The Dark Fantastic [Mass Market Paperback]

Edward Gorman (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Leisure Books (January 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0843948191
• ISBN-13: 978-0843948196
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,851,893 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ed Gorman is an award winning American author best known for his crime and mystery fiction. He wrote The Poker Club which is now a film of the same name directed by Tim McCann.

He has written under many pseudonyms including "E. J. Gorman" and "Daniel Ransom." He won a Spur Award for Best Short Fiction for his short story "The Face" in 1992. His fiction collection Cages was nominated for the 1995 Bram Stoker Award for Best Fiction Collection. His collection The Dark Fantastic was nominated for the same award in 2001.

He has contributed to many magazines and other publications including Xero, Black Lizard, Cemetery Dance, the anthology Tales of Zorro, and many more.

Visit his blog at newimprovedgorman.blogspot.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The FANTASTIC Dark Fantastic, March 15, 2001

By 

Mark J. Sieber (Hampton, Virginia United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Dark Fantastic (Mass Market Paperback)

Each of these grueling slices of life are works of dark beauty. There is not a clinker in the bunch. This collection defies generic classification. Gorman effortlessly straddles western, mystery, SF, horror, even Celtic warrior fiction and leaves the reader with much insight to contemplate for a long time after finishing the book. These stories are haunting and I felt haunted by the revenants that lingered in my mind from each and every story included in The Dark Fantastic. Leisure deserves much praise for bringing this bouquet of dark roses to the masses for a reasonable price. Ignore the naysayers and buy this book.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Long Overdue Collection, April 15, 2001

By 

"ripperboy" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dark Fantastic (Mass Market Paperback)

Leisure deserves some serious kudos for putting out short story horror collections in mass market paperback. Ed Gorman's collections have always been hard to come by, and The Dark Fantastic is extremely satisfying. In addition to straight-out horror like "The Broker," and "Emma Baxter's Boy", what really puts this collection over the top is Gorman's demonstration of talent in so many genres, including western ("Junior"), thriller ("Of the Fog"), and most impressively, sci-fi/horror ("Survival" and the unbelievable "Cages".) Pick it up, pick any story, and dig in. See why Gorman has the cult following he does.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars These stories will bother you for some time...a sort of itch, March 3, 2001

By 

"horrorflix" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dark Fantastic (Mass Market Paperback)

I'm totally blown away by the lackluster reviews here. This is an incredible collection, horror and myth and grand, these stories were outstanding.

If you're into Ed for his mystery stuff, you'll still find plenty to dig here. But if you haven't read Ed because you're not into mysteries but more horror, then absolutely don't pass this up. These are definitely NOT leftovers. Many of these stories manage an intimate and epic feel all at once. Rite of Passage, Survivor and Synandra are perfect examples of this.

I won't talk about details since with short stories it's way too easy to give too much away. But even after finishing this about two weeks ago, these stories are still with me: Masque, Synandra, The Monster Parade (which is also a fantastic bradburyesque title) and the story that keeps pushing it's way to the front of my mind over and over is Cages. Horrifying and sad, that story alone is worth the couple of bucks for this book.