From the Borderlands: Stories of Terror and Madness

by Thomas F. Monteleone (Editor), Elizabeth E. Monteleone (Editor), Jon F. Merz (contributor)

Editors Elizabeth E. and Thomas F. Monteleone have reapeatedly transformed teh landscape of the modern horror story with their acclaimed Borderlands anthologies. Now in an indispensable new collection, they present twenty-five all-original tales of terror by today's acclaimed masters and the best new voices in horror fiction, including:
Stephen King
Whitley Strieber
John Farris
Tom Piccirilli
David J. Schow
Bentley Little
...and many others.

Shocking and cutting edge, these tales of doom, depravity, and menace will chill your blood and haunt your soul. From fantastic supernatural terrors to the very real horrors waiting outside your own front door, these stories expand the boundaries of fear and madness...
--back cover

Contents:
Rami temporalis / Gary Braunbeck --
All hands / John R. Platt --
Faith will make you free / Holly Newstein --
N0072-JKI / Adam Corbin Fusco --
Time for me / Barry Hoffman --
The growth of Alan Ashley / Bill Gauthier --
The goat / Whitt Pond --
Prisoner 392 / Jon F. Merz --
The food processor / Michael Canfield --
Story time with the BlueField strangler / John Farris --
Answering the call / Brian Freeman --
Smooth operator / Dominick Cancilla --
Father Bob and Bobby / Whitley Strieber --
A thing / Barbara Malenky --
The planting / Bentley Little --
Infliction / John McIlveen --
Dysfunction / Darren O. Godfrey --
The thing too hideous to describe / David J. Schow --
Slipknot / Brett Alexander Savory --
Magic numbers / Gene O. Neill --
Head music / Lon Prater --
Around it still the sumac grows / Tom Piccirilli --
Annabell / L. Lynn Young --
One of those weeks / Bev Vincent --
Stationary bike / Stephen King.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies, Thriller, Literature

429 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Monteleone's fifth Borderlands anthology presented a wide range and large selection of mostly very good horror stories. I particularly liked the stories by Jon F. Merz, Bentley Little, and Gene O'Neill, and had a special fondness for Story Time with the Bluefield Strangler by John Farris because I used to live there. My favorite stories were the first and last ones. The books opens with Rami Temporalis, a punch in the gut by Gary A. Braunbeck, and closes with a kick in the butt from Stephen King, Stationary Bike. As the cover proclaims, stories of terror and madness, indeed!

[C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m sure almost all writers out there--at least, those who were writing in the 1990s and the earlier part of the 2000s--can tell you they had their list. The list consisted of those top few magazines or anthologies they submitted to on a regular basis, just praying for their shot at “the big time”. For me, one of those publications was always the BORDERLANDS anthology, edited by Elizabeth E. and Thomas F. Monteleone. I can’t tell you how many times I submitted to this thing, and never once made it.

Now, having read the FROM THE BORDERLANDS paperback anthology, originally published as BORDERLANDS 5, I see just how far off the mark I was. These stories are so far removed from what I was then--and probably am now--capable of, it’s sad.

I originally picked up this collection for the same reason I’m sure most of the people who bought it did: Stephen King’s name on the cover, promising “a new novella”. However, when I finally got around to reading this book, I didn’t even bother with King’s “Stationary Bike” because I had read it before in another of his solo collections a few years ago--that’s how long this one sat on my shelf--but considering the other talent in these pages, this was definitely money well spent.

Gary Braunbeck would have been enough for me to buy it. And his story “Rami Temporalis” is all the motivation you’d need. But then there’s Whitley Strieber’s “Father Bob and Bobby” or Bentley Little’s “The Planting”, a story that starts with the lines, “I planted her panties by moonlight. I watered them with piss.” This was a brilliant piece of horror storytelling that could be an entire course in itself, covering imagery, word choice, flow, pace, style…just a great piece of horror fiction.

