The Imago Suite

Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Blood & Other Cravings edited by Ellen Datlow; Tor 2011

Introduction by Ellen Datlow

All You Can Do is Breathe by Kaaron Warren
Needles by Elizabeth Bear
Baskerville’s Midgets by Reggie Oliver
Blood Yesterday, Blood Tomorrow by Richard Bowes
X For Demetrious by Steve Duffy
Keeping Corky by Melanie Tem
Shelf-Life by Lisa Tuttle
Caius by Barry N. Malzberg & Bill Pronzini
Sweet Sorrow by Barbara Roden
First Breath by Nicole J. LeBoeuf
Toujours by Kathe Koja
Miri by Steve Rasnic Tem
Mrs. Jones by Carol Emshwiller
Bread and Water by Michael Cisco
Mulberry Boys by Margo Lanagan
The Third Always Beside You by John Langan
The Siphon by Laird Barron

Supernatural Noir edited by Ellen Datlow; Dark Horse 2011
Introduction Ellen Datlow
The Dingus by Gregory Frost
The Getaway by Paul G. Tremblay
Mortal Bait by Richard Bowes
Little Shit by Melanie Tem
Ditch Witch by Lucius Shepard
The Last Triangle by Jeffrey Ford
The Carrion Gods in Their Heaven by Laird Barron
The Romance by Elizabeth Bear
Dead Sister by Joe R. Lansdale
Comfortable in Her Skin by Lee Thomas
But For Scars by Tom Piccirilli
The Blisters on My Heart by Nate Southard
The Absent Eye by Brian Evenson
The Maltese Unicorn by Caitlín R. Kiernan
Dreamer of the Day by Nick Mamatas
In Paris, In the Mouth of Kronos by John Langan

This contains  my one and only family-friendly, PG-rated story. I saw the galley…a neat anthology. I hope it gets on a lot of library shelves.

Publishers Weekly :

Haunted Legends
Edited by Ellen Datlow and Nick Mamatas, Tor, $25.99 (352p) ISBN 978-0-7653-2300-2
Datlow (Lovecraft Unbound) and Mamatas (Spicy Slipstream Stories) collect 20 original stories based on ghost legends from around the world. A few famous figures appear (such as the mysterious hitchhiker in Kaaron Warren’s “That Girl” and Gary A. Braunbeck’s “Return to Mariabronn”), and lesser-known regional tales inspire two top-notch stories: Jeffery Ford’s intriguing “Down Atsion Road,” set in southern New Jersey, and Laird Barron’s incredibly creepy “The Redfield Girls,” about a haunted lake in Washington State. International entries include Ekaterina Sedia’s disturbing “Tin Cans,” about girls murdered by Stalin aide Lavrenty Beria, and Catherynne M. Valente’s “15 Panels Depicting the Sadness of the Baku and the Jotai,” a whimsical and dreamy foray into Japanese myth. Another standout is the riveting “The Folding Man” by Joe Lansdale, featuring a mysterious, murderous pack of nuns. Only a few weak choices feel more like rehashings than retellings. (Sept.)

Booklist gave the Occultation collection a starred review:  “In every tale, everything heard and unheard, seen and unseen becomes creepier and creepier. The protagonists try to escape by drinking, drugging, fighting, fucking, even fleeing. Yet it’s doubtful any of their gorgeously scary stories has much of a sequel.”— Ray Olson

Other reviews:

Richard Gavin 

Seattle Post Intelligencer Occultation by Laird Barron

My dear friend Jody Rose Occultation by Laird Barron

Grim Reviews: Grim Reviews: Laird Barron’s Occultation Reviewed

Jakob Schmidt: review 

Risingshadow: review.

Interviews:

Via Charles Tan: The Shirley Jackson Awards interviews Laird Barron.

American Frankenstein: http://americanfrankenstein.blogspot.com/2010/03/first-blood-laird-barron.html

Tripp Ritter: Interview with Laird Barron

Horror Reanimated: Laird Barron: The Book I Would Like To Be Buried With…

Award Nominations:

“Catch Hell” and “Strappado” made the Shirley Jackson Award ballot. These are from Ellen Datlow’s Lovecraft Unbound & Poe anthologies.

Occultation Laird Barron. Night Shade (Diamond, dist.), $24.95 (248p) ISBN 978-1-59780-192-8

“Writing with a poet’s eye for detail and a folklorist’s understanding of mythos, Barron lives up to his reputation for elegant, subtle, and nightmare-inducing tales with a Lovecraftian edge in his second short story collection (after 2007’s The Imago Sequence and Other Stories), which includes six reprints and three original stories. In “The Lagerstätte,” a woman who cannot come to terms with her husband’s loss clings to an occult artifact said to reunite lovers whom death has separated. A guerrilla art exhibit turns murderous in the taut and bloody “Strappado.” A mysterious guidebook leads four men on a terrifying camping trip in “Mysterium Tremendum.” Heartbreaking, hilarious, sophisticated, and gory, these stories will thrill, trouble, and haunt Barron’s fans and have newcomers scrambling to search for his other work. (June)”

Courtesy Matthew Jaffe:

of FinePrint Literary Management is now representing my work. Happy day!

Ellen has taken my short story ”Strappado” for her Best Horror of the Year 2 anthology due from Night Shade Books this March. “Strappado” originally appeared in Ellen’s Poe anthology around this time last year. Thank you, Ellen.

A quick rundown of stories I have coming out in 2010:

“The Broadsword,” Black Wings, ed S.T. Joshi PS Publishing
“Vastation,” Cthulhu’s Reign, ed. Darrell Schweitzer DAW
“Gula de Saturnus,” Nostradamus’ Fate, ed Joe Morey Dark Regions
“The Redfield Girls,” Haunted Legends, eds Ellen Datlow & Nick Mamatas Tor
“Mysterium Tremendum,” Occultation, ed Jeremy Lassen Night Shade
“–30–,” Occultation, ed Jeremy Lassen Night Shade

Reprints: “Strappado” will appear in Ellen’s anthology and Steve Berman’s Wllde Stories.

I have several other  pieces scheduled for this year, but am waiting on permission to announce them. More later.

More questions with Laird Barron

read the manuscript of Occultation, my upcoming collection from Night Shade, and gave me this quote:

“With sharp prose and wise, original stories, Barron has repeatedly proven himself one of the strongest voices in the field. This collection is a must read.” –Sarah Langan, author of Audrey’s Door.

 Thank you, Sarah. Her latest book is in stores now: Audrey’s Door

Handed in the OCCULTATION manuscript. The original novella ended up entitled Mysterium Tremendum. It’s fairly long — 22k. Just sold a short story called “Vastation” to Darrell Schweitzer for the 2010 DAW anthology Cthulhu’s Reign. It’s actually an anti-Mythos story, but shhhh!