Curiosities 9: Horrors

by Andrew McCurdy (Editor), Kevin Frost (Editor), Elaine Vilar Madruga

Ten tales of horror and dark fantasy, each with the retro-vintage flair readers have come to appreciate from the Curiosities anthology series. A poet makes a passage with death. A solitary monster meets another. Nazi war experiments run amuck on the Eastern Front. Unsettling sounds follow you through the New England woods. A sea captain takes in a mermaid, though it may be his doom. One very monstrous clock. And more.From the gothic to the grotesque, these exhibits will have you trading your steampunk browns for gothic blacks, and back again. Featuring a guest editorial on the roots of cosmic horror by the queen of cosmic horror herself, Mary SanGiovanni.

The Curse of the Thorn by Elaine Vilar Madruga, translated by Toshiya Kamei
The Monstrous Metronome by Lena Ng
The Peculiarity of Two by Liam Hogan
A Dog's Death by Diana A. Hart
Silvergloom by Jonathan Duckworth
The Well-Trained Thing in Constance's Dress by John Adams
To Our Own Ghosts by Deborah L. Davitt
The Revellers by Marisca Pichette
Curio. by Catherine McCarthy
Appointment in Time by James Dorr

Non-fiction: Lovecraft's Legacy of Cosmic Horror by Mary SanGiovanni
Non-fiction: Interview with Lena Ng by Andrew McCurdy

Edited by Kevin Frost and Andrew McCurdy

168 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 21, 2021

Reviews

[Helen Whistberry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be an interesting collection of generally very offbeat stories (and to me, that is a good thing) that delve deep into the macabre. An anthology aiming for a steampunk take on the horror genre from a series that touts its "retro-vintage flair," these tales won't be for every reader. The use of language and style of writing is often purposely old-fashioned, but the savvy reader with a love for historical and gothic fiction will find a lot to like here.

My personal favorites were:

"A Dog's Death" by Diana A. Hart: An explosively disturbing take on some very Frankenstein-monster experimentation during a time of war. Visceral and blood-curdling horror as our narrator tries to battle impossible odds to help turn the tide against a foe without scruples or mercy. Both terrifying and heartbreaking with a stunning ending.

"The Well-Trained Thing in Constance's Dress" by John Adams: A strangely comical tale of a certain Professor Brightfever who apparently never met an experiment with the human form he wasn't prepared to try. Throw in a little cosmic confusion and an amusingly macabre series of events unfold, as recounted both tenderly and sadly by our resigned narrator.

"The Monstrous Metronome" by Lena Ng which may very well strike fear into the heart of anyone who has been sat down at a piano and told to keep up with the unrelenting beat of a metronome. A very inventive take on obsession, and I loved the idea of a legendary piece of music that cannot be mastered without losing one's mind (or worse).

"The Revellers" by Marisca Pichette is an effective story that brought to mind the classic psychological horror of "The Willows" by Algernon Blackwood. A traveler walking through the woods on an unusually gloomy day gets the fright of his life. Excellent use of language and imagery.

And last, but not least, "Curio" by Catherine McCarthy, who is fast becoming one of my favorite horror writers and, to be honest, was why I picked up this anthology. She has a talent for mixing the unspeakably vile with gut-wrenching emotion so that you can't help but be drawn in to the grotesquely transformed narrator's dreadful plight in this haunting sketch.

Unusually for story anthologies, there are also a couple of nonfiction pieces here: an interview with author Lena Ng and an essay on Lovecraft, that always controversial yet influential figure in horror, by Mary SanGiovanni. All in all, this is a bit of a different take on a short story collection, yet a lot to enjoy here for the discerning reader.

[Mario Guslandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yet another horror anthology, including ten short stories ( seven original tales plus three reprints) and a couple of non-fiction pieces.
A very mixed bag, as it’s frequently the case with anthologies, featuring some established authors and a few lesser known writers.
On the whole a pleasant enough reading experience, with two outstanding highlights.
The first one is “ The Curse of the Thorn” by Cuban author Laine Vilar Madruga, previously published in 2017 and appearing here in the English translation by Toshiya Kamei.
It’s a wonderful piece of dark fiction, telling the story of a little mermaid forcefully turned into a human female due to the egotism of her adopted father.
The other one is “ The Monstrous Metronome” by Lena Ng, an excellent, quite disturbing tale about a devilish, impossibly difficult piano piece, and the desperate struggle of a pianist to face that inhuman challenge.