Nebula and Bram Stoker Award-winning fantasy writer Bruce Holland Rogers presents twenty- three works of disquieting fantasy illustrated by World Fantasy Award-winning artist Alan M. Clark. Among the contributors are Jane Yolen, Steve Rasnic Tem, Melanie Tem, Gary A. Braunbeck and Lucy A. Snyder. Bedtime Stories to Darken Your Dreams features Ray Vukcevich's creepy and funny "We Retire to the Desert," Jerry Oltion's disquieting "Winners," tabloid horror poems by Michael Arnzen, and stories by talented newcomers.
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I could say, and it would be part of the truth, that this book had its beginnings in the art show for the 1998 World Fantasy Convention. I was looking at Alan Clark's paintings, particularly at "Inside Outcasts." In that painting, dead men and women are prying apart a tree that stands between their bleak afterlife and the vibrantly colored world of the living. I had always liked Alan's work, but when I saw this painting in particular, I thought that he would be the perfect illustrator for my story, "The Dead Boy at Your Window."
What I had in mind was a picture book with color illustrations and very little text on each page. The book would look like a children's book, even though "Dead Boy" was clearly a story for adults.
As it turned out, Alan liked my story, but not my format. He wanted to do a book, but not the one I proposed. We eventually decided to produce an illustrated anthology of stories that were in the same tradition as "The Dead Boy at Your Window." At first, we had a hard time articulating what that tradition was. We solicited stories anyway, accepted work written in this tradition we couldn't name, and pretty soon we had a book.
Now that we're ready to go to press, I can finally say what kind of stories we were looking for, and found. This is a book of stories in the Scary Daddy tradition.
This book had its real beginnings in my father's dramatic readings of scary bedtime stories. My father could read any story with flair, but he excelled at the spooky warble of the ghost who cries, "Who's got my hairy toe?" When he read a scary story to me, my brother, or my sister, he knew where to whisper to make our hair stand on end, and where to shout to get us to jump out of our pajamas. He did a very convincing, deeply resonant villainous laugh.
My father is a gentle man. My siblings and I knew we were safe with him, that there wasn't anything truly scary about him. On the other hand, fathers have the potential to be very scary indeed. The Greeks were expressing a psychological truth when they had Chronos devouring his children...in self-defense! In time, children grow up and displace their parents, a process that makes children and parents alike uneasy. It seems to make fathers more uneasy than mothers.
So the underlying psychological reality was probably why we all, father and children, took such delight in the Scary Daddy. The Scary Daddy was a safe and loving expression of Chronos, who would always be with us whether we acknowledged him or not.
As Alan and I worked on this book, I discovered that his father had also read bedtime stories in the tradition of the Scary Daddy. Both of our fathers had delighted in spooky readings of the James Whitcomb Riley poem, "Little Orphant Annie." I expect that there's a Scary Daddy in the childhood of a lot of writers and artists whose work has a certain transgressive edge.
The transgressions in this book are gentle ones. That's the way of the Scary Daddy. He's not gruesome or gory. He's unsettling. Of course, he can't unsettle you with the same tricks he used when you fell for: "Who's got my hairy toe?...YOU'VE GOT IT!" We aren't as easy to unsettle now as we were when we were small.
Here then, for an adult palate, are the unsettling and funny juxtapositions of Ray Vukcevich's "My Mustache" and "We Retire to the Desert." We give you the adolescent unease of "The Lonely Gorilla" by Melanie Tem. Michael Arnzen's poems echo the creepiness of the supermarket tabloids.
Some of these stories remain a bit mysterious to us. Why, exactly, is Jerry Oltion's "Winners" so disquieting? Alan and I don't know. But we do know that the Scary Daddy would read that story to us in his spookiest voice, smile his Scariest smile, and turn out the light.
