The Horror Hall of Fame: The Stoker Winners

by Joe R. Lansdale (Editor), Robert Bloch (Contributor), Alan Rodgers (Contributor)

This landmark anthology collects for the first-time ever the Bram Stoker Award-winning short stories and novellas from legendary authors such as Robert Bloch, Harlan Ellison, Dan Simmons, Peter Straub, David Morrell, Jack Ketchum, Joe R. Lansdale, George R.R. Martin, and many, many others! The Stoker Award is presented annually by the Horror Writers Association, and this volume represents the very best fiction the horror field has to offer from the last decade!

Genres: Horror, Anthologies, Short Stories

336 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Champion Mojo Storyteller Joe R. Lansdale is the author of over forty novels and numerous short stories. His work has appeared in national anthologies, magazines, and collections, as well as numerous foreign publications. He has written for comics, television, film, newspapers, and Internet sites. His work has been collected in more than two dozen short-story collections, and he has edited or co-edited over a dozen anthologies. He has received the Edgar Award, eight Bram Stoker Awards, the Horror Writers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the British Fantasy Award, the Grinzani Cavour Prize for Literature, the Herodotus Historical Fiction Award, the Inkpot Award for Contributions to Science Fiction and Fantasy, and many others. His novella Bubba Ho-Tep was adapted to film by Don Coscarelli, starring Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis. His story "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road" was adapted to film for Showtime's "Masters of Horror," and he adapted his short story "Christmas with the Dead" to film hisownself. The film adaptation of his novel Cold in July was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, and the Sundance Channel has adapted his Hap & Leonard novels for television.

He is currently co-producing several films, among them The Bottoms, based on his Edgar Award-winning novel, with Bill Paxton and Brad Wyman, and The Drive-In, with Greg Nicotero. He is Writer In Residence at Stephen F. Austin State University, and is the founder of the martial arts system Shen Chuan: Martial Science and its affiliate, Shen Chuan Family System. He is a member of both the United States and International Martial Arts Halls of Fame. He lives in Nacogdoches, Texas with his wife, dog, and two cats.

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of Bram Stoker Award winning stories which was originally commissioned years ago, but publisher deals kept falling through until Cemetery Dance finally went ahead with it in 2012. As a result, the most recent entry is from 1996.

"The Scent of Vinegar" by Robert Bloch: A film historian searches for treasure in an old, abandoned 1940s brothel, but finds something horrifying instead.

"The Calling" by David B. Silva: A man cares for his mother who is dying of cancer. Absolutely chilling final lines.

"Chatting with Anubis" by Harlan Ellison: After a massive quake, two paleontologists descend into the earth to investigate what appears to be a newly uncovered, ancient temple.

"The Pear-Shaped Man" by George R.R. Martin: A woman is disturbed by the weird, disgusting man who lives below her apartment. I read this about a year ago in The Year's Best Fantasy Vol. 1 and thought it was kind of goofy, but somehow I liked it much better this time around. This time the creepiness outweighed the humor.

"The Night They Missed the Horror Show" by Joe R. Lansdale: Two racists out for a night on the town come to regret not just going to the movies like everyone else. I really don't understand why people like this author. He is a bad, bad writer, and yet he's everywhere. As a dog lover, I did find the "twist" to be rather funny, but I think I was just grasping for something to like.

"Lady Madonna" by Nancy Holder: A woman will do anything not to be separated from her child, even in death. I didn't care for the writing in this one, either, but what the woman does at the end is sufficiently disturbing to make it worth a read.

"The Box" by Jack Ketchum: A father's young son begins behaving oddly after he peers into the gift box of a stranger his family encounters on the train. A subtle, quiet horror story about helplessness in the face of the unknowable, and probably my favorite here.

"Stephen" by Elizabeth Massie: An unusual patient in a youth rehabilitation facility drives a new social worker to confront her own horrific past. I've read this one a few times (it appears five times in my library!)

