Automata at Agony Column

Seasoned reviewer Mario Guslandi has reviewed D.P Watt’s An Enporium of Automata over at The Agony Column website, picking out six stories in particular which he enjoyed most. Mario writes:

“If you ask me what kind of writer is DP Watt, my answer is that it’s hard to tell. Partly a horror writer, partly a new “decadent”, by all means a creator of weird fiction, somewhere between ETA Hoffmann and Ligotti. The present collection (previously published in hardcover edition from Ex Occidente Press) effectively represents the many faces of this eclectic author continuously shifting from the bizarre to the grotesque, from the baroque to the uncanny…

..”All His Worldly Goods” is an excellent mix of horror and nostalgia where a copy of Montague Summers’ famous “The Supernatural Omnibus” keeps haunting a lonely bookshop clerk while “Erbach’s Emporium of Automata” is a tantalizing tale about childhood memories, describing an odd emporium of mechanical toys and its unspeakable secrets.

In the offbeat and disturbing “The Butcher’s Daughter” the appalling private affairs of a recently deceased old lady are finally revealed when a couple of newly-weds goes to live in her former house.

“1<_0" is the disquieting report of the gradual physical and spiritual disappearance of a man becoming quite invisible to his own family.

…if you're a daring person ready to experiment with unusual types of fiction, introspective journeys into the human psyche and you're not as old fashioned as I am to require stories with a clear-cut plot and actual characters, I suspect you will greatly enjoy this offbeat book."

Tallest Review…

Kate Onyett has reviewed Rhys Hughes’ masterpiece Tallest Stories over at Sein Und Werden Magazine. Kate has written in great depth about the book, indeed to a length probably longer than some of the lightning chapters themselves! This is all good, and we thank her wholeheartedly. The tricky art of paraphrasing starts here, Kate writes:

“This collection isn’t about speculative fiction as platform for socio-political debate. This is taking speculative fiction in its purest form, and stretching it until it squeaks: this is fiction about fiction and the form of it, while bouncing up and down on its tensile limits.

This highly humorous reading experience is Hughes’s biggest work: sixteen years in the making. He explains, in a suitably dry (as he admits) post-script, his point. He wished to create a grand story-cycle that had connections and references between all stories at every point in it with stories from any other point. Thus cometh this book: a testing snippet of a bigger cycle he wishes to work his entire oeuvre into. Reading the sixty-two short pieces: stories, asides, extended puns and shaggy dog stories, one comes across moments that feel almost like extra-textual shout-outs and in-jokes, causing a smirk of appreciation. But on reading again, one realises that the reference is an in-joke to the rest of the volume…

Hughes here is at his most sprightly; a scamp, a will o’ the wisp, a charlatan and trickster, playing with the essence of narrative itself. Claiming by the end that it is possible to stretch the fabric of narrative reality, and by extension what that reality means to us, as reading, thinking, self-describing beings, by the stretching of tales. He elongates them into the tallest balustrades of nonsense possible to prop up an ambitious idea…

According to Hughes’s logic, if a pub is where tall tales are told, a pub that encapsulates the entire universe must thereby contain all tall tales. Therefore all tales in that universe will be tall: ergo emotional, fantastical, wish-fulfilment, metaphorical and parable; describing for the tellers what they wish to be, or what they think people would be better off being. And if the book is meta-fictional, it is suggestive that there is connective truth here; that this universe of tales is our universe, because we have been caught by the characters reading their book; we are complicit with them…

Oh, it’s a clever book; it is bouncy, cheerful, with some really good groaner jokes and puns, and some genuinely moving stories. Of the latter, The Urban Freckle and its tale of literal urban decay, Corneropolis and its lonely seeker and The Smutty Tamarinds and a man’s desperate search to be accepted stand out as particular examples.

It is perfectly possible to ignore and refuse to engage in Hughes’s mind-games and simply enjoy the book entire as a work of exploded, flexibly weird surrealistic fiction. This is, after all, meant to be a book of nonsensical wisdom. It contains exactly what it says on the cover: tall stories; not to be taken entirely seriously. Yet by their very nature, these make for a sparkling collection of vivid snippets, proving that tall writing is valuable for its very kaleidoscopic variety and beauty. This book is full of enough ideas for a handful or more of writers. By keeping the stories short and the subsequent pace brisk, as well as not engaging fully with moribund depths of ‘meaning’, leaving any such to be found by interested readers, Hughes has created a book of deceptive shallowness. Beware a Hughesian puddle- for it inevitably will leave you soaked to the neck!”

Please do read the review in its entirety at Sein Und Werden.

