Rating: 
Summary: Better than its predecessor.
Review: John Pelan (ed.), The Darker Side: Generations of Horror (Roc, 2002)Pelan's second collection of "the new breed" of horror writers connects on most levels where the original failed. There's still a smattering of bad mixed in, but this time, most of the results are good. I should get the bad out of the way first. I haven't yet tired of calling Edo van Belkom this generation's Saul Wernick, and he gives me another opportunity with the anthology's opening story. The usual van Belkom; simple, unscary, likely to be as obscure in twenty years as Saul Wernick is now. David Niall Wilson and Shikhar Dixit both come extremely close to having written great pieces of fiction (I'd be hard-pressed to call either a horror tale, but both have an appealing gothic quality to them), but fall somewhat short in the delivery. In both cases, continuity is the problem. Both authors paint a very lovely picture, but fail to connect enough dots to let us know what the picture is. But enough of that. So many of these authors deserve such praise. Pelan rectifies the overlooking he did in the original anthology, including such names as Poppy Z. Brite, Cait Kiernan (whose story here is one of the most understated and effective she's written), Mehitobel Wilson, Charlee Jacob, Brian Keene, and the wonderful Jess Salmonson (who's been writing longer than most of these authors have been alive, thus lending some credence to the title this time), all of whom turn in good, and some great, stuff. (Charlee Jacob, in particular, rocks the house. As usual.) Returning are two of the finest authors from the original, Lucy Taylor and Brian Hodge. Taylor's story is luscious, erotic, and painful (nothing new from Taylor, but pulled off excellently here). Hodge's story, like the previous anthology's "Skinwriters," though, is the story for which you want to buy this book, and the story for which you will treasure it. Hodge's story is told in a memoir style, and you will spend the vast majority of the time wondering what this story is doing in a horror anthology. (As Hodge's novels have turned to mystery, it's not an unreasonable thing to wonder.) At the end of the story, he pulls it off, but it's so deadpan and understated you're STILL left with the idea that this is a memoir, perhaps penned by Dennis Lehane or Dash Hammett or one of the other tough-guy mystery writers. It's concise, wonderful, and probably the best stuff I've seen from Hodge since Deathgrip, well over a decade ago. Better than its predecessor The Dark Side. Check this one out first. *** ½
Rating: 
Summary: Not Quite a Walk on the Darkside
Review: Some of the stories in this anthology are truly terrifying, such as "The Plague Species" and "Asian Gothic," while others are not as scary but truly wonderful stories, such as "Unspeakable" and "Hell Came Down." The stories seemed to get better as the book wore on, but there were so much mediocrity that I was disappointed. John Pelan's story was sub-par, relating a tale through mostly narration not my cup of tea for horror stories), and the first couple of stories should not have been included in the supposed "best of the best." If you're looking for a scary read, pick up the next book in this series, "A Walk on the Darkside," which has much better picks for horrifying horror.
Rating: 
Summary: not siding with pelan
Review: there was some amaxing writing style in this. some good descriptions too, though they never seem to fit. describe the horror, not the street! some descriptions were strange and really unfitting. some plots were well enough. but in the end, it just didn't cut it. the endings were terrible, the suspence died out, etc.
Rating:
Summary: "The Ocean"
Review: With all due respect for the previous poster's opinion, I'd like to point out that "The Ocean" (my story in THE DARKER SIDE) is not a vampire story - it's meant to be a modern-day retelling of the tale of Orpheus and the Maenads. Obscure? Perhaps. Vampiric? Maybe, but if you've read your mythology, you'll know there is a great deal more to them. It wouldn't be appropriate for me to review the book, and I couldn't do so anyway since I haven't received my contributor's copy - hence the noncommittal three stars.
Rating:
Summary: "The Ocean"
Review: With all due respect for the previous poster's opinion, I'd like to point out that "The Ocean" (my story in THE DARKER SIDE) is not a vampire story - it's meant to be a modern-day retelling of the tale of Orpheus and the Maenads. Obscure? Perhaps. Vampiric? Maybe, but if you've read your mythology, you'll know there is a great deal more to them. It wouldn't be appropriate for me to review the book, and I couldn't do so anyway since I haven't received my contributor's copy - hence the noncommittal three stars.
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