's really sort of a mixed bag -- there are some good stories, as well as some bad ones.
Also from Gelb were two volumes of Rock-n-roll related horror called "Shock Rock." The first one is the best, the second wasn't quite up to par. Both were originally released in the early 90s.
Also look for "Splatterpunks" and "Splatterpunks 2: Over the Edge" edited by Paul Sammon. Decent anthologies of cutting-edge 80s and early 90s extreme horror.
"Book of the Dead" and "Still Dead - Book of the Dead 2" ed. by John Skipp and Craig Spector. Notorious anthologies of short stories based on Romero's "Dead" films.
"Silver Scream," ed by David Schow. Like "Book of the Dead," another seminal 80s horror anthology. All of the stories are horror-movie based.
"Love in Vein" and "Love in Vein 2" ed. by Poppy Z. Brite. Anthologies of vampire stories. Both from the mid-90s.
Of more recent vintage are John Pelan's two anthologies, "Darkside: Horror for the Next Millennium," and "Darker Side." Both provide a good cross-section of today's cutting-edge horror authors.
Another recent book you should definitely look out for is "October Dreams: A Celebration of Hallowen," ed. by Richard Chizmar (of Cemetery Dance magazine). This hefty tome collects Halloween-related stories and essays from many of the field's top talents.
"Best of Cemetery Dance," this was printed as one massive hardcover by Cemetery Dance Press, but was later broken up into two smaller trade paperbacks by Roc. Collects some of the best stories of the magazine's ten-year history.
Single author compilations well worth looking into:
"Wormwood" by Poppy Z Brite. AKA "Swamp Foetus." Superb compilations of her earliest tales, the ones that made her notorious in the horror field. The US paperback was retitled "Wormwood" by the publisher, all other eds were called "Swamp Foetus."
"Books of Blood" 3 volumes by Clive Barker. Barker's famous, but his earlier writings are often overlooked.
"By Bizarre Hands," by Joe Lansdale. Lansdale's best compilation of short stories by far. Contains the absolute classics "The Night They Missed the Horror Show" (also found in both "Splatterpunks" and "Silver Scream") and "On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert with Dead Folks" (from "Book of the Dead").
Should be noted that pretty much all single-author compilations of short fiction collect things that have appeared elsewhere - either other anthologies or magazines.
For Sci-Fi short stories, I would suggest "Dangerous Visions" edited by Harlan Ellison. There's a new, in-print 35th Anniversary edition available from iBooks. Ellison also edited a sequel, called "Again, Dangerous Visions," but it's still out of print, so you should check out used bookstores. ADV has had a lot of different editions... hardcover, trade paperback, and a two-volume mass market edition. If you get the MMPBs, make sure you have them both.
Also worth getting is "Mirrorshades" THE definitive cyberpunk anthology, edited by Bruce Sterling. It's OOP, but paperbacks show up occasionally in used bookstores.
For the best Sci-Fi shorts, your best bet would be to find single author compilations. William Gibson's "Burning Chrome" comes to mind, as does "The Philip K Dick Reader," a "best of" comp of his shorts. Also, "Heatseeker" by John Shirley - that was only released as a small press hardcover by SCREAM/Press.
Now, onto horror.
Probably the best ongoing horror related magazine is "Cemetery Dance." It comes out on a fairly regular schedule, and costs five dollars for over 100 pages of stories, columns, interviews, and reviews.
As for anthology books, decent horror anthologies are more plentiful than sci-fi anthologies. Probably the longest running one is the "Hot Blood" series, ed. by Jeff Gelb. It ran for ten volumes throughout the 90s, and went on hiatus for a while, but it's back with a new Vol. XI. The earlier ten volumes might be OOP, though. It's really sort of a mixed bag -- there are some good stories, as well as some bad ones.
Also from Gelb were two volumes of Rock-n-roll related horror called "Shock Rock." The first one is the best, the second wasn't quite up to par. Both were originally released in the early 90s.
