The Death Artist

by Dennis Etchison

"One hell of a fiction writer." — Stephen King

First published as a limited-edition hardcover, The Death Artist collects 12 unforgettable tales that define the state of the art in modern horror.

"Etchison is that rarest of genre an original visionary. His nightmares and fears are intensely personal, and his genius is to make us realize that we share them." — Karl Edward Wagner

"Etchison is good. Really good. In fact, he reminds me of the early Richard Matheson Sr., who was so unbelievably precise in his psychological attack that you could hardly catch your breath...THE DEATH ARTIST is downright dazzling." — Harry Shannon

"Exquisitely well-written and stunningly original." — Publisher's Weekly



The Dog Park (British Fantasy Award, Best Short Story)
The Last Reel
When They Gave Us Memory
On Call
Deadtime Story
Call Home
No One You Know
A Wind From the South
The Scar
The Detailer
The Dead Cop
Inside the Cackle Factory

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Collections

228 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 2000

About the author

aka Jack Martin.

Dennis William Etchison was an American writer and editor of fantasy and horror fiction. He is a multi-award winner, having won the British Fantasy Award three times for fiction, and the World Fantasy Award for anthologies he edited.

Reviews

[Jonathan Janz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I almost gave this collection a four-star review, but I decided to award it five. You know why?

It disturbed me.

Etchison doesn't write tales with tidy twist endings. That's not how he rolls. A short story can be all sorts of things, and though I love stories with knockout, shocking climaxes and chilling denouements (see Ray Bradbury's "The Small Assassin" for a fine example of what I'm talking about), I also appreciate tales that get under my skin and refuse to leave me alone. And while all the tales in THE DEATH ARTIST are interesting and well done, my favorites were the following:

"The Last Reel": I don't know why, but this one still haunts me. I think it's because of the nonchalance with which most of the characters treat the slow dehumanization that occurs in the pornography industry.

"The Dead Cop": Those of you who know me know being a father means the world to me. This story features a character I could totally imagine a dad becoming were something to happen to one of his children.

"Inside the Cackle Factory": Man, this story had heart. Especially its protagonist. It was gut-wrenching to inhabit her body while a heartless process unfolded around her. I especially appreciated the ending of this one, which (like most of the tales in this collection) left room for interpretation, but for me was sweetly hopeful.

I wouldn't read this collection if you only like your short stories like Roald Dahl's or Richard Matheson's (which, for the most part, have clear-cut endings…which I usually like). But if you don't mind some ambiguity, and if you aren't bothered by tales that make you feel uneasy for reasons you can't quite discern, THE DEATH ARTIST is one you'll want to read.

[Kevin Lucia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Etchison's work never fails to make me think, and his examination of "mundane" horrors is razor sharp. There are a few times, however, when I tell myself: "Loved that story. Don't know why and I'm not sure what happened, though..."

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dennis Etchison is great at setting a mood. Some of the stories in here were awesome (like, stay-up-later-than-I-wanted-to awesome), some had a twist that I saw coming, and a couple I just didn't quite get (perhaps because I stayed up too late reading them). I really like reading this guy's books and will continue to try to track them down (they're a little hard to find).

[David Stephens · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Death Artist seems less like a collection of short stories and more like an elongated series of nightmares someone might have on a restless night. Not only do characters morph in appearance based on the lighting and realities shift—often multiple times—within each tale, the whole book seems to come and go without beginning or end, just a stream of distant memories that never fully articulate themselves but leave an unsettling feeling in their wake.

The tone and tenor of Etchison's writing is somewhere near that of Robert Aickman and Shirley Jackson. There are just enough descriptions of the distant sounds of applause coming from deep out in the forest or blurry photos to discern characters' alienation, insecurity, or repressed memories without truly knowing how they feel. Worlds first appear so mundane that it's hard to notice the magic and horror that slowly creeps in, but when readers do finally take notice, it becomes apparent that the otherworldly details have been there the whole time.

None of the entries exactly stands out from the rest with the exception of "The Last Reel," a story about a former child actor who ends up at the party of a producer of adult films. It's about the only time I've seen much humor from Etchison, as he includes details about fake sex positions (at least, I think they're fake) and ridiculous porn names. There were lines that were just flat out gaudy and audacious as well: "Her vinyl dress was cut so low it looked like two bald men were trying to fight their way out the front."

If there is any problem here, it is that the introspective protagonists, insular worlds, and cryptic endings become a bit tiresome and repetitive after a while. I could have used a little more variety. Maybe a few more bleak comedies.