Or there’s Tom Piccirilli’s “Around it Still the Sumac Grows”, which is nothing short of Pic’s usual top quality work. Another stand out for me was Bev Vincent’s “One of Those Weeks”, which read like a classic “Twilight Zone” episode, and that was all the reason I needed to love it, but then you throw Vincent’s prose on top of that and it’s just a fantastic story.

I did find a clunker here and there--Michael Canfield’s “The Food Processor” seemed weird for weirdness’ sake but didn’t seem to offer much substance, while Brett Alexander Savory’s “Slipknot” just kind of fell flat for me--but the ratio of awesome to not in this collection is so much in favor of awesome, it’s hard to hold a less than great story against it when you compare that to the good ones. And the good ones here aren’t just good, they’re great like Frosted Flakes.

Now I can look back on those Borderlands rejections and say, “Yeah, okay. You were right.” Because no matter how good I thought those stories were, they weren’t on this level.

I wouldn’t call this collection a new direction in horror fiction, or the future of horror fiction, or even say this is where horror is headed. It’s already here. These authors just got there before most of the rest of us.

[Tiffany Koss Galica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good collection of modern horror stories. I could have done without the little excerpt from the editor before each story though. It seemed very self fulfilling- mostly about who they discovered and who they should have discovered. Worth the read-- some creepy stuff.

[Bill Gauthier · Rating 5 out of 5]

My story "The Growth of Alan Ashley" is in this book. It pretty much gave me a career.

[Kevin Lucia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Anyone wishing to broaden their horror horizons - writers or readers - would do well to pick up this whole series.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good collection of stories. There were the usual losers that you find in a collection such as this but there were some real gems as well. The Goat, Prisoner 392 and Story Time with the Bluefield Strangler all come to mind as good reads.

[Tamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's the Best of the best from the incredible Borderlands Anthologies. The stories contained within will stay with you for a very long time!

[Michael Tildsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This collection of twenty-five short stories had a lot of interesting entries. Even the ones I didn't fall in love with, for the most part, kept me thinking for a while after finishing them. I like stories like that.

This collection really shows you the twisted side of humanity that lurks in most of us just below the civilized surface. I think understanding this is important. Identifying with the monster is often the best way to understand the monster...and also a how-to on not becoming the monster.


Anyhow, these are the stories I considered to be five-star entries in this collection:

~ "Rami Temporalis" by Gary Braunbeck

~ "Faith Will Make You Free" by Holly Newstein

~ "N0072-JK1" by Adam Corbin Fusco

~ "Time for Me" by Barry Hoffman

~ "Prisoner 392" by Jon F. Merz

~ "Story Time with the Bluefield Stranger" by John Farris

~ "Smooth Operator" by Dominick Cancilla

~ "Father Bob and Bobby" by Whitley Strieber

~ "Infliction" by John McIlveen

~ "Magic Numbers" by Gene O'Neill

~ "Stationary Bike" by Stephen King

[Erik M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. Some stories were great, but so many left me cool or just unhappy with the time spent reading them. And it certainly took me quite a while to plow thru this. I kept putting it down, lacking any driving motivation to finish other than to get it off my "currently reading" list.

I think it's because many of the stories have a brand of "horror" that isn't something I like - somewhat real-world pervy "human horror" as opposed to the supernatural. The stories that stood out as exceptional, aside from King's, had high concepts and/or an element beyond human understanding.

Again, eh. Largely forgettable. Not stories of terror and madness, except a few. No, these are tales of creeps and disturbing portraits of humanity.

[Blair · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection was so fun! It helps that variety permeates the book - short stories of varying length, each written in a noticeably different style. Not ALL of the stories are of exceptional quality, but the best ones amply compensate for that. I found "Prisoner 392" by John F. Merz so fun and perfectly paced for its length. Brett Alexander Savory's "Slipknot" is a great piece about Poe-esque madness. Not all of the tales are truly horror. Some of them aren't truly horror in terms of genre. Some of them are just weird and cool.

[Robynne Schembri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of the stories were 4 stars and they all had a good thriller element. The description of "madness" is also very fitting.
However there are a few stories that I wish carried a trigger warning. I would only recommend this for a more seasoned fan of that can stomach indepth elements outside of general horror -including sexual violence and abuse.