Also look for "Splatterpunks" and "Splatterpunks 2: Over the Edge" edited by Paul Sammon. Decent anthologies of cutting-edge 80s and early 90s extreme horror.
"Book of the Dead" and "Still Dead - Book of the Dead 2" ed. by John Skipp and Craig Spector. Notorious anthologies of short stories based on Romero's "Dead" films.
"Silver Scream," ed by David Schow. Like "Book of the Dead," another seminal 80s horror anthology. All of the stories are horror-movie based.
"Love in Vein" and "Love in Vein 2" ed. by Poppy Z. Brite. Anthologies of vampire stories. Both from the mid-90s.
Of more recent vintage are John Pelan's two anthologies, "Darkside: Horror for the Next Millennium," and "Darker Side." Both provide a good cross-section of today's cutting-edge horror authors.
Another recent book you should definitely look out for is "October Dreams: A Celebration of Hallowen," ed. by Richard Chizmar (of Cemetery Dance magazine). This hefty tome collects Halloween-related stories and essays from many of the field's top talents.
"Best of Cemetery Dance," this was printed as one massive hardcover by Cemetery Dance Press, but was later broken up into two smaller trade paperbacks by Roc. Collects some of the best stories of the magazine's ten-year history.
Single author compilations well worth looking into:
"Wormwood" by Poppy Z Brite. AKA "Swamp Foetus." Superb compilations of her earliest tales, the ones that made her notorious in the horror field. The US paperback was retitled "Wormwood" by the publisher, all other eds were called "Swamp Foetus."
"Books of Blood" 3 volumes by Clive Barker. Barker's famous, but his earlier writings are often overlooked.
"By Bizarre Hands," by Joe Lansdale. Lansdale's best compilation of short stories by far. Contains the absolute classics "The Night They Missed the Horror Show" (also found in both "Splatterpunks" and "Silver Scream") and "On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert with Dead Folks" (from "Book of the Dead").
Should be noted that pretty much all single-author compilations of short fiction collect things that have appeared elsewhere - either other anthologies or magazines.
04-03-03, 02:47 PM
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Whoa, Josh, thanks.
I've actually been looking into CEM DANCE today. Thinking of subscribing without ever even reading an issue.
And the Lansdale BY BIZARRE HANDS...I own that one and had forgetten about it. You can trust that I'll be reading it in the next month.
THANKS.
I've actually been looking into CEM DANCE today. Thinking of subscribing without ever even reading an issue.
And the Lansdale BY BIZARRE HANDS...I own that one and had forgetten about it. You can trust that I'll be reading it in the next month.
THANKS.
04-03-03, 05:17 PM
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Well, in that case...
There's a series of Year's Best - Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Horror. Solid looks at what's around at present, edited by folks strong in the field (Terri Windling does Fantasy, for example).
For more literary stuff, there's the Best American Short Stories annuals, as well as the O Henry Prize winners anthology each year.
There's a series of Year's Best - Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Horror. Solid looks at what's around at present, edited by folks strong in the field (Terri Windling does Fantasy, for example).
For more literary stuff, there's the Best American Short Stories annuals, as well as the O Henry Prize winners anthology each year.
04-03-03, 07:15 PM
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The Flesh & Blood stuff is anthology.
Also check out the annual "America's Best Mystery Stories" usually edited by Block and/or Max Collins.
"Murderer's Row" is a baseball SS mystery anthology with a Mike Connelly story in it.
"Deadly Dozen" is an anthology by authors who are all members of the SoCal chapter of SISTERS IN CRIME.
Walk into any mystery bookstore and you will find dozens of anthols.
Also check out the annual "America's Best Mystery Stories" usually edited by Block and/or Max Collins.
"Murderer's Row" is a baseball SS mystery anthology with a Mike Connelly story in it.
"Deadly Dozen" is an anthology by authors who are all members of the SoCal chapter of SISTERS IN CRIME.
Walk into any mystery bookstore and you will find dozens of anthols.
04-04-03, 04:34 AM
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Originally posted by Josh-da-man
Now, onto horror.
