Steve Rasnic Tem

Ubo is difficult to talk about without sounding insane. There are so many thought provoking questions here, all locked up with roaches holding the keys. I know, I know...insane.

I have to touch on the basic outline here to make any sense at all of this review. Daniel goes from sitting in an airport contemplating walking away from it all, (including his wife and their sickly son), to living out scenarios of the most violent events in the history of the world, with only a vague, surreal, show more memory of wings and a moon separating the two.

When I say living out violent scenarios, I mean from inside the very heads of those doling out said violence. Jack the Ripper. Jim Jones. Charles Whitman. Here you are, witnessing these crimes as if it were you perpetrating them, while at the same time finding your conscience and your stomach recoiling. What possible good could come out of that? If there IS something good, can it be discovered and/or implemented before humanity destroys itself? You'll have to read this to find out.

I requested this ARC from NetGalley and Solaris because I have been a huge fan of Mr. Tem's short stories over the years. I remember his name always showing up in horror anthologies and knew I could depend on him to give me a good thrill. This book, however, is more of a science fiction novel with horrific elements-but all of his intense, strong writing? It's still here.

There's so much more I want to say, but...spoilers. Many things are going on in the background that beg for your attention, important things. Commentary about humanity really, where it is going and where it has been. Much of it is unpleasant. Somehow though, I found hope at the end. Is that because I couldn't face the stark reality, (not that far off from our current reality, by the way), or because I truly do think there's hope? I'm not sure. This is one of those times where I wish the author was my friend and I could just call him up and ask him. Since that's not happening, I'll settle for hearing what YOU think.

Highly recommended for those readers that enjoy turning over the reigns to a trusted author and believing that they will bring it all home. Go ahead and discover if there's even any home left. Read Ubo.

Ubo is available February 9th. You can pre-order your copy here: Ubo

*Thanks to NetGalley and Solaris for the e-Arc of Ubo in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it.* show less

THE NIGHT DOCTOR AND OTHER TALES is a collection of the dark and the weird from one of my all time favorite authors. It's terrific!

Grief and loss play a big part in these stories, as big a part as they play in real life. Sometimes there's also an eerie side to the tales here, but there are few outright scares. The predominant feeling I came away with can be stated in one word: Unsettling.

I can't review each story because there are a lot of them, but the ones that really stuck with me show more are:

BREATHING: The word unsettling describes this perfectly. Breathing is something you don't notice until it's gone. I could feel this man's grief in my very bones.

RED RABBIT is one of my favorite Tem stories of all time and I relish every re-read. It's just so damn disturbing.

DOMESTIC MAGIC: And I thought my mom was a witch!

THE MAN IN THE ROSE BUSHES: For whatever reason, this one reminded me of Robert Aickman-it was weird.

STICK MEN: I thought about this story all day. It creeped me out.

BETWEEN THE PILINGS made me think of a conversation I recently had with my husband about a vacation we took years ago. We talked about what it would be like at that place now. This is a story about just that-going back. Or maybe it's about moving on and letting go? You make the call. There was a palpable almost suffocating atmosphere here-between that and the name of the town, I felt a faint Lovecraftian vibe.

THE WEIGHT LOST: No, that's not a typo, but it IS a weird, weird tale that left me feeling...off balance.

I could go on and on about this book, the nature of all the stories and how much a fan I am of Steve Rasnic Tem's work. In fact, I briefly will! Back in my early teens, Tem's name in an anthology meant I was checking that sucker out of the library as fast as any superhero could move. To me, his name meant that I would be guaranteed relief from the boredom of a long summer day. In that way, his name has been in the background for almost my entire life. He's like the soundtrack to my life, but in written form.

His tales have always featured variety, unease and sometimes outright horror. They're entertaining and they make you think. You can take away from them all kinds of things to ponder, and sometimes they just haunt your mind for years. (CITY FISHING, I'm looking at you.) What they have never done is bore me, and for that I am grateful.

This is yet another excellent collection from the outstanding, literary mind of Steve Rasnic Tem. Let him invite you- entice you, even-but don't expect to get too comfortable settling in, because the specialty here is exactly the opposite: UNSETTLING!

My highest recommendation-especially to fans of the weird tales!

Available in October from Centipede Press!

*I was offered a paperback ARC of this collection by the author himself, in exchange for my honest review. This is it. (And, I was honored to.) show less

My frustration with writing books is wading through the formulaic approaches, high priestly lofty wisdom tomes, or a mashup of conventional writing advice. The discussion format feels as if you are overhearing a deep conversation of both writing philosophies, practical advice, and skill-sharpening suggestions without the forced dialog that the conversation format can become. Drawing from their experience writing and teaching workshops, the authors provide guidance on the elements of short show more story writing and novels and provide thoughtful commentary on writing "conventional wisdom" and "rules for publication," even wounding a few sacred cows along the way, though not coming across as pretentious. Several times while reading the book I was moved to start writing and put the skills into use. I'll warn you that they are avid readers and you will not only come away with writing knowledge but a reading lists of books they recommend to appreciate good writing. show less

The Man on the Ceiling, written by the married team of Melanie Tem and Steve Rasnic Tem, is an extension of the award-winning novella by the same name. As of 2008, the novella was the only work to win all three major dark fantasy and horror awards: the World Fantasy Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and the International Horror Guild Award. I haven't read the original The Man on the Ceiling, but if it is anything near the caliber of the book, it well deserves the accolades.

The Man on the Ceiling show more is a difficult book for me to describe, so instead I'll quote the text itself as it will do a better job than I could ever manage:

"This memoir--or testament, if you will--is as much a biography of one family's imagination as chronicle of real life events. It is about both our love and our fear, about what we know and what we cannot know but can imagine. And although what happens in the imagination may be real in a different way than the apparent history of waking events, it is real just the same."

Even before the book begins, the authors affirm that "Everything we're about to tell you here is true," a sentiment that is continually repeated throughout the text--a gentle but terrifying reminder that just because something is categorized as fiction doesn't mean that it false. The Man on the Ceiling is brutally honest, and demands the head-on confrontation and acceptance of our fears. The book is indeed True.

The Tem's are both award-winning authors of horror and dark fantasy in their own right and are incredibly imaginative. Their roles as storytellers permeate the book and their lives. The basis for much of The Man on the Ceiling draws on the Tem's experiences as the adoptive parents of troubled children. A particular touchstone is the tragic death of one of their children when he was only nine years old. The intense emotions of love, joy, grief, and despair are intertwined to create a marvelous and profoundly genuine work.

One of the reasons I find the book so hard to describe is because it is so utterly surreal; I have never read anything like it before. It is visceral, gut-wrenching, and horrifying. But at the same time, while it is disquieting, I found it oddly comforting. There's no real plot to speak of--it's more like a drifting exploration of feelings, life, and death. The stories told and the moments depicted are intricately related and it is surprising how cohesive the book is despite its dark kaleidoscopic nature. It's difficult to tell what is real and what is not, but in the end it doesn't really matter because it's all true.

I came across The Man on the Ceiling mostly by accident and decided to pick up the book more on a whim than anything else. I am so glad that I did. First, I checked it out from my local library (there was a waiting list), but it wasn't long until I knew I needed my own copy of the book. While it is often described as horror, that characterization only begins to touch on the depth and complexity of the work. The Man on the Ceiling, and especially its style, is not something that everyone will appreciate. However, it is absolutely one of the best books I've read. The Man on the Ceiling is an extraordinarily evocative book, and I know it is one I'll come back to again.

Experiments in Reading show less