tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post5745351526406818704..comments2024-03-28T19:52:07.635-04:00Comments on Sweet Freedom: FFB: some suspense-fiction anthologiesTodd Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-47609589341806512452012-09-09T23:04:38.687-04:002012-09-09T23:04:38.687-04:00Thanks!
Well, Jeff, I've certainly been a fan...Thanks!<br /><br />Well, Jeff, I've certainly been a fan of the YEAR'S BEST HORROR STORIES series since I was young and caught up with them with volume V, edited by Gerald W. Page...and I'd say horror and suspense are cousins across the barrier of what is "natural" and "supernatural" in fiction, not completely different at all...in fact, many criticize my distinction that excludes the likes of PSYCHO from horror (and places it firmly in suspense fiction...likewise such latter-day work as Joyce Carol Oates's ZOMBIE). I've written on the blog here about the Page and Karl Edward Wagner volumes of YBHS, and about Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling's annual (and how it continued for several volumes with Gavin Grant and Kelly Link in the place of Windling); now, Datlow does her own annual, as Stephen Jones continues to do (his series began in collaboration with Ramsey Campbell, who tapped out after the first few) and Paula Guran has one (including Dark Fantasy) as well, now, having given up her gothic romance series.<br /><br />So, I hope you haven't missed those. (Of course, I've written about the SHADOWS and WHISPERS anthologies, and WHISPERS magazine, here, as well.) And do look to the other Black Lizard and similar anthologies, certainly...not least the Ed Gorman and the other bug-crushers from Otto Penzler (both of whom have also had annual series of note, Ed's sadly halted after the death of his co-editor Martin Harry Greenberg).Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-90941443687790682182012-09-09T08:03:27.604-04:002012-09-09T08:03:27.604-04:00Cool post, Todd! I still have a copy of that (firs...Cool post, Todd! I still have a copy of that (first pictured) Dell GREAT TALES OF ACTION AND ADVENTURE...it's a treasured memento of my youthful reading.<br /><br />Like you, I'm a great fan of well-edited anthologies. It's a completely different genre, but I'm also partial to the old DAW Year's Best Horror collections, as well as the Year's Best Fantasy and Horror collections, edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, and now sadly defunct. And of course Stuart Schiff's WHISPERS and Charles L. Grant's SHADOWS anthologies were also memorable.<br /><br />In recent year's I'm partial to Vintage Crime's BIG BOOK OF ADVENTURE STORIES, edited by Otto Penzler (they also publoshed a sweet Black Mask anthology.)<br /><br />Best of luck on your proposed suspense anthology project, which I'll look forward to with interest!Jeff Flugelhttp://thestalkingmoon.weebly.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-25106437464976161632012-09-08T09:23:55.668-04:002012-09-08T09:23:55.668-04:00Thanks! It's a toss-up, I'd say, Prashant,...Thanks! It's a toss-up, I'd say, Prashant, though films and television have been plagiarizing "Game" more in the last half-century, I'd agree (at least, I come across the ripoffs thus more often). I think you'd have better luck in finding knockoff or simply used editions of the "Hitchcock" anthology than the more recent ones...only the NOIR volume was in print after the notion of Creative Commons licensing became, well, common, and the copyright holders on the stories probably mostly didn't want that option to be available. As you continue reading in crime fiction, particularly crime fiction from the first half of the 20th Century, you'll find that Gardner was similarly prolific as a short story writer, to his prolificacy as a Perry Mason novelist...Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-5820662551029163512012-09-08T08:55:32.230-04:002012-09-08T08:55:32.230-04:00Todd, some fantastic anthologies here! Before I go...Todd, some fantastic anthologies here! Before I go on here's wishing you luck and success with your pathbreaking suspense-fiction anthology. Hope it turns out the way you want it. I'd love to get my hands on all the anthos you mentioned, especially "Black Lizard Anthology of Crime Fiction," "A Century of Great Suspense Stories" and "The Best American Noir of the Century." In recent times I have read a novel each by Ed Gorman, Loren D. Estleman, Lawrence Block, and Robert Randisi, to name a few. Each of them writes in their distinct narrative styles that is at once engaging and absorbing. Might I be lucky in finding the first three anthologies under Creative Commons? The rest, perhaps with the exception of the Hitchcock tome, may well be under copyright. I don't recall seeing Erle Stanley Gardener in an anthology before.