Probably the best ongoing horror related magazine is "Cemetery Dance." It comes out on a fairly regular schedule, and costs five dollars for over 100 pages of stories, columns, interviews, and reviews.
Now, onto horror.
Probably the best ongoing horror related magazine is "Cemetery Dance." It comes out on a fairly regular schedule, and costs five dollars for over 100 pages of stories, columns, interviews, and reviews.
Cemetery Dance is THE best magazine for short horror fiction right now. Also, I love reading the reviews, and Monteleone's MAFIA column.
I miss HORROR SHOW, and, HORRORSTRUCK, though. They were awesome magazines.
For horror related books, and stuff I always check out
http://store.yahoo.com/shocklines/index.html
I mean, this guy seems to sell everything horror.Check it out the magazine section. There might be something there that interests you.He sells a lot of import stuff, too.
BOOK OF THE DEAD, SHOCK ROCK, and, SILVER SCREAM are definitely superb anthologies to look for. NIGHT THEY MISSED THE HORROR SHOW is classic Lansdale. Funny, and disturbing at the same time.
Look out for any Harlin Ellison books. His short stories are always great.
Ditto for Barker's Books Of Blood series.
Borderlands, edited by Thomas F. Monteleone , is a great anthology series as well.
Razored Saddles, edited by Lansdale, is an anthology of western horror. Look out for that one.
There was a series edited by Karl Edward Wagner, YEARS BEST HORROR STORIES, that had some excellent short stories. I think it went up to number 22.
Of course, now I have a question. Has anyone bought CD ROMS that have short stories on them?
Something like this
http://store.yahoo.com/shocklines/tootandclawv.html
I'm interested in this but I don't know if I like the thought of reading on my computer.
Anyone have any reviews?
04-04-03, 09:06 AM
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Originally posted by BoatDrinks
...when we're in NY for the Edgars in a month...
...when we're in NY for the Edgars in a month...
04-04-03, 09:11 AM
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Oh, and before I forget, DVDtalk's reviewer Jason Bovberg put together an anthology for his publishing house Dark Highway Press. It's all weird westerns titled SKULL FULL OF SPURS.
It's totally Lansdale-like.
It's totally Lansdale-like.
04-04-03, 11:36 PM
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I'm not sure what's still out or not, but short fiction magazines I've liked include:
Cemetery Dance (which must still be out since several people mentioned it)
Weird Tales
Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (pretty mainstream)
Interzone (British)
Altair (Australian--I think this might be out of print, but it's really beautiful.)
Talebones
Pirate Writings (I think this might be called Fantastic now, but I haven't read it for a few years. I know there was talk of a name change.)
Realms of Fantasy
Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine (surely gone, but maybe old copies are on ebay).
Aboriginal SF
Absolute Magnitude
On Spec (Canadian)
Like I said, I don't know if all these are still around. I'm just getting back into reading short fiction too, so I'll probably find out.
I've also liked a lot of anthologies (Obsessions ed. Gary Raisor, The Dark Descent and Masterpieces of Fantasy and Wonder, both edited by David G Hartwell are a few of my favorites). Also, L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future Contest puts out a book every year with the winning stories. I like reading those because the writers are new, and many go on to have great careers.
My favorite collections are Maps in a Mirror by Orson Scott Card, The Best of John Collier, and the tons of books out by Philip K. Dick and Harlan Ellsion.
Some stories that stick out (after reading so many, most seem to blend together--these I liked enough to remember):
"The House on Cemetery Street" by Cherry Wilder (most heart-breaking ghost story I've read)
"Blood Child" by Octavia Butler
"The Dance of the Changer and Three" by Terry Carr
"Sticks" by Karl Edward Wagner (this gave me nightmares which is pretty rare for me, even though I read a lot of horror)
"The Dead Boy at Your Window" by Bruce Holland Rogers (I think it's online at his website for free--at least it used to be)
"Green is the Color" by John M. Ford (this is probably my favorite story, but "Evening Primrose" by John Collier is a close second.)
