Outsiders: 22 All-New Stories From the Edge (Paperback)

by Nancy Holder (Author), Nancy Kilpatrick (Author) "Do not fear the ghosts in this house; they are the least of your worries..." (more)
Key Phrases: Ruby Sin, Loozy Anna, Sue Wyatt (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Presented as "stories from the edge" about misfits and outcasts, Holder and Kirkpatrick's all-original anthology of moody horror instead shows how close to the edge everyone is. Neil Gaiman, Poppy Z. Brite, Elizabeth Massie and other award-winning writers cover a gamut of approaches, from traditional shocker and physical slasher through psychological terror to urban New Weird dark fantasy. While most selections respect the "outsider" theme, many exhibit a longing for community, taking an "alternate mainstream," not an antimainstream, attitude. A notable exception is Joe R. Lansdale's unsettling tale of the University of Texas clock-tower shootings, "The Shadows, Kith and Kin." Often clever in their descriptions of the networks that outsiders form, these stories tend to give insights into subcultures rather than individuals. The overall feeling is the horror of belonging more than of being excluded, as in Elizabeth Engstrom's haunting portrait of a future proletarian being taught the virtues of making his reality his dream, "Honing Sebastian."
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Product Description
In this knockout anthology, today's most important writers of speculative fiction cruise the abnormal elements of society and find a new wave of underground disorder, poignant horror, dirty kisses, and necessary anarchy.

Including never-before published stories by:

Neil Gaiman, Steve Rasnic Tem, Kathe Koja, David J. Schow, Bentley Little, Poppy Z. Brite, Joe R. Lansdale, Jack Ketchum, Melanie Tem, Tanith Lee, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Lea Silhol, Freda Warrington, Elizabeth Massie, Brett Alexander Savory, Katherine Ramsland, Yvonne Navarro, Thomas S. Roche, Michael Marano, John Shirley, Brian Hodge, and Elizabeth Engstrom

...all at their most brilliant and most outrageous.

Here are dangerous games between lovers, howls from the dark, voyeurs and their victims, disturbed wishes and bitter dreams. Unflinching, uncommon, and underground, these tales vibrate with new life.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Roc Trade (October 4, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451460448
• ISBN-13: 978-0451460448
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,124,256 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #3 in	Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > ( K ) > Kilpatrick, Nancy
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Outsiders should be -IN- your library!, October 29, 2005

By	Staci L. Wilson "Author: Animal Movies Guide ... (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This anthology includes a who's who of horror writers from Poppy Z. Brite (but don't call her a "horror writer" please), Neil Gaiman, Michael Marano, Joe R. Lansdale (who's recently risen to greater fame through the Bubba Ho-Tep film and The Masters of Horror TV series), and Tanith Lee.

It's pretty hard to write a convincing story about an outsider, since out is so in these days. Some of the stories do miss the mark in that regard, but all of them are extremely well-written and the book does manage to convey a feeling of having a cohesive theme while making sure each story is as disparate from its neighbor as possible. Kudos to the editors, Nancy Holder and Nancy Kilpatrick.

Standout stories include 'Expanding Your Capabilities Using Frame/Shift Mode' by wicked wordsmith David J. Schow; the quiet fury of Michael Marano's first person chiller '...And The Damage Done' is indelible; and 'Violent Angel', a hilariously black tale by Thomas S. Roche, is truly devilish. Personally, I enjoyed all the stories!

Another nice touch is having the author's bios on the same page that their story begins, rather than putting them all in the back.

The only downside is the thin, cheap paper the publisher used in the making of this book... mine arrived with a marred, crushed spine; the front cover will crease; and the paper inside is tissue-thin.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The tales run the speculative fiction gamut, October 4, 2005

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This twenty-two collection anthology focuses on the OUTSIDERS of society; those individuals who seem either beneath the food chain or scarred as if they were flushed down the toilet of life. These are pariahs and loners who survive on the edge or beyond the boundary of the so called acceptable norm. These freaks brood and some seem suicidal as only the maladjusted can but make readers ponder what does adjusted truly mean beyond relativity theory.

Though there are some name contributors like Gaiman, Little, Tanith lee, Lansdale, and Brite, many of the authors are just as good but not as widely known writers. The tales run the speculative fiction gamut from fantasy, science fiction, horror, suspense, and even poetry. Overall the fine compilation is funky, way out and different due to the wacko cast, who make the abnormal seem like the normal. The Nancys have provides a fun compilation.

Harriet Klausner

3.0 out of 5 stars Stories from the "edge"?, January 9, 2007

By	Rachel Dean "Rachel Dean- nightbookworm" (Poway, California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm not sure what this "edge" is supposed to be,but these are very unique horror stories and I highly reccomend you buy this if you like horror anthologies.There is a wonderful new (to Americans) French female author who, I feel, has the best horror story so far. (I'm only 1/2 way through it as of yet.) Great authors. Not exactly splatterpunk horror, but horror of a creeping,twitching kind.