Friday's "Forgotten" Books: new links

Welcome to this week's list of links to reviews of overlooked (infrequently deservedly) books and stories, by the reviewers detailed below. I'm filling in this week for Patti Abbott, who'll be back at it next week. Please let me know if I've missed your review...and thanks to all the contributors, and to Bill Crider and Richard Robinson for pointers to reviews, and to all you readers...please always feel free to comment here or at the blogs cited below! 

Sergio Angelini: Pattern Recognition by William Gibson

Paul Bishop and Milton Davis: on classic and emerging black speculative fiction

Les Blatt: Call Mr. Fortune by H. C. Bailey (John Norris's Bailey/Fortune novel last week)

David Cramner: The Philo Vance series by "S. S. Van Dine"

Bill Crider: Yearbook by Dan Marlow

Jose Cruz and Peter Enfantino: Harvey Comics 1950s horror titles

cover by Peff

Robert/R.T. Davis: Blood and Circumstance by Frank Turner Hollon

Martin Edwards: Detectives in Gum Boots by Roger East

Peter Enfantino and Jack Seabrook: DC Comics 1963 war/combat titles

Barry Ergang (hosted by Kevin Tipple): The Last Dance by "Ed McBain"

Will Errickson: Spectre by Stephen Laws

Cullen Gallagher (hosted by Ed Gorman): Blowback by Bill Pronzini 

Stephen Gallagher: "Peff" (Sam Peffer)

Charles Gramlich: Crashing Suns by Edmond Hamilton

John Grant: The Girl Who Had to Die by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding

John Hegenberger: The Master of Dragons by H. Bedford-Jones

Rich Horton: Remains by Mark W. Tiedemann

Jerry House: The Last Spin and Other Stories by Evan Hunter

Randy Johnson: Digger #1: Smoked Out by Warren Murphy

Tracy K: G is for Gumshoe by Sue Grafton

George Kelley: Gateway to Never by A. Bertram Chandler

Margot Kinberg: The Bat by Jo Nesbø

B.V. Lawson: Death of an Old Girl by Elizabeth Lemarchand; Death on Remand by "Michael Underwood"

Evan Lewis: "Body, Body--Who's Got the Body?" by Carroll John Daly; "Flash!" by Richard Sale

Steve Lewis: The Cancelled Czech by Lawrence Block

Walker Martin: Weird Tales and bound volumes of pulp issues and magazine excerpts

Patrick Murtha: The Amateur Cracksman by E. W. Hornung

Mark Nevins: A Ticket to the Boneyard by Lawrence Block

John F. Norris: Body Charge by Hunter Davis

John O'Neill: The Goblin Reservation by Clifford D. Simak

Lawrence Person: The H. P. Lovecraft Companion by Philip Shreffler

J. Kingston Pierce: The Gallows in My Garden by Richard Deming

Robert J. Randisi: Syndicate Girl and Liz by Frank Kane

James Reasoner: The Best-Loved Poems of the American People edited by Hazel Felleman

Karyn Reeves: Time Will Knit by Fred Urquhart

Richard Robinson: The Essential Hal Clement: V. 1: Trio for Slide Rule and Typewriter (Needle; Iceworld; Close to Critical)

Jim Rockhill: Feesters on the Lake and Other Stories by Bob Leman

Gerard Saylor: Sally of the Wasteland by Victor Gischler and Tazio Bettin; The Things They Cannot Say by Kevin Sites

Kerrie Smith: The Journeying Boy by "Michael Innes"

Prashant Trikannad: Havanas in Camelot by William Styron

Todd Mason: American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny: From Poe to the Pulps/From the 1940s to Now edited by Peter Straub (Library of America, 2009, a two-volume set also sold discretely)

Some years are tougher than others on those who are choosing among nominees for literary awards--here's the 2010 shortlist for the Howard, the World Fantasy Award, for best anthology:

• American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny: From Poe to the Pulps/From the 1940s to Now,  Peter Straub, ed.  (Library of America)
• Eclipse Three,  Jonathan Strahan, ed.  (Night Shade)
• Exotic Gothic 3: Strange Visitations,  Danel Olson, ed.  (Ash-Tree)
• Poe,  Ellen Datlow, ed.  (Solaris)
• Songs of The Dying Earth: Stories in Honor of Jack Vance,  George R. R. Martin & Gardner Dozois, eds.  (Subterranean; Voyager)
• The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction: Sixtieth Anniversary Anthology, Gordon Van Gelder, ed.  (Tachyon)

