Beluthahatchie and Other Stories

by Andy Duncan, Michael Bishop (Foreword)

Presents a collection of short stories, including "Beluthahatchie," which tells the story of a guitarist who refuses to disembark a train at Hell and his adventures at the next stop.

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Collections, Science Fiction, Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Horror

288 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2000

About the author

Andy Duncan is the award-winning author of two novellas—The Night Cache (2009) and Wakulla Springs (with Ellen Klages, 2013, 2018)—and three short fiction collections: Beluthahatchie and Other Stories (2000), The Pottawatomie Giant and Other Stories (2012) and An Agent of Utopia: New and Selected Stories (2018). He is also the author of non-fiction book Alabama Curiosities (2005, 2009), and co-editor (with F. Brett Cox) of Crossroads: Tales of the Southern Literary Fantastic (2004). He has won the 2002 Theodore Sturgeon Award for "The Chief Designer", the 2012 Nebula Award for "Close Encounters", and three World Fantasy Awards. Born in Batesburg, South Carolina, Duncan currently lives with his wife Sydney in Frostburg, Maryland, where he he has taught English as an Assistant Professor at Frostburg State University since 2008.

Reviews

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comparable to genre weirdos like Howard Waldrop and Michael Swanwick or more mainstream talents like Robert Coover and T.C. Boyle, also the tone and details in these stories reminds me of the films of the Coen brothers (and in just world Tim Burton would make a great film of “Grand Guignol”), this first collection of stories by Duncan have an encyclopedic grasp of pop culture, antic comic sense, palpable sense of melancholy, and subtle touches of horror, fantasy, and sci-fi. These dwell in the world of tall tales, urban legends, folklore, secret and alternative history, and gothic tales(especially the southern variant). A Robert Johnson figure on the outskirts of hell, silent film actress on the Titanic, an eternal guild of executioners, a the corpse of pope being put on trial, unsettling parable of media manipulation(“Fenneman’s Mouth”), the madness and alternative lives of General Patton, and other erudite, whacky and ghoulish fun. A very fun and worthwhile read. Also, not included in this collection but free online are the “Pottawatomie Giant” and “The Chief Designer”( a great secret history of the Soviet space program).

[Kirk Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good collection of shorts. I like Andy Duncan's ability to write so many stridently different stories. He has broad interests, is clearly a great researcher, and is enthusiastic about sharing historical details. Much of the time it is difficult to detect the difference between history and fiction. The title story is a Robert Johnson meets the Devil type situation with Beluthahatchie being a suburb of Hell. Other stories include a former slave witnessing to the night Abe Lincoln preached a sermon in a swamp; one centering on the characters from a horror-theater company in Paris at the turn of the century; a silent film actress who escapes the sinking Titanic; and one about George Patton an American military legend, among others. His other collection The Pottawatomie Giant and Other Stories https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... is equally brilliant!

[Sara]

Fortitude
flash of faith
bomb throw sky
slay what y find
they throw hand
dark to faith
dog take his time
all hung there white flag
hard yallow war
bara chist to cover
dew in grass
without hope to stard
to find murdered line
hard to wich
hear soud od pain
miltary link to old duty
in gray mind
sad to tell
lily of black

[Jim Mann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andy Duncan's first collection of short stories is a very good one. The stories are both literary and in their way a fast read, engrossing in ways that carry the reader along. They range from ghost stories to stories about George Patton reliving parts of his life to stories based on strange bits of our history (such as one about a traveling executioner). Well worth reading.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andy Duncan is one of the greatest unknown writers around and every story in this collection is a treasure to read and read again.

[Alex Jennings · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really wish Andy Duncan would go back to publishing regularly. The titular story, especially, is a revelation.

[Cimorene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Outstanding and rather unique SFF, sometimes a bit harsh for my taste. The titular story, though, is one of the most memorable genre short stories I've ever read.