The New Gothic: Don't Embrace the Darkness. Fear It.

by Damien Kelly, Steve Dempsey (Contributor)

The Gothic is the most enduring literary tradition in history, but in recent years friendly ghosts and vegetarian vampires threaten its foundations. The New Gothic is a collection of short stories which revisits the core archetypes of the Gothic—the meandering, secret-filled building; the stranger seeking answers; the black-hearted tyrant—and reminds us not to embrace but to fear the darkness. A dozen tales of terror fill this anthology, including work by Jesse Bullington, SJ Chambers, Richard Dansky, and an original, never-before-seen story from the godfather of modern horror, Ramsey Campbell, among many more.

Genres: Gothic, Horror, Anthologies, Fiction

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

I can see your house from here.

Reviews

[Olethros · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a collection of gothic simulacra, consisting mainly of juvenilia.
A one-line review for each.

Dive in Me: A rather good teenage urban legend/ghost story.
The Debt Collector: Vampires, vampire-hunting, redemption and love... ok.
The Death Bell: A confusingly told story, partially through irrelevant witnesses, about a mentally disturbed killer.
A meeting in the devil's house: Just what the title says. Very boring.
No substitute: Cannibalism. It's supposed to be scary. Horrible punchline.
Reading the signs: Vaguely entertaining story about some kind of demon child and getting lost in the suburbs.
The Boy by the Gate: Another ghost story.
Viola's Second Husband: Scary grandma story with some sinister undertones.
The Devil in a Hole: Although mentioned, the devil never appears in this very entertaining story.
The Whipping Boy: The devil makes a guest appearance (or does he?) in this psychological morality tale.
The Vault of Artemas Smith: The structure is much like every other Lovecraft story about the protagonist exploring a strange vault of mystery, though here the prelude is far too short, and the vault itself seems to serve no purpose. The English is artificially archaic and the setting unnecessarily in the remote past.
The Fall of the Old Faith: This nice story is a warm blend of Lovecraft and Machen in style and theme, and is set in modern times.

[Althea Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.8 average rounds up to three... I wouldn't say this anthology really gives an insight into any kind of 'New Gothic' movement, but it's an OK collection of horror stories.

**** Jesse Bullington and S. I. Chambers - Dive in Me
A surprisingly scary story lurks here... Three friends, 'tough girls,' egg each other on to dive the legendary sinkholes known, for a reason, as the 'Suicide Sinks,' in the woods near their Florida home. Unfortunately, over-the-top characterization and clunky language are a little distracting. I felt that, with a good edit, this could easily go up to a 5-star horror tale. [Although, I wouldn't call it 'gothic' at all.]
{edit: a few days later; I'm upgrading this story to 4 stars... because for all its faults, it's sticking with me...}

*** Fi Michell - The Debt Collector
An enterprising man buys out the debt of an ancient vampire. But when he tries to collect, he may have gotten in over his head... The story's not bad. It aims at a Hammer-Horror kind of feel, and does it reasonably well - but I didn't find it particularly memorable.

** Laura Ellen Joyce - The Death Bell
A woman afflicted by a mysterious illness may resort to morally indefensible methods to seek a remedy. Understated horror can work really well, but I thought that things here were left just a touch too vague - and all the details included about the date in the secondary plotline didn't really seem relevant to the primary plotline...

*** Richard Dansky - A Meeting in the Devil's House
A riff on the classic sold-my-soul-to-the-Devil,-and-now-he's-here-to-collect theme. I like the main idea here, about the Devil's devious plan - but I wanted more details about the narrator's own deal.

**** Steve Dempsey - No Substitute
We all know that men stranded in the frozen wastes have to do some awfully unpleasant things to survive. This story presumes those expected things - but gives us a character who has drawn some surprising life lessons from his experience. Very well-crafted.

*** Ramsey Campbell - Reading the Signs
A man, lost on a lonely road, picks up a man and a boy who seem to have been stranded after a car breakdown. However, soon he gets the vibe that all is not right with what he had presumed to be a father/son duo. Well-written, but I saw the 'twist' ending coming...