"Foster, You're Dead" and "Roog" by Philip K. Dick
"The Whimper of Whipped Dogs" and "I Have no Mouth and I Must Scream" by Harlan Ellison
"Richard's Head" by Al Sarrantonio
"Brazo de Dios" by Elizabeth Massie
Just to name a few.
I love short fiction too, and just started a mission to read 2 mainstream stories a week (mostly because I have to for my creative writing class) and 1 sf story per day.
tasha
**Heh--I can't quit adding things (this is my second, but surely not last edit). I just thought I'd add Robert McCammon's Blue World (collection of shorts) to my list of memorable books--I read it more than 10 years ago, and still recall a couple of stories out of it.)
Cemetery Dance (which must still be out since several people mentioned it)
Weird Tales
Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (pretty mainstream)
Interzone (British)
Altair (Australian--I think this might be out of print, but it's really beautiful.)
Talebones
Pirate Writings (I think this might be called Fantastic now, but I haven't read it for a few years. I know there was talk of a name change.)
Realms of Fantasy
Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine (surely gone, but maybe old copies are on ebay).
Aboriginal SF
Absolute Magnitude
On Spec (Canadian)
Like I said, I don't know if all these are still around. I'm just getting back into reading short fiction too, so I'll probably find out.
I've also liked a lot of anthologies (Obsessions ed. Gary Raisor, The Dark Descent and Masterpieces of Fantasy and Wonder, both edited by David G Hartwell are a few of my favorites). Also, L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future Contest puts out a book every year with the winning stories. I like reading those because the writers are new, and many go on to have great careers.
My favorite collections are Maps in a Mirror by Orson Scott Card, The Best of John Collier, and the tons of books out by Philip K. Dick and Harlan Ellsion.
Some stories that stick out (after reading so many, most seem to blend together--these I liked enough to remember):
"The House on Cemetery Street" by Cherry Wilder (most heart-breaking ghost story I've read)
"Blood Child" by Octavia Butler
"The Dance of the Changer and Three" by Terry Carr
"Sticks" by Karl Edward Wagner (this gave me nightmares which is pretty rare for me, even though I read a lot of horror)
"The Dead Boy at Your Window" by Bruce Holland Rogers (I think it's online at his website for free--at least it used to be)
"Green is the Color" by John M. Ford (this is probably my favorite story, but "Evening Primrose" by John Collier is a close second.)
"Foster, You're Dead" and "Roog" by Philip K. Dick
"The Whimper of Whipped Dogs" and "I Have no Mouth and I Must Scream" by Harlan Ellison
"Richard's Head" by Al Sarrantonio
"Brazo de Dios" by Elizabeth Massie
Just to name a few.
I love short fiction too, and just started a mission to read 2 mainstream stories a week (mostly because I have to for my creative writing class) and 1 sf story per day. tasha
**Heh--I can't quit adding things (this is my second, but surely not last edit). I just thought I'd add Robert McCammon's Blue World (collection of shorts) to my list of memorable books--I read it more than 10 years ago, and still recall a couple of stories out of it.)
Last edited by tasha99; 04-05-03 at 11:42 AM.
05-15-03, 05:19 PM
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I wasn't sure whether to put the following here, or on the e-text thread or in the writers and readers resource thread!
From tasha99's extensive list above I know for sure that Interzone is still going strong and it also has a small web presence! Aboriginal SF <A HREF="http://www.tangentonline.com/reviews/newsreviewall.php3?review=426 target="_blank">has ceased to be.
From tasha99's extensive list above I know for sure that Interzone is still going strong and it also has a small web presence! Aboriginal SF <A HREF="http://www.tangentonline.com/reviews/newsreviewall.php3?review=426 target="_blank">has ceased to be.
05-17-03, 02:26 AM
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Sci-Fi.com has a nice fiction site (SciFiction) They post two new short stories a week. One is original, the other a classic story. They only publish well-known and established writers for the most part, so they're really good stories. Well, they're well-written at least. Check it out sometime.
- DB
- DB