"The Red Tower" by Thomas Ligotti: This is a hard story to describe as it isn't in any way conventional. The narrator tells about a strange factory, which may or may not exist, which produces bizarre novelties and sends them out into the world. It is a Weird Tale. Ligotti is a true original, and one of the best.

"The Boy Who Came Back from the Dead" by Alan Rodgers: A boy comes back from the dead.

"The Night We Buried Road Dog" by Jack Cady: A long, strangely poetic story of superstitious car enthusiasts, an auto graveyard, haunted roads and a mysterious traveler known only as "Road Dog."

"Metalica" by P.D. Cacek: A woman enjoys her gynecological exams a little bit too much. I'm not sure how this is even a horror story.

"Orange is for Anguish, Blue is for Insanity" by David Morrell: An art historian is convinced that there's an undiscovered secret to a nineteenth-century painter's controversial work. This story is the main reason I purchased this collection. I read it years ago in a paperback anthology that I no longer have (it was the only story in it that I really liked) and I wanted to own a nice copy of it. One fictional trope I have always loved is that of images with something hidden in them. Another is words or images that can cause madness, and while that isn't exactly what happens here, it veers close enough that this story ticks all the right boxes for me.

Overall, a very strong collection with only a few duds. Also a pricey one if you're getting the edition with Joe Lansdale's lazy scrawl in the front. Wait for a sale or get the trade edition if it's available. I just wish they'd updated it by adding the stories that have won since this anthology was first conceived. Maybe there will be a volume two.

[Duane · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Scent of Vinegar by Robert Bloch 4/5 stars
The Calling by David B. Silva 4/5 stars
Chatting With Anubis by Harlan Ellison 3/5 stars
The Pear-Shaped Man by George R. R. Martin 5/5 stars
The Night They Missed the Horror Show by Joe R. Lansdale 5/5 stars
Lady Madonna by Nancy Holder 3/5 stars
The Box by Jack Ketchum 4/5 stars
Stephen by Elizabeth Massie 5/5 stars
The Red Tower by Thomas Ligotti 3/5 stars
The Boy Who Came Back from the Dead by Alan Rodgers 4/5 stars
The Night We Buried Road Dog by Jack Cady 3/5 stars
Metalica (1995) P. D. Cacek 3/5 stars
Orange Is for Anguish, Blue Is for Insanity by David Morrell 5/5 stars

[Dat-Dangk Vemucci · Rating 3 out of 5]

'The Calling' by David B. Silva. A sometimes poignant, often overwrought story about a man looking after his dying mother who blows a whistle when she needs assistance. The whole narrative rests upon a final striking image which is supposed to be horrific but which is laughably literal, I found it a bit too silly.
'The Pear Shaped Man' by George R.R. Martin is the first work I've read by this author and I was pleasantly surprised. A young woman moves into a new place and experiences a mounting morbid curiosity with her offputting downstairs neighbour. The neighbour is described as physically repulsive and borderline housebound, eating only 'Cheez doodles'. At times, the 'Pear Shaped Man' descriptions may seem excessively cruel, especially regarding his weight and awkwardness. However, I think a clue to the story's power and its use of seemingly mean-spirited characterisations is given in the opening paragraph, where the author claims; "Of course you know him. Everyone knows a Pear-shaped Man." I take this to mean that the Pear-shaped man is a part of the author himself, his worst ruminations about himself and most unflattering self-judgements brought to light - and therefore by extension we all know the Pear-shaped man in ourselves. "What you hate in other people you recognise in yourself." By the end this reading is granted (somewhat unsatisfyingly) a quasi-supernatural confirmation.
This story got under my skin it made me feel disgusting about myself and unable to eat Cheese flavoured snack chips. One of the best in the collection.

'The Night They Missed the Horror Show' by Joe R. Lansdale. Pretty raw, fresh writing style even if the narrative isn't that memorable. The story is a classic urban legend/tall-tale type about racist rednecks getting their comeuppance from other, even more virulently racist rednecks.