** Dmetri Kakmi - The Boy by the Gate
I think this story is aiming for a mash-up of a 19th-century ghost story and the contemporary tradition of telling ghost stories at parties. It didn't really work for me - I didn't find the setting convincing, and the story was totally random and disconnected from the tellers... I felt no chills.

** Sean Logan - Viola’s Second Husband
Another one that really didn't work for me. A young boy thinks his grandmother is rather spooky. Turns out, he might've been right. That's about it... not much happens.

**** Mason Wild - The Devil in a Hole
Ooh, I really liked this one. It has the authentic feel of a folk tale, and a bleakly ironic, carefully crafted message about the venality of human nature. A carter in a rural area has the job of collecting sick and ill animals. He dumps the carcasses into a hole in the ground, the location of which he carefully guards as a trade secret. However, one day he hears a voice calling for help out of that hole...

*** Damien Kelly - The Whipping Boy
A Southern Gothic piece about the sadism of children and - maybe - the Devil. Psychologically insightful.

** Phil Reeves - The Vault of Artemas Smith
A man goes to investigate after a correspondent goes silent. Inexplicably, he decides to investigate a subterranean passage he finds leading from the basement of his acquaintance's ruined home. There, he suspects Lovecraftian horrors. The setting wasn't bad, but the events as related had no explanation or context to lend them meaning.

*** Ed Marlin - The Fall of the Old Faith
A man comes across evidence of a satanic cult in the woods outside a small village. Oddly, the story is given a specifically modern setting (1997) but is written in an intentionally 19th-century style, evoking the phrasings of M.R. James. Although I don't think the modern setting was necessary to the story, overall it was pretty decent.

[Jonathan Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a reader of horror apart from the stories gifted to us by H P Lovecraft and I have a shelf of spooky books that I have purchased but not yet cracked open. When The New Gothic landed on my doorstep I was more than intrigued but a little unsure; there'd been a lot of teen vamps and decidedly unscary wolves around, recently, and I was a bit concerned that the contemporary nature of the stories would result in yet more cuddly fan-friendly monsters.

So it was with a sense of relief - and a healthy dose of shock - that I read the first story 'Dive In Me' and pretty much realised straight away that there was going to be no sign of any misunderstood nightcrawlers here. This story hits the ground running and pretty much sets the pace for the rest of the book. It's a strong start and, gladly, the following stories manage to keep up with that initial punch to the gut with a flurry of blows, creating that 'just one more page before lights out' approach to reading. Although, I'd be surprised if you wanted to turn the lights out after putting this down.

The stories on offer give you ghosts, scary houses, remote locations, monsters - if you're scared of it the chances are that it's covered by this anthology. Each story is sharp and well written and full of imagery that hits hard and honestly leaves you gasping. If you're a horror aficionado then you may not be as hard hit by the stories as I was, but then horror isn't really my thing so it was bound to get to me. That makes the book quite appealing to non-horror fans or people wanting to experience the genre for the first time; the variety of stories on offer gives you a look at different stories and approaches so it'll no doubt help you get a feel for what it is you want out of scary books.

The stories in here are of a high quality but if I had to pick a favourite then I'd have to say ‘The Vault of Artemas Smith’ by Phil Reeves. The first-person Lovecraftian-style narrative makes the action incredibly immediate and the personal nature of the style increases the tension as you're taken on a journey through a destroyed house. It's easy to understand why I love this story as it has that feel of the Lovecraftian stories that I enjoy, but that just reinforces the fact that there's something in this book for everyone. I was certainly happy to find a story such as this, and I was more than pleased to be introduced to many more horror stories that I would never have otherwise experienced.

I can heartily recommend The New Gothic. It's a great read that hooks you - in a horrible blood-spattering way - and the talent on show here is excellent.

Not sure when I'll be picking it up to read again, mind you...

[Fantasy Literature · Rating 3 out of 5]

The New Gothic, an anthology of twelve stories, is edited by Beth K. Lewis and published by Stone Skin Press. It’s a good collection, worth reading.