The variant coloring indicates the Straub anthology won the award...of course, it had two unfair advantages even in its impressive company: its scope and its mass, drawing, I'd suggest more successfully than any other survey anthology so far, on both the best and most representative sample of work in the horror field in the U.S. over the centuries (as one sees below, publication dates range from 1784 to 2007), with the American remit very much including immigrants such as Collier and Nabokov. Even with over 1400 pages, it would be impossible to touch on all the important short work and writers within these intertwined traditions, and where I might differ with Straub's choices, they clearly aren't made out of ignorance nor impulsiveness. For example, I probably would've taken another Robert Bloch story, though "The Cloak" is a good choice; even if I were of Straub's caliber as a fiction-writer, I probably would not include any of my own (non-annotative) work, even if my publisher's editor pleaded or politely demanded. Some favorites of mine might well have been included instead of a few here, or, even better, along with: Theodore Sturgeon, Manly Wade Wellman, Margaret St. Clair, Kate Wilhelm, Damon Knight, Avram Davidson, Donald Barthelme, Carol Emwiller, R. A, Lafferty, Joanna Russ, Barry Malzberg, Jane Yolen, Alice "James Tiptree, Jr." Sheldon, William Kotzwinkle, Lisa Tuttle, Janet Fox, Karl Edward Wagner, Joe Lansdale, Joseph Payne Brennan's "Levitation".. I would probably have opted for Ellison's "The Deathbird"...but the selection of Jerome Bixby's "Trace" is among the very sapient, despite other more obvious possible choices. And so, still the best of this kind of book I've seen.

Courtesy ISFDb, here are the contents of the two volumes:

• xi • Introduction (American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny from Poe to the Pulps) • essay by Peter Straub
• 1 • Somnambulism: A Fragment • (1784) • shortfiction by Charles Brockden Brown
• 21 • The Adventure of the German Student • [Strange Stories by a Nervous Gentleman] • (1824) • shortstory by Washington Irving
• 27 • Berenice • (1835) • shortstory by Edgar Allan Poe (variant of Berenice—A Tale)
• 35 • Young Goodman Brown • (1835) • shortstory by Nathaniel Hawthorne
• 49 • The Tartarus of Maids • (1855) • shortstory by Herman Melville
• 63 • What Was It? A Mystery • (1859) • shortstory by Fitz-James O'Brien (variant of What Was It?)
• 77 • The Legend of Monte del Diablo • (1863) • shortstory by Bret Harte
• 90 • The Moonstone Mass • (1868) • shortstory by Harriet Prescott Spofford
• 102 • His Unconquerable Enemy • (1889) • shortstory by W. C. Morrow
• 112 • In Dark New England Days • (1890) • shortstory by Sarah Orne Jewett
• 131 • The Yellow Wall Paper • (1892) • shortstory by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (variant of The Yellow Wallpaper)
• 148 • The Black Dog • (1892) • shortstory by Stephen Crane
• 153 • Ma'ame Pélagie • (1893) • shortstory by Kate Chopin
• 162 • Thurlow's Christmas Story • (1894) • shortstory by John Kendrick Bangs
• 177 • The Repairer of Reputations • [The King In Yellow] • (1895) • novelette by Robert W. Chambers
• 210 • The Dead Valley • (1895) • shortstory by Ralph Adams Cram
• 219 • The Little Room • (1895) • shortstory by Madeline Yale Wynne
• 232 • The Striding Place • (1896) • shortstory by Gertrude Atherton
• 238 • An Itinerant House • (1897) • shortstory by Emma Frances Dawson [as by Emma Francis Dawson ]
• 255 • Luella Miller • (1902) • shortstory by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman [as by Mary Wilkins Freeman ]
• 269 • Grettir at Thorhall-stead • (1903) • shortstory by Frank Norris
• 282 • Yuki-Onna • (1904) • shortstory by Lafcadio Hearn
• 286 • For the Blood Is the Life • (1905) • shortstory by F. Marion Crawford
• 302 • The Moonlit Road • (1907) • shortstory by Ambrose Bierce
• 312 • Lukundoo • (1907) • shortstory by Edward Lucas White
• 326 • The Shell of Sense • (1908) • shortstory by Olivia Howard Dunbar
• 337 • The Jolly Corner • (1908) • novelette by Henry James
• 371 • Golden Baby • (1910) • shortstory by Alice Brown
• 386 • Afterward • (1910) • novelette by Edith Wharton
• 416 • Consequences • (1915) • shortstory by Willa Cather
• 436 • The Shadowy Third • (1916) • novelette by Ellen Glasgow
• 460 • Absolute Evil • (1918) • novelette by Julian Hawthorne
• 493 • Unseen—Unfeared • (1919) • shortstory by Francis Stevens
• 510 • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button • (1922) • novelette by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• 536 • The Curse of Everard Maundy • [Jules de Grandin] • (1927) • novelette by Seabury Quinn
• 568 • The King of the Cats • (1929) • shortstory by Stephen Vincent Benét
• 583 • The Jelly-Fish • (1929) • shortstory by David H. Keller, M.D. [as by David H. Keller ]
• 588 • Mr. Arcularis • (1931) • novelette by Conrad Aiken
• 607 • The Black Stone • [Cthulhu Mythos Tales] • (1931) • shortstory by Robert E. Howard
• 625 • Passing of a God • [Gerald Canevin] • (1931) • shortstory by Henry S. Whitehead
• 644 • The Panelled Room • (1933) • shortstory by August Derleth
• 654 • The Thing on the Doorstep • [Cthulhu Mythos] • (1937) • novelette by H. P. Lovecraft
• 681 • Genius Loci • (1933) • shortstory by Clark Ashton Smith
• 698 • The Cloak • (1939) • shortstory by Robert Bloch
• 717 • Biographical Notes (American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny from Poe to the Pulps) • essay by uncredited
• 736 • Note on the Texts (American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny from Poe to the Pulps) • essay by uncredited
• 740 • Notes (American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny from Poe to the Pulps) • essay by uncredited