[Bryan Whitehead · Rating 4 out of 5]

I prefer Dennis Etchison as an editor. He certainly isn’t the worst writer I’ve ever read. Indeed, a couple of the stories in this collection supply a chill or two. However, most of them suffer from a couple of problems. First, they’re almost universally set in the Los Angeles area. And several of them are about characters caught up in the entertainment industry. That’s plenty creepy, but not in a fun horror story sort of way. Second, in many of them the horror is a character’s loss of memory or identity. I can see how that would become a big fear for people living in a city with more than 10 million other residents, but it still turns into a one-trick set after awhile. On the other hand, the typesetting is airy enough to ensure that this is a quick read (I finished it in just about a day, which is really fast for me).

[Charles Dee Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Etchison’s stories are better the more abstract he lets them be. Tales of hapless protagonists slipping into their grim, unavoidable fates easily come off as storylines for 1960’s episodic TV – The Twilight Zone, Thriller, Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Etchison has a few of those, but at his best he uses his precise Los Angeles geography to place the reader in the uncomfortable position of watching something horrible and unhinged take place, something as baffling to the reader as it is to Etchison’s characters.

[Alan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read short fiction before by Etchison and liked it well enough, but this collection was sorely disappointing. Almost every showed promise and even dangled you along anticipating what horrors would unfold. However, it seems that Etchison either ran out of steam so just ended most of the stories ambiguously and with no resolution, or failed to realize he was wasn't imparting on the page what he had in mind for what happened.

[Craig Strete · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sadly this writer is gone. Truly a friend from my younger days when we were both broke together. He helped me then and I have always been fascinated by his writing. I always meant to tell him how much his books meant to me. He was truly a gifted man and he is sorely missed. He wrote so obsessively and tis grand stuff. There is only one Dennis Etchison...mores the pity. Read him as I have and he is still with us.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ratings below

The Dog Park - 7/10
The Last Reel - 6/10
When They Gave us Memory - 8/10
On Call - 6/10
Deadtime Story - 7/10
Call Home - 3/10
No One You Know - 6/10
A Wind From the South - 7/10
The Scar - 6/10
The Detailer - 6/10
The Dead Cop - 4/10
Inside the Cackle Factory - 5/10
Red Dog Down - 7/10

[Richard Barber · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is horror so quiet you have to listen to it whisper. What Etchison does so well is create the sense of The uncanny and off kilter without drawing attention to it, so often you feel something is wrong, but you're not quite sure what exactly it is.

[Mark Hennion · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review forthcoming.

[Dv10 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another book of this guy that I've tried, but it failed to instill much of anything either.

[R. Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dennis Etchison is the master of the story that makes you ask, "wait...what the hell is going on here?" Often, he never quite tells you. The answer is somewhere between the lines, left unsaid, to creep around in the reader's imagination long after you've finished the story...

Many of his stories don't quite make sense -- and that's not a criticism. They have that sort of slippery internal pseudo-logic peculiar to dreams and nightmares, where you know things aren't quite right but can't always determine exactly what's wrong, where you feel terrifying revelations lurking just out of sight, slinking ever nearer, and you both want to know what's happening and don't want to know, because the answer will NOT be good for your sanity.

There is a bit of sameness to some of the stories in The Death Artist, though by no means all of them. And there is a lot of ambiguity, and endings that feel painfully unresolved, but all of that is by design.

If you are the type of reader who needs clarity, this collection isn't for you. But if you like creepy, unsettling stories that very rarely invoke the standard tropes of horror fiction, stories that are almost like literary Rorschach tests, you will probably like this collection a lot.

[Duane · Rating 5 out of 5]

There aren't any better than Etchison out there. There are few that are as good, for me, at delivering that creeping chill, the one built up out of suggestion and misdirection, out of glimpse and sketchy foreshadowing. The thing with a Dennis Etchison apparatchik, though, it can survive the light. His demons caper in the spotlight. They're not shy.
As in his earlier collection The Dark Country, Etchison weaves his tales with the barest hint of a common thread, more an allegation than an actuality, and weaves them into dark cloth indeed. There is blood indeed, gore and more, and darker, more refined tortures are woven into that fabric.
And THEN he starts painting the pictures.

[Jonathan Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Etchison's collection demonstrates why he is one the most distinctive and incisive horror writers around. A blend of LA noir and supernatural horror that is essential reading for any short fiction fan.