'The Box' by Jack Ketchum. I had already seen the film of this in the anthology 'XX' and really enjoyed it so I knew this would be good and it was. The story is about a mother whose children meet a man on the subway holding a box and want to see it inside. The man allows her son to look inside the box, and after he does he stops eating entirely. After telling his sister, and then his father what he saw in the box they too stop eating and start to waste away, while the mother searches for the Man with the Box to put an end to this nightmare. Kinda similar to that Radiohead video where there's a certain sentence that makes people just lie down on the street and completely give up on life just from hearing it.

'Stephen' by Elizabeth Massie. A nurse assigned to an obnoxious boor of a patient becomes enamoured with the one next door, an elegant young man who has lots all his limbs most of his torso and chest and of whom only a head and one lung remain. This is one of a couple of stories in the collection that isn't really horrifying at all, instead reading more like a dark romance/erotica.

'The Red Tower' by Thomas Ligotti. It's Ligotti so of course it's good, although not one of his strongest. A treatise on a mysterious factory in a mystery wasteland, it's history and meaning(lessness). Like most of Ligottis stories this feels like a microcosm of his entire theoretical view of the universe as random and with people being as agentive as marionettes on strings, conducted by arbitrary flows, real or imagined, at the whims of the malignly pointless mechanisms of a universe unmanned.

'The Boy Who Came Back from the Dead' by Alan Rodgers - Cute story that outstays its welcome despite an interesting turn in the middle. A dead boy is dug up and resurrected by aliens. On his return to his family and school instead of feeling blessed by this miracle everyone is a bit creeped out and perturbed by him, especially his mother who grows increasingly cold and eventually hostile towards him. Seems like the author didn't know where to take the story in the third act.

'The Night We Buried Road Dog' by Jack Cady. This was my favourite story by a stretch. Every sentence is fine-tuned to a specific vibe and the vibe is long highways lost to dream fog and nostalgia of 1950s country summers gone and past. Ghosts appear on the side of roads, and unknown legends live and die on roads strewn with steel and white crosses leaving their name and cryptic poetry on bathroom stalls. Jesse is the hellion at the core of the story, a man who loves his motor vehicles so much he built a cemetery where you can pay to bury much-loved cars, vertically with the bonnet sticking up as a tombstone, and the odometer boasting total miles paced on a post to boot. Mentor to the story's young protagonist they often wonder about the mysterious "Road Dog" who signs his initials off seemingly everywhere they stop to piss yet who they can never catch up to. A mystery figure who drives a ghostly Studebaker and looks an awful lot like Jesse himself...
Though I didn't care for the twist ending (a theme in this collection), it is a really great story, well written. It's like an adaptation of J.G. Ballards 'Crash' as a Gothic Horror by way of S.E. Hinton. Will definitely seek out more by this author.

[Bridget · Rating 3 out of 5]

I skipped a few stories, and wish I hadn't read another (ew).

The Pear-Shaped Man, The Box, and Orange is for Anguish Blue is for Insanity are all standouts for me!

[Craig Childs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Horror Hall of Fame is a collection of short stories and novellas that won the Bram Stoker Award in the first 10 years of its existence, between 1987 and 1996. I am not widely read in the field and had only encountered one of these stories previously. This book highlights the tremendous variety possible within the genre. I can only hope future volumes covering the last 20 years are also in the works.

"The Pear-Shaped Man" by George R.R. Martin (1987, Long Fiction): Years before Game of Thrones, Martin channels his inner Stephen King in this supernatural urban horror story. The writing and characterization are great. It is at times funny, sad, disturbing, and gross. The phallic image of cheese doodles will (unfortunately) take a long time to fade away.

“The Boy Who Came Back From the Dead” by Alan Rodgers (1987, Long Fiction): This story tied with George R.R. Martin’s story. It is the engaging, understated tale of an 8-year old boy who inexplicably rises from his grave after being dead for nearly a year. His parents and friends fear him, and aliens are chasing him in his suburban hometown. This is a unique mix of horror, science fiction, and even magical realism, with a strong theme about confronting the unknown.