Sweet dreams. -- Introduction by Bruce Holland Rogers
"Alan Clark's art is by turns gorgeous, eerie, ethereal, earthy, subtle, gross, organic, mechanical, romantic, and vicious. The guy can seemingly do anything in the visual field, which is why he is a major talent in the field and why I'm such a fan of his work." -- Ellen Datlow
"Haunting vignettes and surreal slices of offbeat half-life... fantastic fables and cautionary parables from some of the most literate insomniacs around this book should come equipped with its own night-light. And a spare bulb!" -- Peter Crowther
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A collection of childlike nightmares and bittersweet dreams.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Bedtime Stories to Darken Your Dreams (Paperback)
Imagine sweet nightmare fables for the adult within your inner child...This is a masterful, rather Escherian collection, of twisting subtle stories that begin with deceptive simplicity and almost childlike naivete on the surface, which suddenly turns around and blossoms into dark agelessness. Bruce Holland Rogers is a brilliant award-winning author whose work I watch for closely. Not only does he edit this collection, but he also has three of his own tales showcased here, including the mesmerizing fable ""The Dead Boy at Your Window" which has already garnered the Bram Stoker Award, and which -- in its intensity -- will make you feel a bittersweet wise nostalgia for love. Incidentally, it is my favorite in this collection. There is also "The Apple Golem," a haunting erotic and luscious treatment of the love slave trope. Finally, Bruce gives us "the Goblin King" that will make you shudder, and yet, overcomes you ultimately with ghostly beauty arising out of the night, and safe familiarity melting into deep toothsome darkness. It is hard to pick favorites, because every story is a dark jewel. I will therefore highlight those that had struck me particularly. "The Still-Life Drama of Passing Cars" by Gary A. Braunbeck and Lucy A. Snyder, is a tragedy, heart-wrenching and yet oddly comforting. "King for a Day" by Leslie What takes you to a place where Elvis is faced with the ultimate heaven or hell fate. "Mouths to Feed" by Rusty Nixon, is filled with living hungry walls of grotesques. And "Souls" by Jane Yolen is a piercing universal fable that asks the ultimate question. Oh, did I mention this is an illustrated work? At first, think of a children's storybook of black and white pictures. Now take a dash of madness, a pinch of darkness, and some midnight black crumbling charcoal... Let strange realistic yet unreal shapes emerge like spiders crawling through the gossamer of your imagination. Such is the effect of Alan M. Clark's black and white subtly shaded illustrations. Sprinkled all throughout, even as running motifs, they perfectly reflect the odd dissonant intensity of the stories. I recommend this collection more than highly -- I recommend it as a thing unforgettable. But a bit of caution -- it is never for meant for your child, but for the ancient inner child in you. Therefore, hide this book.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Bedtime Stories leaves you in the dark--most of the time,
By
This review is from: Bedtime Stories to Darken Your Dreams (Paperback)
In his Introduction to this anthology, Rogers fondly recalls his father's lively readings of scary bedtime stories--a tradition he calls "Scary Daddy". Presented here are more than twenty tales aimed at giving the reader that same creepy-but-good feel. Like a children's book, Bedtime Stories is set in large, almost calligraphic type and amply illustrated with full-page artwork opposite each story.
There are a few standout stories here. Rogers's own "The Dead Boy at Your Window" is haunting, unsettling, yet amazingly tender and uplifting. Elizabeth Engstrom's "Vargas County" also transcends its own eeriness as a grandfather discovers his long-buried capacity for love and tenderness. And one of the best stories I've read this year is the well-crafted "The Still Life Drama of Passing Cars." Unfortunately, Bedtime Stories confounds far more often than it thrills. Jane Yolen's "Souls" begins well, but ends with a twist that is--literally--heavy-handed. Steve Resnic Tem's "There's No Such Thing as Monsters" is just too vague to be unsettling--a problem with nearly all stories in this volume. And the few stories that are meant to be humorous are instead ridiculous. Ultimately, these bedtime stories (and the low-resolution illustrations) lack the edge to darken any dreams. Recommended only if you are willing to pay for three good stories out of twenty-three.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
THIS BOOK [STINKS]!!!!!!,
By Rosemarie Guzman (USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Bedtime Stories to Darken Your Dreams (Paperback)
THIS BOOK HAS GOT TO BE ONE OF THE MOST BORING I HAVE READ IN AWHILE. NONE OF THE STORIES WERE SCARY. WHAT WAS SCARY WAS HOW MUCH I PAID FOR IT! THEY SAY THAT THE STORIES IN THIS BOOK ARE NOT INTENDED FOR CHILDREN BUT I HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT MY YOUNGER SISTER READ IT AND FOUND IT HILARIOUS! DO YOUR SELF A FAVOR AND DON'T BUY THIS BOOK. IT'S NOT WORTH THE TIME AND MONEY.
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