Canavan’s Comments (group member since May 15, 2018)

Canavan’s comments from the Spells, Space & Screams: Collections & Anthologies in Fantasy, Science Fiction, & Horror group.

Lena: The new Ben Affleck and Matt Damon classic

Just a personal take, but it’s hard for me to imagine a premise that would interest me less than this one.

Fiona said: I should also point out that the author, Laird Barron, has been in some pretty bad health recently. There is a gofundme if anyone has some extra to chip in: https://www.gofundme.com/f/laird-barr...

Thanks for the link, Fiona. That’s distressing news about Mr. Barron.

“The Fungal Stain”, W. H. Pugmire

I fondly remember the author’s semi-frequent postings (using his “Hopfrog” moniker) on the various literary social forums dating back, as best I can recall, to the 90s. He was a good guy. That said, I was never a huge fan of his writing, although he was very well regarded by others. I’ve just never been a big fan of that kind of decadent writing; just a personal bias.

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Randy said: This and Michael Chabon's (not sf/f/h) The Final Solution are hands down the best Holmes pastiches I've read.

I’ve had The Final Solution on my TBR list for more years than I care to admit.

“A Study in Emerald”, Neil Gaiman

Over the years I’ve read dozens of supernatural mashups involving Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes. The vast majority range in quality from mediocre to just plain bad. Gaiman’s story is hands down one of the best and most clever ones I’ve personally encountered. This is another Guran selection that I’ve read multiple times.

Anyone reading this story for the first time might want to check out the version on the author’s own website. It incorporates a series of amusing faux advertisements featuring horror-related, Victorian-era characters.

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“The Oram County Whoosit”, Steve Duffy

Another story I’ve already read — multiple times, in fact. Duffy is one of my favorite authors and he doesn’t disappoint here.

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“The Dude Who Collected Lovecraft”, Laird Barron & Tim Pratt

This one kinda follows in the footsteps of stories like Robert Bloch’s “The Man Who Collected Poe”. (view spoiler)[I like the idea embodied here of confronting head-on H. P. Lovecraft’s virulent racism, but the story itself is a so-so effort. (hide spoiler)]

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I’m skipping the Priest story for the moment.

“Old Virginia”, Laird Barron

This is another already-read tale for me. (view spoiler)[Very briefly, this early Barron story describes a covert military/science project gone seriously amuck and is one of the creepiest things I’ve ever read. (hide spoiler)]

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“The Crevasse”, Dale Bailey & Nathan Ballingrud

This is another of those stories I read years ago. Once again, no notes other than a rating, but I dimly recall wishing for more substance to go with the atmosphere.

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“The Vicar of R’lyeh”, Marc Laidlaw

(view spoiler)[A sort of odd mashup of Lovecraft and Anthony Trollope. I understand what’s going on here, but is there a larger point? (hide spoiler)]

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“Mr. Gaunt”, John Langan

(view spoiler)[A solid story, largely told in epistolary fashion (which I’m partial to, if done well). Like “Fair Exchange”, if “Mr. Gaunt” has a flaw, it’s the story’s predictability and the author’s need to repeatedly telegraph events yet to transpire.

The connection to Lovecraft seems a bit tenuous to me; it comes mainly through the use of the fictional book De Vermis Mysteriis as a plot device. Langan doesn’t actually refer to the title of the Von Prinn volume, but instead to a fifteenth century French translation, Les mysteres du ver. The book was actually the invention of one of Lovecraft’s acolytes, a very young Robert Bloch. That’s kinda fitting since “Mr. Gaunt” strikes me as far more similar to Bloch’s early work than to Lovecraft’s.

Final note: I’m aware of at least one other Langan story in which George Falange appears. (hide spoiler)]

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“Fair Exchange”, Michael Marshall Smith

(view spoiler)[This one leans heavily into the bad-guy-gets-more-than-he-bargained-for horror trope, although the very tail of the story surprised me a tad bit. In spite of the tale’s predictability, because Smith is a pretty good writer, I enjoyed it. (hide spoiler)]

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In looking over the TOC for Paula Guran’s anthology I was surprised at how many of them I’ve previously read — at least eight or nine. I’m probably not going to be re-reading those or commenting on them other than to briefly note what I originally thought of them.

“Pickman’s Other Model (1929)”, Caitlín R. Kiernan

I’ve read this one at least twice, but strangely remember little about it. My old notes indicate only that I liked it.

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I looked at the editor’s introduction to this month’s book. For anyone that’s remotely familiar with H. P. Lovecraft’s life and career, it hits all of the familiar beats. I appreciate the fact that Guran doesn’t pull any punches when summarizing Lovecraft’s personal shortcomings.

J. said: To be fair, Apple's Foundation has about as much in common with Asimov's Foundation as Amazon's Lord of the Rings as in common with Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.

Speaking as one who actually liked and admired Isaac Asimov’s Foundation stories, I personally think a faithful translation of that series to the screen would have been a disaster. Asimov was never exactly a master of characterization; Foundation in particular was less about individuals than about big ideas that spanned generations. Changes (and not just minor ones) in the source material when transitioning to the screen was probably always in the cards. My problem with Season 1 wasn’t that the show writers fiddled around with Asimov’s plot; it was that the alterations weren’t very interesting.

“Song of the Cailleach Bheur”, Jane Yolen

Meh.

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“Among the Leaves So Green”, Tanith Lee

(view spoiler)[An interesting story that drags a bit for me in the latter third of the narrative. The main point the author seems to be making is that when we appeal to our deities we are usually asking for the wrong (i.e., unimportant) things. (hide spoiler)]

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“Somewhere in My Mind There Is a Painting Box”, Charles de Lint

I’m skipping over this one. I read it a few years ago, but I’m fuzzy on the details. All my personal notes say is that I enjoyed it.

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I was going to do all of this reading over the holiday break, but, as per usual, never quite had the chance…

“Daphne”, Michael Cadnum

(view spoiler)[This is a retelling of the Daphne-Apollo myth. It’s a bit streamlined compared to most of the versions I’ve been exposed to (e.g., Ovid), but the omissions are no doubt intended to allow the author to hone in on the central features of the tale. It’s essentially a story of sexual assault. (The theme of rape/attempted rape crops up with disturbing frequency in Greco-Roman mythology.) I sort of wished the author had worked harder to make his version more distinct from the origin story, but I did appreciate the rather upbeat nature of the conclusion. (hide spoiler)]

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J. said: "You'll shoot your eye out, kid."

I never knew anyone to have been shot in eye with a BB gun, but a cousin of mine was shot in the neck. Decades later, the pellet is still there.