Heavy trigger warnings specifically for Infliction, Dysfunction, and Father Bob and Bobby.

[Vince Darcangelo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Faves:

Gary A. Braunbeck: "Rami Temporalis"

Holly Newstein: "Faith Will Make You Free"

Adam Corbin Fusco: "N0072-JK1"

Brian Freeman: "Answering the Call"

Dominick Cancilla: "Smooth Operator"

Bentley Little: "The Planting"

John McIlveen: "Infliction"

Gene O'Neill: "Magic Numbers"

Tom Piccirilli: "Around it Still the Sumac Grows"

Bev Vincent: "One of Those Weeks"

[Emily]

stories of terror and madness--yes!!

[Kimberly Godwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this anthology from a gas station bookshelf back in 2003. I have always been a fan of short story anthologies and I needed something to read while I waited for my husband to finish work. While I recognized the authors, I didn't go out of my way to find this book and I am glad that I did. This is one of my favorite anthologies. I fondly go back to my paperback when I want to refresh my memory on my favorite pieces again.

With 25 short stories, it hits a lot of different beats on the horror spectrum resulting in a collection that as fun as it is unsettling. Certain stories get in your head and just live there. 16 years later, I still associate Stephen King's contribution to this collection, "Stationary Bike" any time I go to the gym. A mundane beauty routine brings to mind Dominick Cancilla's "Smooth Operator". Certain scars remind me of John McIlveen's "Infliction".

It's an older book but worth a read!

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scary and bizzare tales that were great to read

[David Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of good stories in this volume. Most are not really scary, just disturbing.

[Rochelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of "stories of terror and madness" Whew - this one took me awhile!

PROS: Most of the stories were really good. I only DNF-ed two of the stories in the collection, but there were some that I really detested (see in Cons paragraph) The stories I really liked were: "All Hands", "Storytime", "Answering the Call", "Annabell", "One of those Weeks" "Faith Will Make You Free" and " Time for Me".

CONS: So far I have yet to find an anthology in which I like all of the stories and this one had a good start ...until I reached the stories that involved really disgusting sexual abuse. TRIGGER WARNING - there are stories that involve really detailed masturbation, rape and incest. I love horror novels but I don't understand why some authors choose to include such horrible true life terrors and call it fictional horror. Real people have had their lives destroyed by that real life trauma; some have survived and most have not. The detailed masturbation is just disgusting. Can we go back to creepy, haunted houses and things that go bump in the night please?? Real life is terrifying enough ... that is why we read fiction... to escape.

OVERALL: the division of stories I liked and ones I thought were a little dull were about even however the ones I described above really disturbed me and completely turned me off from reading more from those authors.

[Acidic Siren · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can tell how well I enjoyed a book by how long it took me to read. This one, clock in at 20 days. Now given your own opinion & reading speed that could be either fast or slow, for me, it's slow. Very slow. I've read books several inches thicker than this one in far less time. A book of short stories like this should have taken me no more than 2-3 days, through the week. But here we are. Nearly three weeks after my beginning it. I'm finally finished.

Given how much the editors talked this up at the beginning, I had prepared myself for something spectacular. Instead I found a largely cliche book of short stories with a few gems hidden here and there. Stories like "A Thing" and "The Food Processor" stick in my head as being particularly horrible. (Maybe I just lack a certain understanding, but....I doubt it.)
Father Bob & Bobby was particularly...well, it was one of those stories where certain scenes of it embed themselves into your brain.

I don't know. I wanted to love this collection. It just seemed like for all the blathering in the introduction regarding the quality of the stories, I went forward expecting a whole lot more.

[Miranda Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book several years ago solely for the Stephen King tale, which I had already read when I came to read the entire book this year. The front cover promises tales of Madness and Terror, and personally that was left wanting.

I am an avid horror reader and have read many tales on madness (those by Kev Hammond in particular are exceptional) and I didn't find any of them in this collection that were madness or terror filled, but maybe I am a little desensitized or my taste too specific.