Emporium Digested at Arkham…

Just Steel has reviewed D.P Watt’s An Emporium of Automata at The Arkham Digest website. Justin writes:

“When I reviewed Shadows Edge, I noted how much I enjoyed D.P. Watt’s story, and said that I wanted to read more of his work. As luck would have it, Eibonvale Press recently printed an expanded reprint of his hard to find first collection, An Emporium of Automata. Watt’s background in theater is apparent in his stories, and his unique, eloquent voice lends an ethereal beauty to his fiction…

…Mr. Watt’s fiction puts one in mind of decaying Europe cities. Bizarre, archaic secrets hide behind the facade of fringe theater, puppetry, and mechanical toys. The language is reminiscent of older theater, poetic, and at times using words that have an eccentric, archaic feel to them. This itself is present in the titles of the stories (which are wonderful): Erbach’s Emporium of Automata, Dr. Dapertutto’s Saturnalia, Of Those Who Follow Emile Bilonche, Archaic Artificial Suns, and Pulvaris Lunaris or The Coagulation of Wood just to name a few. Almost every single story in this book is deep enough for the reader to benefit from re-reads…

…The first section, Phantasmagorical Instruments, features eight weird tales, each one a pleasure to read. Although it’s hard to choose favorites from this section, as all eight stories are great, there are some I enjoyed even more than others. In Erbach’s Emporium of Automata a man recounts his childhood memories of a mysterious arcade of mechanical toys that opened in his seaside town. Of Those Who Follow Emile Bilonche features a crazed narrator obsessed with the works of Emile Bilonche. They Dwell in Ystumtuen looks at a small excerpt from a history book about a woman’s hanging, and then takes readers to see the history behind it which involves fairies and sacrifice. It’s a sad, beautiful story. The Butcher’s Daughter features a couple who moves into the house of a recently deceased 110 year old woman. After a startling discovery in the woodshed, the couple starts to uncover the woman’s disturbing secrets. Room 89 follows a grumpy, misanthropic man on holiday in a mysterious hotel. The story blends humor and scares for a particularly effective weird tale. Dr. Dapertutto’s Saturnalia sees an inspector (in Russia or some Eastern European country) drawn into investigating a film reel sent to him by a mysterious “entertainer”, and makes for one of the best stories in the book…

…This collection offers much to weird fiction connoisseurs, and up until now was only available as an expensive, hard to find hardcover. Watt’s collection appeals to the curious child in all of us; the macabre mysteries within shot through with a melancholy, captivating beauty.”

Our hearty thanks to Justin for this very in-depth review, and please do check it out in full at the Arkham website.

First review of Tallest Stories

Always first off the mark, from his sylvan hideaway in Southern Finland, Sami Airola of the Rising Shadow website has been suitably blown away by Rhys Hughes’ remarkable collection of (no less than!) 60 very short stories all based around one mythical pub near the Cardiff waterfront. Sami writes:

“Tallest Stories turned out to be a splendid and well written short story collection about a bit different kind of a pub and its visitors…

…I think it’s interesting that Rhys Hughes has decided to write this kind of a collection, because it works brilliantly from start to finish. He has created a well written and fascinating story cycle in which all the stories are connected to each other in small, but significant ways. I have to admit that it’s amazing how well the author manages to bring all the elements together in an entertaining way.

Rhys Hughes’ story cycle is both loose and tight, and the author never lets the reader loose interest in the stories. The stories in this collection are short, but they’re intriguing stories in which almost anything can – and will – happen…

The author has created a nice atmosphere in this book…

… The author has infused the stories with absurdism and clever humour, but he’s also able to write a bit darker humour. What makes his humour interesting is that he explores philosophical things with it in a surprisingly fluent way (Rhys Hughes is one of the few authors who can write comical phisosophical stories, which can almost be called fables).

…I sincerely hope that Rhys Hughes keeps on writing more stories in a similar fashion, because these stories are wonderful entertainment. I intend to read more stories from this author in the near future, because I enjoyed these stories.”

Our heartfelt thanks as ever to Sami. Do read his review in full and patronise his web-establishment at www.risingshadow.net.

First Review of Automata…

The very first review is just in of Eibonvale’s edition of D.P.Watt’s ‘An Emporium Of Automata’. The Speculative Fiction Junkie wesbite have named the book as one of its TOP FIVE READS OF 2012(!) and praised the book in glowing terms as follows:

“… D.P. Watt’s stunningly excellent collection An Emporium of Automata… I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to give this collection the review it deserves.

