From the Bookshelf of Easley Library Bookworms…

Young Monsters

Isaac Asimov (Editor),

Martin H. Greenberg (Editor)

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Mar 21, 2008 Werner rated it really liked it

Shelves: short-stories

Despite the child protagonists here, which evidently prompted my library to classify the anthology in the Juvenile collection, these stories in most cases were not written for kids as such (and a couple are not even really appropriate for children, because of the violent and disturbing content). All of the selections are well-chosen in terms of the collection's theme, however, with the exception of Yarbro's grisly-gory "Disturb Not My Slumbering Fair;" the ghoul protagonist there is a young woma Despite the child protagonists here, which evidently prompted my library to classify the anthology in the Juvenile collection, these stories in most cases were not written for kids as such (and a couple are not even really appropriate for children, because of the violent and disturbing content). All of the selections are well-chosen in terms of the collection's theme, however, with the exception of Yarbro's grisly-gory "Disturb Not My Slumbering Fair;" the ghoul protagonist there is a young woman, not a child. (Peter Tremaine's "The Samhain Feis" would have been an excellent choice, but was written after this book was published, unfortunately.) The tone varies from dryly humorous, to touching, to creepy (or touching and creepy in the same story, a difficult combination Bradbury pulls off without missing a beat in "Homecoming"), and some go all the way to chilling and deeply disturbing. Nasty things can happen here (sometimes, but not always, to nasty people), and not all the endings are happy.

Five of the stories (including "The Idiot's Crusade," which is classic Simak) are drawn from the science fiction genre. Theodore R. Cogswell's "The Cabbage Patch," which derives its horror from an alien life form's life cycle, is the weakest story in this group, but the others are effective; Mack Reynold's "Optical Illusion' delivers a surprise ending that would do credit to O. Henry himself.

The rest of the stories are supernatural in character. Werewolves and vampires are each represented twice; Jerome Bixby's "The Young One" is the best werewolf story I've read so far. King's "One for the Road" is a spin-off of his Salem's Lot, and it's a good traditional vampire story; but it's overshadowed here by Tanith Lee's "Red as Blood" (my own all-time favorite vampire short story), which is surprisingly Christ-centered and replete with strong Christian symbolism. (Lee is not a professed Christian, but admits to a sympathy for "the basic teachings of Christ.") Yolen's "Angelica" also has a perhaps surprising religious theme, and invites reflection on the problem of theodicy --but also approaches it seriously, and not invidiously. Both of the latter stories also make the point that in a monotheistic universe where Satan and evil exist only by God's tolerance, He uses them in His providence, without approving of them, to achieve His ultimate ends --a point classical Christianity has always recognized as orthodox, though some less well educated modern believers might find it shocking!

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