<br /><br />Incidentally, I read Richard Connell's THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME in ebook format only a few weeks ago. Hasn't this story been plagiarised more in film than in books? I'd think so though I might be wrong.Prashant C. Trikannadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16079354501998741758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-50010581714659408222012-09-07T17:58:35.578-04:002012-09-07T17:58:35.578-04:00Oh, I, too, knew the writers in the ACTION AND ADV...Oh, I, too, knew the writers in the ACTION AND ADVENTURE book who had other work widely available, such as Saki and London and Clarke, but that anthology was the first place I read most of these particular stories by them, and most of the others (and suspect that was true for many other readers, though I'm pretty sure I first read the Connell in a YA "Hitchcock" first, and "August Heat" was in a horror antho I read before this book, with a rather good illustration accompanying it). Your Top Suspense ebook escaped? Non-recoverably? (Rented it or borrowed it from the library?)Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-70383391440445800032012-09-07T17:34:41.673-04:002012-09-07T17:34:41.673-04:00I had that Dell anthology, as you say, it may have...I had that Dell anthology, as you say, it may have been my first introduction to some of the authors, though I already knew many of them. I have both Black Lizards (have read them), and I had Favorite Killers, but it got away from me before I read it. Lots of good stuff here!Rick Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07978136287154214297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-77783875779107559972012-09-07T16:31:17.148-04:002012-09-07T16:31:17.148-04:00Thanks! No, not restricting myself to print...want...Thanks! No, not restricting myself to print...want both formats. Whatever else it is, a bound book is a less evanescent thing than an ebook.<br /><br />Worst comes to worst, a POD edition. That might also be best comes to best. Looking forward to your antho...and might be able to get something out for consideration for it (finally) if it hasn't wrapped.Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-76093669451572529902012-09-07T16:14:29.152-04:002012-09-07T16:14:29.152-04:00Luck with the pitch. There's bound to be a pub...Luck with the pitch. There's bound to be a publisher out there who will realise it's got appeal. But limiting yourself to print limits your opportunities: with fewer things going into print, there's less interest in anything that's not a proven sure thing (i.e. cook book, celebrity bio or knock off of a current bestseller).K. A. Laityhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05983280397279864583noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-77730880637266601182012-09-07T13:51:59.226-04:002012-09-07T13:51:59.226-04:00Well, I'm hoping to produce a non-virtual book...Well, I'm hoping to produce a non-virtual book, as well. Thanks, George! And you must give the Gorman BLACK LIZARDs a spin...they are impressive (while there is, of course, also brilliant work in the others). (I'm adding links now to my THE NEW MYSTERY review and to ITW, which I'd meant to add to this post, a product of the wee hours...THE NEW MYSTERY, like the Gormans, reminded a lot of the feel of reading the AHP: volumes as a youth, along with the better selections from ALFRED HITCHCOCK'S MYSTERY MAGAZINE Dell also paperbacked as edited by AH...and the YA series of anthos Robert Arthur and others ghosted...)Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-86880258732208474392012-09-07T13:41:51.657-04:002012-09-07T13:41:51.657-04:00I own half the books you mention. I especially li...I own half the books you mention. I especially like that ARBOR HOUSE anthology. I really miss ARBOR HOUSE. They published some fine books in their day. Like Sergio, I have the Black Lizards but I haven't read them. I have a stack of Hitchcock anthologies. I have the Deaver and the Elroy/Penzler, also unread. If your ebook comes online, I'm buying it!Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04546161337366365635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-76007235701192623582012-09-07T06:12:16.970-04:002012-09-07T06:12:16.970-04:00Thanks, Sergio. It could be. But I'll probably...Thanks, Sergio. It could be. But I'll probably be pretty quiet about it until I sell it, or choose to self-finance an ebook (trickier than it sounds). Or give up. Meanwhile, all these available items (first and/or secondhand) sing a pretty persuasive siren song...if some moreso than others...Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-22017323252634592352012-09-07T06:04:48.215-04:002012-09-07T06:04:48.215-04:00Piles and piles of wonderful material - I definite...Piles and piles of wonderful material - I definitely had the Black Lizard anthologies at some stage but not sure about any of the others. Really look forward to reading more about your proposed anhology Todd - sounds fascinating.Sergio (Tipping My Fedora)http://bloodymurder.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.com