The Museum of Horrors

Rating:
Summary: Uneven, But Entertaining
Review: "The Museum of Horrors" contains all the usual strengths and weaknesses of original short story anthologies. There is enormous variety here; each piece is quite different from all the others. There is also a nice balance of well-known, first-rank figures with newer and lesser-known writers. The book has recently been given a World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology, so it is certainly successful in the main.

In truth, however, it is an uneven volume--as original anthologies almost always are. The best stories here are superb. I would rank Tom Piccirilli's "Those Vanished I Recognize" at the very top--a story which is not only genuinely horrific, but also packs a strong emotional wallop. Susan Fry's "The Impressionists in Winter" is a strong entry in the category of traditional ghost story, and "The Museum of Dr. Moses" by Joyce Carol Oates effectively mines the author's "grotesque" vein familiar from her numerous collections (though with a rather pat conclusion, very unusual for this writer). Numerous other tales, including Th. Metzger's "Transorbital Love Probe," Charles L. Grant's "Whose Ghosts These Are," and S.P. Somtow's "The Bird Catcher," are very effective and will have their fans.

But it must be said that several of these tales are quite simply substandard--and at least a couple, including Peter Atkins's "King of Outer Space" and Melanie Tem's "Piano Bar Blues," are hardly horror at all. Among the weak tales are William F. Nolan's "In Real Life," a gimmicky and unconvincing experiment in the use of multiple narrators, and Gordon Linzner's "Author, Author," a silly and predictable piece: if you're a fan of horror fiction, you've read this story dozens of times before--or rather, stories indistinguishible from it.

The worst offender here, however, is clearly Peter Straub, whose "Perdido" is billed, absolutely accurately, as "A Fragment from a Work in Progress." "Fragment" is right--this incomplete work sets up a number of interesting characters and plot threads, but goes absolutely nowhere. After nearly fifty pages, it simply *stops.* Editor Etchison has seriously cheated the reader by including this; surely anyone paying money for this book deserves a tale that, even if only a "fragment," is complete in and of itself and which can give some satisfaction. The only emotion any reader is likely to have at the stopping point (I won't say "end") of Straub's story is that of extreme frustration. There was no reason to publish this other than to be able to include Straub's name on the cover. For shame!

It's also possible to wish that the stories had something to do with one another; if not a "theme," then at least a unified approach, or point of view, or something. The variety is nice in its way, but a highly literary story such as "The Museum of Dr. Moses" does not really belong in the same book with the lame "Hammerhead" by Richard Laymon (which reads, intentionally or not, as a bad parody of Robert Bloch). Oddly enough, three stories (by Oates, Grant, and Somtow) actually include the literal notion of a "Museum of Horrors," while all the rest of the writers ignore this conceit completely. It's difficult to know what to make of this. Were the writers all encouraged to include this idea in their stories, and refused? An introduction explaining the methodology of this book would have been helpful.

For all the criticisms, though, there are more good stories here than bad, and the volume is, overall, quite entertaining.

Rating:
Summary: Well-Rounded Collection
Review: "Museum of Horrors" is a very well-rounded collection of new horror stories. The tone ranges from quiet horror of Melanie Tem's "Piano Bar Blues" to the blunt force trauma (literally) of Richard Laymon's "Hammerhead". Old masters are well represented with a ghost story from Ramsey Campbell, a compelling sneak peak at a new novel by Peter Straub, and an enigmatic piece by Charles L. Grant. My favorite story must be "Transorbital Love Probe" by Th. Metzger, which is very David Lynch-esque and quite horrifying when you discover the meaning of the title.

Rating:
Summary: Not great, but good
Review: I have been a lifetime fan of horror fiction, and bought this book hoping to read works by the greatest in the field. Well, if these "writers" are the best, God help us all. None of the stories I read were either entertaining or even scary in the slightest. They were, however, drab, depressing, and incredibly vague. The absolute worst was "In the Window", about a man who rapes a little boy. The story made me want to go out and find the main character and deal justice on him, instead of frightening me. The other stories were in the same vein. This book is just awful; don't waste your money.

Rating:
Summary: Deserves zero stars; awful, terrible writing
Review: I have been a lifetime fan of horror fiction, and bought this book hoping to read works by the greatest in the field. Well, if these "writers" are the best, God help us all. None of the stories I read were either entertaining or even scary in the slightest. They were, however, drab, depressing, and incredibly vague. The absolute worst was "In the Window", about a man who rapes a little boy. The story made me want to go out and find the main character and deal justice on him, instead of frightening me. The other stories were in the same vein. This book is just awful; don't waste your money.

