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Summary: The Illustrated Man Redux - Horrifying the New Generation
Review: Don't let the title of this review frighten you off. This collection of stories, strung together in a beautifully sickening manner by Clegg seems both a tribute AND a modern take on the tales of the Bradbury masterpiece. The handful of stories, which includes his well known "I Am Infinite: I Contain Multitudes", as well as the amazing "Rendering Man" and "White Chapel" are wrapped within the tale of a strange boy who is kidnapped by a mother and her two sons. Of course, this boy is much more than he seems. Much more terrifying and nowhere near as meek and innocent as initially believed. With each vignette and subsequent tale, one descends deeper into Clegg's world - not a pleasant thought for those who wish to retain a cheery outlook on society. His writing is surprisingly vivid and literate for the genre (a talent not seen too much in the "Bestsellers" list these days other than for the big names). The visions he molds in the reader's helpless minds helps to firmly embroil each tale while not allowing the connection vehicle (the boy & his kidnappers) to wallow as simply tasteless filler. If you enjoy this, please take the time to peruse Clegg's other works. With each effort, the man displays more talent, and a greater grasp of what horrifies the everyday person.
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Summary: What A Way To Put A Short Story Collection Together!!
Review: Douglas Clegg is a leader in the post King/Koontz/Saul generation of horror authors, along with being one of the most prolific. In "The Nightmare Chronicles" he brings thirteen short stories to life in one of the most clever ways I've ever seen. The book begins with what you think is the first story, but it's actually a framework story that continues around each of the mini-thrillers contained here. It's a good story by itself and you find yourself waiting to see what happens next in the "frame" story as well. This is probably one of the best collections I've read in a long time. There's a lot of variety in style, setting, time periods, subjects and, of course, horror factor. The stories are graphic in ways you don't expect, which takes them out of the "wallow in blood and guts" type of horror, but the shock value is WAY up there. This book is a great way to get a fast intro to an author who dares to stray from formulaic horror.
Rating:
Summary: What A Way To Put A Short Story Collection Together!!
Review: Douglas Clegg is a leader in the post King/Koontz/Saul generation of horror authors, along with being one of the most prolific. In "The Nightmare Chronicles" he brings thirteen short stories to life in one of the most clever ways I've ever seen. The book begins with what you think is the first story, but it's actually a framework story that continues around each of the mini-thrillers contained here. It's a good story by itself and you find yourself waiting to see what happens next in the "frame" story as well. This is probably one of the best collections I've read in a long time. There's a lot of variety in style, setting, time periods, subjects and, of course, horror factor. The stories are graphic in ways you don't expect, which takes them out of the "wallow in blood and guts" type of horror, but the shock value is WAY up there. This book is a great way to get a fast intro to an author who dares to stray from formulaic horror.
Rating: 
Summary: A GREAT WRITER
Review: Douglas Clegg's collection of short stories rivals anything that Barker, King, or Koontz have put out. Most stories draw you in so deeply you can't put the book down until you finish them. There really isn't a clunker in the bunch.I roll my eyes when someone writes "creepy" and "will give you chills" in their reviews but some of the stories included here are quite scary, and you will feel the creeps and chills...which is why you buy a book like this anyway.
Rating: 
Summary: Say sorry to the trees
Review: For those that think depth is a heroin-filled needle hanging from your arm in some condemned, rat-infested apartment, you'll love Douglas Clegg. The characters are rarely multi-faceted and layered. The plots are mediocre, standard stuff, bordering on uncompelling. The tone is always hopeless. And the language is pseudo-literate that gets in the way of the story telling. There is a reason why he's written so many books and hasn't become popular. Read this book and you'll discover why.
Rating:
Summary: Say sorry to the trees
Review: For those that think depth is a heroin-filled needle hanging from your arm in some condemned, rat-infested apartment, you'll love Douglas Clegg. The characters are rarely multi-faceted and layered. The plots are mediocre, standard stuff, bordering on uncompelling. The tone is always hopeless. And the language is pseudo-literate that gets in the way of the story telling. There is a reason why he's written so many books and hasn't become popular. Read this book and you'll discover why.
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Summary: Best short story collection I've read in years!
