This is the kind of horror that Stephen King wishes he could write. Rather than rely on gross-out gore, cheap "Boo! The concepts are frightening, but it is Straub's writing that made reading this so enjoyable. He is a master of language. Every short story in this collection was excellent. This is horror to make you reevaluate your life. Peter Straub is, without a doubt, my favorite author in the horror genre, and this book raises him to my favorite author, period.
In this collection of tales, Peter Straub is exploring some disturbing and disquieting territories. Some of them are extremely fascinating and for compulsive readers. The themes are also very varied. At times this element only comes right at the end. So we swing between realistic descriptions and tales, and completely supernatural unbalance. We can find many influences in these tales, particularly Vietnam, racism and religious bigotry: The supernatural elements just make the story absurd from a realistic point of view but perfectly understandable, logical from the extreme point of view that is exposed and rejected.
There is always double talk in those tales, some kind of two forked tongues in both cheeks. To be read instantly. Peter Straub is the best manipulator of supernatural magic in horror literature. Peter Straub is never an easy read, even in some of his mostaccessible works like Ghost Story. Direct comparisons to the likes of Stephen King are fruitless, since about the only thing they have in common is their genre and the fact that the two authors seem to have immense mutual respect for each other. The best story in this collection, "Bunny is Good Bread," is dedicated to King.
I maintain, however, that Straub is more than worth the effort. While King's work has a consistency of style to it I am also a huge fan of his writing , Straub's voice tends to change from story to story. The lead-off story, "Ashputtle," has the tone of a seriously twisted, very disturbing fairy tale to it--a psychotic teacher who envisions herself a disenfranchised princess.
The next, "Isn't It Romantic," is a tale of an assassin, himself the hunted now, on his last job; it's easily the least of the 7 tales here, despite a good twist ending. The gradual detachment from reality of the lead character, accompanied by traumatic scene after scene at the hand of his father, is actually painful to read. In my opinion, one of the best things Straub has ever written. Cuff," is a joy to read--a pitch-black comedy about revenge and its consequences. The shameless stealing from the classic Melville tale "Bartleby the Scrivener" only adds to the enjoyment.
A very good collection overall, far from deserving the relatively low composite rating it's gotten here. Out of seven stories, three were worth the read. The Ghost Village was the first.
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It is about a platoon of soldiers who stumble upon a deserted village, discovering a chamber of horror beneath a hut. Then there are the ghosts, who include fellow platoon members as well as the villagers. I think I'll remember this story for a long time. The second was Bunny is Good Bread. Place yourself in the shoes of a five year-old boy, who is forced to watch his crazy father care for his dying mother while trying to keep the latter a secret from the outside world. Porkpie Hat was my favorite, although I think Straub could have cut out much of Part One, editing it down to a page or two.
After the narrator finds legendary jazz musician Hat, the story really takes off.
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Hat retells his horrifying journey into the backwoods called "The Backs" of Mississippi, where he and a friend witness a brutal murder of a white girl behind a black community. The two kids escape The Backs, but not after being seen, and not without personal repercussions.
Masterpieces of Terror and the Supernatural
The rest of the stories just didn't do much for me in the way of suspense or horror. See all 28 reviews. Most recent customer reviews. Published 1 year ago. Published on March 6, Published on February 12, Published on January 16, Published on July 12, Published on June 29, Published on June 20, Published on April 11, Published on March 4, Published on August 3, What other items do customers buy after viewing this item?
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He just wasn't prepared to enter Booth 2 for this particular round of confessions. Imagine waking up surrounded by damp soil only to find yourself in a room with half-buried bodies, faces sticking out from the dirt, and mysterious creatures called Benders. That's exactly what happens to Gary Smith when he finds himself in a place under the earth. Bernie Calhoun knows nightmares, and the one he had about the Man in the Woods when he was a boy still haunts him to this day. To make matters worse, he realizes he might have brought something back with him into the real world long ago.
These tales and more await you within. Gathering material spanning a decade, A. Fuchs shares his nightmares. Fuchs is the author of many novels and short stories, most of which have been published. Battles of the Dead, in which zombies fight such classic monsters as werewolves, vampires, Bigfoot, and even go up against cool foes like pirates, ninjas, and. Fuchs is also known for his superhero series, The Axiom-man Saga, and is the author of Blood of the Dead, the first novel in the shoot 'em up zombie trilogy, Undead World.
Zany Zombie Poetry for the Undead Head. Fuchs lives and writes in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Read more Read less. Kindle Cloud Reader Read instantly in your browser. Product details File Size: Coscom Entertainment December 3, Publication Date: December 3, Sold by: Related Video Shorts 0 Upload your video. Share your thoughts with other customers. Write a customer review. There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later. Kindle Edition Verified Purchase.
Kept me sane oa 2 week ocean cruisr. One person found this helpful. Magic Man is a great collection of related stories, A. Fuchs is worth following, looking forward to more by this author.
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One person found this helpful 2 people found this helpful. I love horror stories, and this anthology by the talented A. Fuchs is a real treat for horror fans.
You can find a nice variety of topics in the tales of this volume. It's like a bag of candy snacks for terror lovers: Characters like the Magic Man and Mr. Jitterbones will haunt my darkest dreams forever. I loved this selection, I hope you give it a try. You will not regret it I definitely appreciate the author's effort in writing these tales.
The ideas are good and the writing is fluid. However, these stories just did not connect with me.
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I would recommend this collection to other readers. Just because they didn't click with me, doesn't mean these stories might not scare the crap out of you! Give AP Fuchs a chance to entertain you. That's all I'm gonna say about this. Maybe one story is remotely decent in the entire book. The rest is yawn! Definitely not my type of book. I couldn't even finish reading it. I had a hard time understanding where one story ended and the next story started.
I also didn't like the way the stories just stopped. There was no good ending to any of the few I struggled through.