“Orange is for Anguish, Blue is for Insanity” by David Morrell (1988, Long Fiction): An interesting take on the mythology of Van Gogh. It seems like a straight-forward ghost/demonic possession story, but the author surprises by inserting an almost science fiction twist.

"The Night They Missed the Horror Show" by Joe R. Lansdale (1988, Short Fiction): I’ve read this story three or four times now. Every time I encounter it, I say I am not going to re-read it, but I always do. And the frank real-world brutality shocks me every time.

"Stephen" by Elizabeth Massie (1990, Long Fiction): Most of this story was too on-the-nose, as if the author was trying too hard to set up the emotional finale. However, the payoff—the image of the love scene at the end—was almost worth it.

"The Calling" by David B. Silva (1990, Short Fiction): One of my favorites. There are no supernatural elements here (unless you want to count the metaphorical image at the end). The horror derives from the all-too-real ramifications of caring for a parent who is slowly dying of cancer. The emotional impact of this story stayed with me.

"Lady Madonna" by Nancy Holder (1991, Short Fiction): The author captures a terrific female voice with her narrator, and I’m a sucker for stories involving the Devil himself. The final twist at the end seemed a little too much and marred what could have been an excellent tale.

“The Night We Buried Road Dog” by Jack Cady (1993, Novella): This story won the Nebula Award and tied with Harlan Ellison’s “Mefisto in Onyx” for the Stoker Award. No disrespect to one of Ellison’s better stories, but this one deserved the Stoker outright. Few authors ever manage to so perfectly evoke a sense of time and place like Cady does in this short novel. His depiction of a subculture of young hot-rodders in the American Northwest in the early 1960’s, mingled with a backstory of ghosts and family tragedy, is more poem than prose. It deserves to be considered a classic of modern literature.

"The Scent of Vinegar" by Robert Bloch (1994, Long Fiction): This was one of the few stories I disliked. It adds nothing new to vampire mythology, and the characters are not particularly interesting.

"The Box" by Jack Ketchum (1994, Short Fiction): I really admire this story. The huge unexplainable macguffin may throw off some readers, but I thought it was brilliant. The story is not about what’s inside the box, it is about what is inside you that determines your resiliency and will to live.

"Chatting With Anubis" by Harlan Ellison (1995, Short Fiction): I’m a fan of Harlan Ellison but had never read this story. It’s a short, whimsical fantasy centered on the idea that old gods of mythology have been supplanted by the new God of the Jews and Christians, and they aren’t at all happy about it. This is a decent story, and it can be seen as a postscript to Ellison’s Deathbird Stories collection. (The same idea was treated more effectively years later in Neil Gaiman’s American Gods.)

"The Red Tower" by Thomas Ligotti (1996, Long Fiction): An experimental piece of writing that intrigued me for a while but ultimately I never really understood or connected with. I think it’s supposed to be a parable about creating… what? art? life? Ligotti is known for his use of unreliable narrators, but it did not seem to fit here.

“Metalica” by P.D. Cacek (1996, Short Fiction): This story was memorable for its frank sexual nature and one very disgusting use of a speculum.

[Kevin Lucia · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Bram Stoker Awards.

Every year, the Horror Writers Association bestows this award upon winners in several different categories. Regardless of how one feels about the debated validity of the Stokers, there's one category in which winners truly stand out, those laboring in perhaps the most challenging form of prose: that of short fiction.

Cemetery Dance's Horror Hall of Fame: The Stoker Winners, edited by Stoker Winner and celebrated author Joe R. Lansdale, brings together a stunning collection of Stoker Award Winners, a volume of short fiction that represents what one should think of in regards to "award-winning." Hard to pick amongst this collection for the best tales, but the following do shine above the rest:

"The Pear Shaped Man", by George R.R. Martin, about that mysterious, filthy, socially challenged obese man we've all seen lurking on the streets or in alleys at one time or another, but in this case, The Pear Shaped Man hides an eerie secret in his cramped home that'll change a young female artist's life...forever.

