In Poe’s Children: The New Horror, an Anthology, editor Peter Straub explains in his introduction to this audiobook that stories like the ones here defy categorization, and that’s a good thing. He realizes that there is a group of writers that have more in common with each other than they do with writers “that were supposed to epitomize their fields.” This group are “literary writers and genre writers at the same time,” and he collected this anthology from those he felt fit that description.

It’s interesting to note the similarities between what Straub is saying here and what James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel were saying with their slipstream anthology, Feeling Very Strange (not available on audio). The stories in that anthology and Straub’s anthology have a similar feel. They even share a couple of authors (M. Rickert and Kelly Link have stories in both). These are genre stories without question, but they are told with a mainstream sensibility that makes them even more personal, and possibly more affecting.

At the same time, we are seeing more mainstream writers write science fiction, fantasy, and horror. For proof, look no further than the Pulitzer Prizes won by Michael Chabon and Cormac McCarthy. What it all means in the Big Picture, I haven’t a clue. But I do know that I like these stories.

Often in audio anthologies, there are some stories that are difficult to concentrate on. The story may be uninteresting, the narrator may not be adequate, or the story is not well suited for audio (this happens often). Not here, though. Every story in this collection demands your attention, not only because they are well written, but because they are extremely well read. A full table of contents is below, with the narrators attributed, but every one—EVERY ONE—of those narrators could carry, and most have carried, an entire book. They all have excellent qualities and were paired well with the stories.

Two of the stories use multiple narrators. “The Man on the Ceiling” by Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem was read by Don Leslie and Donna Rawlins. The story is told by the Tems in a tag team fashion, as if each of them were writing a piece of nonfiction. M. Rickert’s unforgettable “Leda” was read by five narrators, each taking turns as the point of view shifts in the story. All of the others were presented with straight narration.

It is important to note that this audio version does not contain every story that appears in the hardcover version of the anthology. The stories that are presented here are unabridged, of course; it’s just that some of the stories are missing, which is why I’ve seen it listed elsewhere as “Abridged,” which is really not accurate. An abridgment is a re-writing or adaptation of the material, which did not take place here. “Unabridged Selections” is the best description of the contents, as indicated on the package.

Table of Contents of the audiobook:

Introduction by Peter Straub, read by Don Leslie
“The Bees” by Dan Chaon, read by Mark Deakins
“Cleopatra Brimstone” by Elizabeth Hand, read by Ann Marie Lee
“The Man on the Ceiling” by Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem, read by Don Leslie and Donna Rawlins
“Body” by Brian Evenson, read by Lincoln Hoppe
“Louise’s Ghost” by Kelly Link, read by Rebecca Lowman
“Leda” by M. Rickert, read by Lincoln Hoppe, Rebecca Lowman, Mark Bramhall, Dominic Hoffman, and Donna Rawlins
“The Two Sams” by Glen Hirshberg, read by Mark Deakins
“Notes on the Writing of Horror: A Story” by Thomas Ligotti, read by Lincoln Hoppe
“Little Red’s Tango” by Peter Straub, read by Dominic Hoffman
“The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet” by Stephen King, read by Mark Bramhall
“Missolonghi 1824″ by John Crowley, read by John Lee
“Insect Dreams” by Rosalind Palermo Stevenson, read by Cassandra Campbell

Publisher: Random House Audio (Oct. 2008)
Price: $37.96
ISBN: 0739375997

This review originally appeared at The Fix: Short Fiction Review (http://thefix-online.com/features/poe...) ( )

The new horror is ultimately not very scary. ( )

A reader could reasonably expect a collection of short stories billed as "horror" to contain actual scary stories. Unfortunately, Poe's Children doesn't live up to this expectation. I've tried - with little success - to figure out what Peter Straub was doing in collecting these stories and somehow tying them and their authors back to Poe. None are remotely like Poe, and Straub's introduction incoherently mumbles about these stories as somehow "literary horror" and so somehow Poe-like. Meh, I didn't see it. The stories captured little that was Poe.

Now, don't get me wrong. There's some very good work here. The Stephen King, Joe Hill and Elizabeth Hand stories are great horror works. Several others are good stories, even if not really horror per se. About half the stories aren't worth the effort. Note that all these stories are reprints, and the best ones may be familiar to short story readers. ( )

This story collection drwan mainly from the '90's and the new millenium represents a growing trend in genre bending. The heavyweights of horror Stephen King, Ramsey Campbell, Joe Hill (ineritor of fame), and Straub himself are included along with fantasy luminary Neil Gaiman, plus a variety of accomplished lesser-knowns. The selection demonstrates how elements of classic horror, fantasy and psychological terror have blended in the works of some of today's best genre writers enabling them to push through established boudaries, and even be considered members of the mainstream-with attendant literary awards.
Peter Straub's brief introduction traces this movement, and "Cleopatra Brimstone" (the tale of insectile metamorphosis involving twisted eroticism and murder) serves to epitomize the intriguing and disturbing effects of the other 23 stories. The latest generaton is a radical mutation compared with its progenitor Poe.
(review written by Oklahoma Bookladys husband) ( )

I had high hopes for this anthology, but was disappointed by nearly every story in it. Mostly this comes from the fact that almost none of these stories were horror stories except in the postmodern sense of not actually being horrifying in any way. Putting that aside, even if I weren't looking for horror, most of the stories in this collection weren't enjoyable even as short stories.

"October in the Chair" and "Little Red's Tango" were okay stories, but I wouldn't classify either as horror (though "October in the Chair" does contain ghosts). "20th Century Ghosts" was also a nice story. Only two of the stories were good stories that could be classified by almost anyone as horror: "Ballad of the Flexible Bullet" by Stephen King, and "Cleopatra Brimstone" by Elizabeth Hand. Both of these were also generally awesome stories, one dealing with madness and one dealing with... bizarre sexual obsession? Obsession with insects? I'm not sure. It was great, though.

The other stories in the collection ranged from okay to terrible, and dealt with the subject of horror in various ways. I was disappointed that I only enjoyed five stories in the entire collection. ( )