Gothic horror usually counts on a mounting sense of dread and/or disgust to carry the reader, rather than shock or terror. The fear comes on more slowly, with that faint tickle at the back of your neck, and at its best, a gothic tale creates a sense of otherworldliness, where the characters, and the readers, begin to doubt their own senses. A gothic tale is more likely to rely on a dilapidated house or a dark stretch of forest than gore, dismemberment or mayhem to pack its emotional punch.

The word “New” in the title is a bit of false advertising. None of these stories moves too far from the familiar conventions of the sub-genre. On one hand, it would be difficult to write a... Read More: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...

[Catherine Siemann · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with all short story collections, this one varies in quality. My favorites included Jesse Bullington and S. J. Chambers "Dive in Me" which was genuinely creepy, and Fi Michell's "The Debt Collector" which brought something new to a vampire tale. Ramsey Campbell's "Reading the Signs" played with an urban legend interestingly, and Dmetri Kakmi's "The Boy by the Gate" used Gothic convention effectively. Many of the stories, however, felt generic, as though they'd been told in other iterations before, and would be, again.

[Toby Gallagher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read any Gothic novels for a long time and this anthology has reignited my interest in the genre. Short stories in collections can sometimes be a bit hit and miss but I was impressed with the quality throughout. OK a couple weren't too my taste but that's too be expected. Well recommended !

[Patrick O'Duffy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of stories that attempt, with varying levels of success, to explore what 'the Gothic' means in horror or suspense fiction. For some authors, this means stories with an emotional payoff that underpins or even replaces any sense of shock - stories of disquiet in a world out of joint. For others, it unfortunately means mimicking HP Lovecraft or Horace Walpole with overwrought vernacular and stories that go on too long.

So it's an uneven collection, but most anthologies are, and there are some real gems in here. Highlights are 'Dive in Me' by Jesse Bullington and S.J. Chambers, 'A Meeting in the Devil’s House' by Rich Dansky and 'The Whipping Boy' by Damien Kelly, while the best story of the lot is Dmetri Kakmi's 'The Boy by the Gate'. (DISCLAIMER: Dmetri's a friend of mine, but seriously, this story is fantastic.)

Overall it's a solid collection that makes me more interested in reading other Stone Skin Press anthologies. (SECOND DISCLAIMER: I have a story in one of their other anthologies, but that's publishing for you.)

[Kylie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Technically this is a 2.5 star rating, as I found the collection average – a few really good, some so-so, some I didn’t like.

‘The Vault of Artemis Smith’ by Phil Reeves was very Lovecraftian, to the point of simulacra which turned me off of it. There were two stories which were very obviously influenced by M R James’ stories and I liked both of them; Ed Martin’s ‘The Fall of the Old Faith’ (both in prose and subject) and Dmetri Kakmi’s ‘The Boy by the Gate’ (just subject and style of narrative, could also list Susan Hill as an influence I’m guessing). There was also a good vampire story in the form of Fi Michell’s ‘The Debt Collector’, and a couple of decent stories where the Devil showed up in human form. The rest were average and overall I’m not going to seek it out to add to my library. I just hope Ed Martin and Dmetri Kakmi put out collections of horror/supernatural stories in the future.

[David]

Contents
Beth K. Lewis Introduction 5
Jesse Bullington and S. I. Chambers Dive in Me 9
Fi Michell The Debt Collector Z8
Laura Ellen Joyce The Death Bell 45
Richard Dansky A Meeting in the Devil's House 54
Steve Dempsey No Substitute 69
Ramsey Campbell Reading the Signs 75
Dmetri Kakmi The Boy by the Cate 91
Sean Logan Viola’s Second Husband I02
Mason Wild The Devil in a Hole 114
Damien Kelly The Whipping Boy 124
Phil Reeves The Vault of Artemas Smith 140
Ed Marlin The Fall of the Old Faith I55
Biographies 17]

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice collection of horror stories, but I wouldn't call them gothic exactly. Of the 10 or so stories, there are doppelgangers, ghosts, Lovecraftian horrors, deals with the Devil, cannibalism, and a Satanic cult. A few of them gave me chills. Specifically the cannibal one had me pretty queasy, despite also being the shortest.
I was expecting more stuff like Poe or Anne Rice, but the entire collection is reminiscent of King or Lovecraft.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looking forward to this one :)