I absolutely ADORE stories about lost/cursed works, especially films. So to learn that the Queen of Anthologies Ellen Datlow had assembled another such volume with all new stories? Shut up and take my money! If there’s even just a couple stories which make me happy that’s generally all I need, but I will say that I think this collection is strong overall in terms of the varying ways the theme is portrayed.
Das Gesicht
A tale from Vintage Hollywood and it definitely has that feel of a relic, but also Creepy AF. And if you’ve ever watched anything of Bunuel’s, you know what I mean. I particularly enjoyed the ambiguity of the ending.
Drunk Physics
Subverts/inverts the Final Girl trope in an interesting way.
Exhalation #10
I’m a fan of the whole “forensic vs. artistic” kind of narrative device, and the weight of emotions unexpressed bring another type of intensity to this story.
Scream Queen
Yet another prime example of what Nathan does best - the subtleties of character interaction coupled with a horrific acknowledgement of the ineffable.
Family
I thought the premise for this story was brilliant, but the ending was more abrupt than I was expecting.
Night of the Living
A cursed film/zombie story in which the film itself is rather more in the background because it’s only a device for what the story is *really* about.
The One We Tell Bad Children
A tale from Barron’s The Children of Old Leech universe, written in a style that’s sort of a The Croning meets “Ears Prick Up” hybrid. I have a feeling that the film Ardor of the Damned is also the film Ardor (from the story of the same name) in a parallel universe. It’s interesting in his characteristic style but there’s something about it which doesn’t quite reach his usual standards for such a tale.
Snuff in Six Scenes
This is a story which if it were a movie would be right at home in a V/H/S kind of anthology. And I mean that in a good way.
Insanity Among Penguins
This is one of the very best examples of the kind of story I expect to find in a lost movies type of anthology - it’s about obsession, desire, lurid curiosity, the type of academic-level geekery which exists for some people at the cellular level, but also about the need for a piece of art/culture to provide a transformative experience to the one who consumes it.
From the Balcony of the Idawolf Arms
One of the best stories I’ve ever read about the psychological effect of a *real* phantasmagoria.
Lords of the Matinee
I always appreciate how SGJ manages to upend the mundane into something completely Other, and often - usually - completely terrible. It’s a true gift. This is an especially imaginative example of how he does it.
A Ben Evans Film
What I appreciated about this story is what I perceive as subtext regarding the creative impulse being an essentially human thing, mimesis as a way of feeling human for someone who actually isn’t. The chasm of social language (and how films can be a part of that) for someone who is outside of society is so deftly illustrated; Malerman definitely deserves his current status in popular horror.
The Face is a Mask
I feel like this story could have used a better set-up, it begins in medias res and that’s usually fine, but it seemed a bit too abrupt for my taste considering that the mythology involved is an important aspect of the story overall. I think the premise is great, the way it ties into the theme of a cursed film is well done but I’m not sure how I feel about the ending.
Folie a Deux, or, The Ticking Hourglass
I appreciate that the larger theme had to do with complicity, the inherent voyeurism of documentation. As well as how belief in a collective folklore can warp consensual reality. The pacing and structure of the tale is an interesting and original study of differing perspectives describing the loss of innocence and the stories we tell ourselves in the aftermath. The tone of the story is pitch-perfect in terms of placing the reader in the landscape; Malik is also an exciting new voice in speculative fiction.
Hungry Girls
A very immediate and visceral portrait of codependency and the hunger for whatever it is which the camera can bestow upon you.
Cut Frame
Gemma is the author of what I believe are the two greatest tales about cursed films (her novel Experimental Film and her story “each thing I show you is a piece of my death”) and so now here is another incredible example of her dreadful sensibilities. This story makes reference to the infamous Freihoven Institute (also featured in her story “Spectral Evidence”). There’s something about the collision between the clinical and the supernatural which makes a narrative even more horrific (and one of the strengths of found footage as a device is the “reality” of its presentation). Gemma is an absolute master of this particular style and in truth seeing that she had a story included is why I bought this anthology. And again, the best of these kinds of stories is really about the nature of obsession.
Many Mouths To Make A Meal
A return to vintage Hollywood...this time on the hard-boiled side. This was such great pulpy fun and I second the suggestions of other readers to see more tales with the protagonists.
Altered Beast, Altered Me
The reviewer for LitReactor noted that the epistolary style of this novelette is a callback to Dracula, which is entirely apt, but also an effective method in regards to how meta the narrative becomes over time. Langan *does* reference an obscure cursed film, which makes me think that the email exchange is modeled on himself and one friend/colleague in particular. Love everything about this story, absolutely EVERYTHING.
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