"The Box", by Jack Ketchum, a haunting story about a husband and father who helplessly watches his family consumed - literally - by an invisible secret, hidden in a bum's empty box.

"The Boy Who Came Back From the Dead", by Alan Rodgers, is a rousing, fun romp about an adolescent boy raised from the dead by aliens, and his difficulties resuming his life on Earth. An excellent example of how some stories, even award winners, should be just plain fun.

"Orange is for Anguish, Blue is for Insanity", by David Morrell, a story about an artist's obsessive quest to understand one of the greatest misunderstood painters of all time, of his friend's mistake in trying to understand his friend's obsession, and the unearthly secret behind it and the painter's genius.

The best story in the collection is undoubtedly "The Night We Buried Road Dog", by the late Jack Cady. In my mind, it's the perfect example of what a Stoker Award Winning short story should be, because it's not based on a predictable monster or demon or serial killer or any of the usual horror staples, but rather on a life of freedom lived on the open road, behind a growling engine pushing metal down endless black asphalt, how men change and grow but never lose a bit of that young wildness, and how sometimes - most times - the ghosts that haunt us come from within, are of our own creation.

[Steve Isaak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall review:

Good collection of thirteen classic horror-style stories, worth owning for its standout works. I disliked a few of the stories in this book, but that's due to personal writing preferences on my part, not crappy writing on the part of the authors. Check it out.



Standout stories:

1.) "The Secret of Vinegar" - Robert Bloch: Intriguing, exotic and mostly excellent tale about an infamous old-time Los Angeles cathouse. I write "mostly excellent" because a Plot Convenient Stupid Moment [PCSM] and a predictable finish mar the work. Still a standout story, though.


2.) "Chatting with Anubis" - Harlan Ellison: Entertaining, smart, sometimes funny piece about two paleoseismologists (Wang Zicai, Amy Guiterman) who, in the course of studying a possible archeological find along a fault line, experience a life-altering events. One of my favorite pieces in this anthology.


3.) "The Night They Missed the Horror Show" - Joe R. Lansdale: Pitch bleak-humored, frak-PC-minded-readers story about two "bored" redneck racists who eschew a zombie movie, only to find themselves in increasingly nightmarish situations. One of my favorite stories in this collection.


4.) "The Box" - Jack Ketchum: Clever concept, darkly humorous work. Memorable read.


5.) "Orange is for Anguish, Blue is for Insanity" - David Morrell: One of my favorite stories in this collection. A Postimpressionist artist's work and horrific life inspires madness in those whose research delves too deeply into them. Effective-build, entertaining read, this, with an ending that's not surprising but not disappointing.


(This review originally appeared on the Reading & Writing By Pub Light site.)

[John J Questore · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow... If these were the winners, I have absolutely NO desire to read any of the losers. Fourteen stories - and I had to choke down most of them. One story - Metalica - was nothing but porn; with the only thing being horrific was the writing.

The few decent (notice I didn't say good) stories were not worth the time wading through the crap to get to them.

I can only imagine Bram Stoker rolling in his grave knowing that these were the winners of an award bearing his name.

[Jess · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bram Stoker was not a great writer but he certainly wasn't as terrible as this sample of his name-bearing-award-winning stories suggests. The Horror Writers Association have possibly confused 'horror' with 'horrible'. The best of these stories (probably the crazy painter one) was mediocre, the worst were so much racist, sexist trash.

[Donald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mine is an advance uncorrected proof

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

a great collection by many authors (some I knew of, many I did not).

[Metagion · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few stories I've read before ("The Pear Shaped Man" and "The Box") but the others, such as Harlan Ellison's "Chatting with Anubis" I thought was really good. Good, but not *great*.