• xi • Introduction (American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny from the 1940s to Now) • essay by Peter Straub
• 1 • Evening Primrose • (1940) • shortstory by John Collier
• 12 • Smoke Ghost • (1941) • shortstory by Fritz Leiber
• 29 • The Mysteries of the Joy Rio • (1941) • shortstory by Tennessee Williams
• 41 • The Refugee • (1943) • shortstory by Jane Rice
• 56 • Mr. Lupescu • (1945) • shortstory by Anthony Boucher
• 61 • Miriam • (1945) • shortstory by Truman Capote
• 73 • Midnight • (1946) • shortstory by Jack Snow
• 79 • Torch Song • (1947) • shortstory by John Cheever
• 96 • The Daemon Lover • (1949) • shortstory by Shirley Jackson
• 112 • The Circular Valley • (1950) • shortstory by Paul Bowles
• 121 • I'm Scared • (1951) • shortstory by Jack Finney
• 134 • The Vane Sisters • (1951) • shortstory by Vladimir Nabokov
• 148 • The April Witch • [The Elliott Family] • (1952) • shortstory by Ray Bradbury
• 158 • Black Country • (1954) • shortstory by Charles Beaumont
• 179 • Trace • (1961) • shortstory by Jerome Bixby
• 183 • Where the Woodbine Twineth • (1964) • shortstory by Davis Grubb (variant of You Never Believe Me)
• 192 • Nightmare • (1965) • shortstory by Donald Wandrei
• 197 • I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream • (1967) • shortstory by Harlan Ellison
• 213 • Prey • (1969) • shortstory by Richard Matheson
• 225 • The Events at Poroth Farm • (1972) • novella by T. E. D. Klein
• 272 • Hanka • (1974) • shortstory by Isaac Bashevis Singer
• 289 • Linnaeus Forgets • (1977) • shortstory by Fred Chappell
• 305 • Novelty • (1983) • shortstory by John Crowley
• 322 • Mr. Fiddlehead • (1989) • shortstory by Jonathan Carroll
• 335 • Family • (1989) • shortstory by Joyce Carol Oates
• 351 • The Last Feast of Harlequin • [Cthulhu Mythos] • (1990) • novelette by Thomas Ligotti
• 389 • A Short Guide to the City • (1990) • shortstory by Peter Straub
• 401 • The General Who Is Dead • [Ambergris] • (1996) • shortstory by Jeff VanderMeer
• 406 • That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is in French • (1998) • shortstory by Stephen King
• 423 • Sea Oak • (1998) • novelette by George Saunders
• 447 • The Long Hall on the Top Floor • (1999) • shortstory by Caitlín R. Kiernan
• 459 • Nocturne • (2000) • shortstory by Thomas Tessier
• 463 • The God of Dark Laughter • (2001) • shortstory by Michael Chabon
• 483 • Pop Art • (2001) • novelette by Joe Hill
• 504 • Pansu • (2001) • shortstory by Poppy Z. Brite
• 512 • Dangerous Laughter • (2003) • shortstory by Steven Millhauser
• 528 • The Chambered Fruit • (2003) • novelette by M. Rickert
• 563 • The Wavering Knife • (2004) • shortstory by Brian Evenson
• 579 • Stone Animals • (2004) • novelette by Kelly Link
• 623 • Pat Moore • (2004) • novelette by Tim Powers
• 655 • The Little Stranger • (2004) • novelette by Gene Wolfe
• 673 • Dial Tone • (2007) • shortstory by Benjamin Percy
• 687 • Biographical Notes (American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny from the 1940s to Now) • essay by uncredited
• 703 • Note on the Texts (American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny from the 1940s to Now) • essay by uncredited
• 708 • Notes (American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny from the 1940s to Now) • essay by uncredited

A Library of America interview with Straub on the book.