These stories make clear that Mr. Watt is a master storyteller in every sense of the word, but–as you should expect by now–there is actually more going on here than simple storytelling. Consider a story like “They Dwell in Ystumtuen.” It begins with a bored and distracted historian trying to recall the details of a public hanging that took place in 19th century Britain. But this image is then juxtaposed with the heart-wrenchingly tragic and brutally violent story of what actually happened to the person who was hanged. The contrast couldn’t be clearer and Mr. Watt states it plainly:

‘Imagine, if you can, dear reader (mindful, kind or otherwise) the infinite neglect of history by the historian. Imagine the millions of lives heaping up, untold, forgotten, yet undead in the graveyard of memory; begging, or praying, with skeletal hands to be brought back to mind, if only for an instant.’

This is as concise and as beautifully written a statement as one can find of a theme that seems to be a near obsession of Mr. Watt’s, which is the overwhelming weight of the absent mass of humanity that has been lost over the ages.

…This preoccupation with not just the humanity before us but with all of the individual humans who are absent is, I believe, at the root of several of the other strengths of Mr. Watt’s work, including the extreme beauty of his prose and the way that his narrators directly address the reader. While these traits obviously owe a debt to the author’s roots in the theater, their real impetus is the urgency that results from the dizzying work of confronting such a terrible vision.

An Emporium of Automata is a truly landmark collection and is as rich a treasure as literature is capable of producing.”

The Horror Zine on The Silver Wind

The Silver Wind by Nina Allan has been reviewed in glowing terms by Kevin Hillman over at the Horror Zine website. He writes:

“I think I can safely say that this book has been my best read of 2011. The writing draws the reader right into the scenes, the characters are real and likeable even when they are engaged in discomforting actions and the storylines manage to make the bizarre entirely credible…
…The print and editing quality in The Silver Wind is first class, just like the writing it contains. If you like your stories full of complexity, with a puzzle to solve, then this is the book for you. It will challenge, it will confuse, but most of all, it will entertain you…”

Late Tackle On Blind Swimmer…

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water again, Eibonvale’s groundbreaking anthology Blind Swimmer has been reviewed by David Woodruff over at The Short Review. Working to the theme of “Creativity In Isolation”, Blind Swimmer was designed as a showcase for the varied talents of the diverse stable of writers associated with the press. Everyone tackled the theme in different ways, and in a sense it was a group project rather than an edited anthology in the traditional way. Surely no book has ever produced such a widely differing range of reactions. Every story has been both lauded and reviled by one reviewer or another over the last 15 months. David Woodruff discusses a few of the stories in detail and concludes by saying:

“Blind Swimmer is an intriguing and thought-provoking collection, filled with stories which often sit on the edge of genre classifications, sometimes defying our expectations, sometimes challenging them.”

Unpleasant Tales… an autopsy.

We have a late review in for Brendan Connell’s Unpleasant Tales. Robert Butterfield, writing in Dead Reckonings magazine says:

“… in Unpleasant Tales. Reading several of the stories… can only be compared to sitting at an autopsy table, wishing to turn away from the carnage, but being compelled to stay until the process has ended. If this sounds like something a semi-literate goremeister would hatch up for readers, think again; Connell is a stunningly good writer. He is capable of stopping readers in their tracks with a lyrical turn of phrase, yet he never seems to take one out of the story. In other words, Connell’s technical mastery does not invade upon his storytelling capabilities; it enhances them.”

Hellnotes on Feather…

Matthew Tait has posted a glowing review over at the Hellnotes website of Feather by David Rix. Matthew concludes:

“…It’s the final stories, however, that are the crowning jewels and where David’s talent as a writer is on full display. Displaying a less cerebral style but still showcasing a sharp sting, this is dark and urban gothic at it best as we follow Tallis through the streets of LjubLjana. A tale of bleak and functional spaces – and one that might remind a reader of Gary McMahon or even the early stylizing of Clive Barker traversing the streets of Liverpool.

Overall, this is like one of the more magical books one might read in high-school, but bristling at the intersection of Horror and Slipstream. A strange metaphor for the authors character itself – and at turns mythic and seductive.”

The Short Review on Nina Allan

The Short Review have just run an interview with Nina Allan in which she answers questions about her novel/collection “The Silver Wind”, here: http://www.theshortreview.com/authors/NinaAllan.htm
Also a review of the book itself by Mario Guslandi:
http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/NinaAllanTheSilverWind.htm
Mario writes:
“…this is a spellbinding, magical book where Nina Allan displays all her powerful imagination, her incredible talent for solid storytelling, but also for rewriting the reality in such a way that things are clearcut yet blurry at the same time. She’s a writer and a sorceress, able to make the unbelievable believable, so real that the reader is enveloped in a fascinating web of images and words which are, at the same time, colours and music…”