I did find off-kilter, surreal, altered perception stories, which were interesting and intriguing.

There were a few memorable and enjoyable stories in there, like Prisoner 392 by Jon F Merz and One of Those Weeks, by Bev Vincent. But to believe that because these stories are in included in a 'From the Borderlands' collection they must be exceptional, I think is a little extreme. Other than being able to list well known writers on their cover, I felt there were many story collection in this genre just as good as these.

[M.K. Boers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book several years ago solely for the Stephen King tale, which I had already read when I came to read the entire book this year. The front cover promises tales of Madness and Terror, and personally that was left wanting.

I am an avid horror reader and have read many tales on madness (those by Kev Hammond in particular are exceptional) and I didn't find any of them in this collection that were madness or terror filled, but maybe I am a little desensitized or my taste too specific.

I did find off-kilter, surreal, altered perception stories, which were interesting and intriguing.

There were a few memorable and enjoyable stories in there, like Prisoner 392 by Jon F Merz and One of Those Weeks, by Bev Vincent. But to believe that because these stories are in included in a 'From the Borderlands' collection they must be exceptional, I think is a little extreme. Other than being able to list well known writers on their cover, I felt there were many story collection in this genre just as good as these.

[Tory · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay these editors are IN-FUCKING-SUFFERABLE. If you read this (or at least the couple of stories that are halfway decent and not racist, pedophilic, misogynistic, or otherwise distasteful in some gratuitous way, or just don't make ANY fuckin sense), DO NOT (I repeat) DO NOT bother reading their introductions -- to the book or to any of the short stories. What a bunch of self-important blowhards.

That being said, and after flipping back through the stories...not many stand-outs, tbh.
"The Thing Too Hideous to Describe" was a lot a fun. Stephen King doesn't let us down with "Stationary Bike." "The Planting" is certainly one of the gratuitously distasteful ones but one of the only ones that actually stuck with me. Aaaand that's basically that.

I liked 3/25? Oof. Plus DNFed 2 of the 25.

[Reggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up at a paperback store and enjoyed its grab-bag of spooky stories. Some are humerous, others dark, but all tend towards the bizarre and supernatural. While I enjoyed most of the stories, several of the tales contained graphic sexual violence or disturbing content so I would recommend reading in bursts. Several times I had to put the book down because I was reviled by the content within. Regardless, they are well written and certainly scary so I would recommend! The Stephen King story at the end is a fun concept, but not the best one of the bunch.

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a good horror short story. And was impressed that I had not read any of these before. Usually there’s one or two repeated in every anthology I read. I was also impressed by the large number of authors I was familiar with. Most often there’s repetition in the stories and authors who don’t quite make the list of who’s who. I enjoyed 9/10ths of the stories. Read almost every word. How come it’s not a 5 star read, you may ask? As much as I enjoyed the tales, very few stuck with me after moving on to the next. Is that my fault or theirs?

[Ryan Pidhayny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Borderlands 5 is a middling anthology, both as an entry in the series and more generally. It wasn't particularly bad but also wasn't particularly good. The standout stories for me were "Rami Temporalis" by Gary Braunbeck, "The Thing Too Hideous to Describe" by David J. Schow, and "Head Music" by Lon Prater.

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

An anthology of dark fantasy. No ghouls. No zombies. No vampires. No serial killers. Just well-written dark fantasy. Some of the stories are a little like the Twilight Zone. A couple are like The Outer Limits. Most of them undefinable. All of them readable and engrossing. Recommended, but not for the faint of heart.

[wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

i FINALLY finished this book!!! for some reason i stopped reading. first time since i learned to read. so strange. didn't love the book so that didn't help but still...

[L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good stuff.

[Donald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of fiction from a great collection of authors. Not easily boxed into one genre.

[Malloryk0422 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the best and strangest short story collection I have read.

[Bri (the short story guy) · Rating 4 out of 5]

All Hands 5
A Thing 5
The Food Processor 4
Story time w/ the bluefield strangler 5
Stationary bike 4