Talking in the Dark: An Anthology of the Work of Dennis Etchis [Hardcover]

Dennis Etchison (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1588810178 | ISBN-13: 978-1588810175 | Publication Date: July 1, 2001

The year 2001 marks the fortieth anniversary of Dennis Etchison's first professional short story sale. TALKING IN THE DARK collects the best work by a brilliant writer at the peak of his powers -- the author's own selection of personal favorites from four decades of writing. Among these twenty-four unforgettable tales of life on the edge are the award-winning classics "The Dark Country", "The Olympic Runner", and "The Dog Park", as well as several long-out-of-print stories and a new masterpiece written especially for this volume.

Dennis Etchison is the author of novels DARKSIDE, SHADOW MAN, CALIFORNIA GOTHIC, and DOUBLE EDGE; and the collections THE DARK COUNTRY, RED DREAMS, THE BLOOD KISS, and THE DEATH ARTIST. He is the winner of three British Fantasy and two World Fantasy Awards and is the editor of the landmark anthologies CUTTING EDGE, MASTERS OF DARKNESS I-III, METAHORROR. and the forthcoming MUSEUM OF HORRORS.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

While Etchison (California Gothic) is best known for horror, this wide-ranging collection culled from the past 30 years reveals an unexpected non-genre side to his newer tales, sometimes reminiscent of John Cheever and Shirley Jackson. Still, the truly rewarding stories here number from among his relentlessly grim early ones. Standing out is "The Late Shift," a deft if heavy-handed satire of capitalism, in which a secret organization turns outcasts into zombies and farms them out as pliable, low-wage workers. In the slow-building shocker, "It Only Comes Out at Night," a highway rest area is a charnel house for awaiting travelers. Reanimated Donner Party teenagers cannibalize their modern counterparts in the taut "Daughter of the Golden West," while Stephen King's Misery gets poignantly inverted in "Talking in the Dark." In a funnier vein, a good Samaritan is outrageously exploited in "Call Home." On the other hand, some stories, including the antivivisectionist jeremiad, "The Dead Line," and the never-before-published "Red Dog Down," grow boring and pretentious. Since the stories are arranged in rough order of composition, it's easy to observe Etchison's style evolve, from self-consciously dry and hard-boiled prose into the mellifluous and light-handed. Many early stories are marred by stupefying recitation of products and brand names. But a growing wit is on display, as when a Hollywood producer boasts of his movie's star: "The picture's called Is Anybody There? It was written for him." Etchison is one of the better talents writing horror today, but readers must be patient to find the pearls. (July) Forecast: With a blurb from Peter Straub, among other horror notables, plus a striking J.K. Potter jacket, this book screams quality and has the potential to be a genre bestseller.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Stealth Pr (July 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1588810178
• ISBN-13: 978-1588810175
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,277,273 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)