Review: Great stories, great ideas especially The Ripening Sweetness of Late Afternoon and I Am Infinite, I Contain Multitudes. I judge the greatness of a book by how easily I'm distracted from reading. I was not distracted at all by outside sources while reading these stories; in fact, I was late to work several times because I would get caught up in the storylines. Do yourself a favor and buy and read this book. Move it to the top of your To Be Read (TBR) pile. Other Clegg books recommended: The Halloween Man by Douglas Clegg
You Come When I Call You by Douglas Clegg
Breeder by Douglas Clegg
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Summary: A remarkably cohesive collection
Review: I am extremely impressed. Douglas Clegg begins his first short story collection with a clever idea and it just keeps getting better from there on. The Nightmare Chronicles is one of the most accomplished collections I've read in years. As a practitioner of psychological horror firmly rooted in a remarkable sense of place, he has no peer.
I was instantly swept away by the wraparound story of a kidnapped child who inflicts nightmares on his captors (that they have no idea what they've gotten themselves into is made painfully clear), and it segues smoothly into the inaugural tale (or "nightmare"), "Underworld." Not only is it a horrific tale of love lost, but Clegg's portrayal of conflicting emotions in his protagonist is also an extra layer that taps into the potential reality of the situation -- you know, what gets the reader personally involved in the story.
Short stories don't always give me what I want out of an author, but they are an excellent way to experiment. Usually I just skip around, reading at random -- and sometimes I don't even finish the book -- but The Nightmare Chronicles is simply amazing. Episodic in its structure, each story, at first, leads into the wraparound, pulling the reader gently into the next. It really is a bit like a rollercoaster: the first few stories need the wraparound for connective tissue, but once the first peak is reached, each story just comes at you faster and faster until, before you know it, you've reached the suitably twisted ending and the only thing you want to do is get right back in line for another round.
Clegg probes the horrors of everyday life: love, growth, death, sex, family, freedom, religion, obsession, obligation, the unfamiliar, and the inevitable all get the going-over in The Nightmare Chronicles, sometimes in the same story. And even though horror often requires a suspension of disbelief just to get past the first page, you'll find none of the usually preposterous situations that often occur in other authors' works (like Dean Koontz's, who submits a cover blurb that is as overwrought as his own novels). In short, there is none of the usual stupidity that we all hate at all in here. In fact, Clegg comes across as someone who is particularly intelligent and expects nothing less from his readers. I haven't read a short story collection that got me so excited about a new (to me) author since F. Paul Wilson's Soft and Others and I'm nothing but excited about the prospect of reading Clegg's novels.
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Summary: The most disturbing book
Review: I am new to Douglas Clegg's fiction, but I can guarantee that The Nightmare Chronicles will be just the first in a long line of books I'll read by this guy. What struck me about this collection of short stories was that it is like entering a room with someone who is going to tell you stories in the dark. The set up of the kidnapping story that wraps around the dozen or so short stories in this book is intriguing but doesn't overpower the main event. The main event are some of the most delicious short stories of terror I've read since I read early Stephen King, Robert Bloch, or Richard Matheson. Clegg is not as much of a structuralist as those other writers. One can almost feel him going with the imagery in some cases over the plot. I would go so far as to suggest that what this writer finds in the horror of his fiction is beauty and some kind of kinship. "White Chapel" is a standout, as is "I Am Infinite; I Contain Multitudes." They're like bookends to the other stories, some brief "The Little Mermaid," some a bit overly complicated like "Chosen." One or two of the stories seemed ragged to me, but still inspired. The reason I'm writing this review is because I bought the book here and something in it definitely spoke to me. There is something very personal in this collection. I recommend it to readers who want horror fiction that goes beyond the page.
Rating: 
Summary: Hit and Miss
Review: I am not sure whether Clegg is trying to be a horror writer or some sort of poet. Some of the short stories in his book can be considered "in your face horror"-"Night before Alec got Married" in which the horror is straight at you and you get a tingle down your backbone after having read it, while others are confusing, unexciting and do not have much to do with the element of horror such as "O, rare and most exquisite". Clegg can write passages which will make you consider leaving a light on at night and then turn around and write something which would probably be more appropriate in an Oprah Book of the Month selection. As it is, the best that can be said is hit and miss.
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