Rating:
Summary: The best anthology of dark stories I've read in years!
Review: I was pleased to see that this book has recently won a World Fantasy Award for best anthology. In addition, one of my favorite stories in the volume, S.P. Somtow's weirdly atmospheric "The Bird Catcher," won a World Fantasy Award for best short story. All I can say is, The Museum of Horrors deserves these kudos and more.
This anthology is nothing short of fabulous. I couldn't put it down. Every story in the book is a spine-tingling marvel. I've been reading horror most of my life, and it's been a long, long time since I've picked up an anthology that's a match for this one. Whatever you do, don't read it with the lights off!

Rating:
Summary: The best anthology of dark stories I've read in years!
Review: I was pleased to see that this book has recently won a World Fantasy Award for best anthology. In addition, one of my favorite stories in the volume, S.P. Somtow's weirdly atmospheric "The Bird Catcher," won a World Fantasy Award for best short story. All I can say is, The Museum of Horrors deserves these kudos and more.
This anthology is nothing short of fabulous. I couldn't put it down. Every story in the book is a spine-tingling marvel. I've been reading horror most of my life, and it's been a long, long time since I've picked up an anthology that's a match for this one. Whatever you do, don't read it with the lights off!

Rating:
Summary: Not great, but good
Review: Okay, this is not a great one, but it is certainly a good anthology. Unfortunately, some tales feel slapped together or inserted for name value. The inclusion of Peter Straub's unfinished story is the worst offender. But some of the other well-known authors acquit themselves reasonably well and a couple fresh names (such as up-and-comer Darren Godfrey) are clearly marvelously talented. I guess if I had purchased the hardcover I'd be a little annoyed, but is it worth your time and money in paperback? Sure!

Rating:
Summary: The Horror, the Horror!
Review: One star is too generous. The fact that this collection was published is the most horrifying thing about this entire book. The great majority of the stories are incoherent and poorly edited (perhaps the editor cared for the material about as much as I did). A fellow reviewer described the tales as vague and that's the perfect adjective to use. The stories are not particularly frightening either, although some were certainly disturbing. Save yourself some ducats and test drive it for yourself at your local library. This book is, to quote from the immortal Opus Penguin, "simply bad beyond all infinite dimensions of possible badness....well maybe not that bad, but Lord, it wasn't good."

Rating:
Summary: Treasures from the Masters of Darkness
Review: The Museum of Horrors contains a treasure trove of great offerings from some of the best horror writers today. Eighteen original stories from writers like Peter Straub, Joyce Carol Oates, Ramsey Campbell, Tom Piccirilli and others make this a superb collection.

"Hammerhead" by the late Richard Layman, who was President of the Horror Writer's Association, is a dark comedy that gets inside the head of a serial killer, a very disturbing place to be.

Tom Piccirilli's "Those Vanished I Recognize" is about a man on a journey to nowhere, and Hammond, in Ramsey Campbell's "Worse than Bones," has a thing about old books -- or is it the other way around?

Perhaps my favorite of these dark gems, is "Whose Ghosts These Are" by veteran author Charles L. Grant, which captures the mood of the collection perfectly. We are led down a dark street in search of a mysterous murderer who is little more than a ghost. Who is he and what are his motives? At last we find a clue -- in a room marked by a single door in a narrow run down building, unremarkable in appearance, but oh, the dark treasures it contains.

And the ghost? Yes, he is here -- in a dusty case that fits us so well, and we feel -- well, almost as if this is where we belong.

And if you love great horror fiction, this is indeed a treasure. Edited by Dennis Etchison and with information about the history, purpose and membership qualifications of the Horror Writers Association, a national organization for professionals in the horror genre and writers aspiring to become professionals, this anthology is one of the best the HWA has published.

Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Treasures from the Masters of Darkness
Review: The Museum of Horrors contains a treasure trove of great offerings from some of the best horror writers today. Eighteen original stories from writers like Peter Straub, Joyce Carol Oates, Ramsey Campbell, Tom Piccirilli and others make this a superb collection.

"Hammerhead" by the late Richard Layman, who was President of the Horror Writer's Association, is a dark comedy that gets inside the head of a serial killer, a very disturbing place to be.

Tom Piccirilli's "Those Vanished I Recognize" is about a man on a journey to nowhere, and Hammond, in Ramsey Campbell's "Worse than Bones," has a thing about old books -- or is it the other way around?

Perhaps my favorite of these dark gems, is "Whose Ghosts These Are" by veteran author Charles L. Grant, which captures the mood of the collection perfectly. We are led down a dark street in search of a mysterous murderer who is little more than a ghost. Who is he and what are his motives? At last we find a clue -- in a room marked by a single door in a narrow run down building, unremarkable in appearance, but oh, the dark treasures it contains.

And the ghost? Yes, he is here -- in a dusty case that fits us so well, and we feel -- well, almost as if this is where we belong.

And if you love great horror fiction, this is indeed a treasure. Edited by Dennis Etchison and with information about the history, purpose and membership qualifications of the Horror Writers Association, a national organization for professionals in the horror genre and writers aspiring to become professionals, this anthology is one of the best the HWA has published.

Highly recommended.