Del HowisonRecensioni

Another excellent collection of short stories. Del has compiled a nice choice of stories. While "haunted" is a generic enough theme that it could apply to many stories, it fit all these stories very nicely. Ghosts and haunted houses and memories. Things that leave an impact on a person's soul and their thoughts. The two stories that really stood out to me were the ones by Little and Braunbeck. Both for different reasons but each will haunt me. Below are my favorites from the book.

"Mist on the Bayou" by Heather Graham - A ghost helps save a girl from being murdered at a haunted house.

"A Nasty Way to Go" by Ardath Mayhar - A constable investigates the sightings of a ghost.

"A Slow Haunting" by John R. Little - A viscious tale of revenge that goes on for years. It sits in my mind long after I finished the story.

"Man with a Canvas Bag" by Gary A. Braunbeck - A sad story of ghosts and remembering and missed opportunities.

"Fetch" by Chuck Palahniuk - The story of a haunted tennis ball.

Overall, this is a worthy addition to Clive Barker's Nightbreed novel and film. For the most part, the stories are all solid and very well-written. In fact--and I find this unusual for a multi-author anthology--there was only one real WTF story that I didn't really grok the ending, and only two that failed to hold my attention all the way through to the end. Not bad for an antho with this many authors and stories.

If I have one complaint with this collection, it's that, for all the stories, there's a pervading sense of aloneness, of being an outsider to the world. Yes, yes, I get that each story takes place after the fall of Midian, so that's kind of to be expected, and it may very well have been the wish of the editors to find stories all of a certain DNA, but I would have liked a few of the stories to veer from the "I'm alone and outcast from this world of man" plotline.

The other minor issue, not so much a complaint as an observation, is that I really didn't need a rehash of the fall of Midian in almost every single story. Midian's fallen. These characters survived. Got it. Move on.

But, for all of that, a surprisingly good and entertaining collection.

This was such a fun collection of short stories, and I read it at the perfect time. I was in a bit of a reading slump, and this helped knock me out of it. There were no stories that I just flat out didn't like, and all of them had something in them I enjoyed. I didn't feel like it was horror in the "traditional" sense, but every story had something of the crawl under your skin to it, even if it was just sheer strangeness. I would recommend it to anyone looking for some fun, weird stories, but if your aim is to be truly horrified, this isn't the collection for you. I, however, would like to eventually read the other Dark Delicacies collections.

Overall, I thought this was a much stronger selection of stories than the first volume.

Barbara Hambly tells the story of a vampire hoping to cross the Atlantic - on the Titanic. Greg Kihn provides a rock 'n' roll ghost story. The time to pay up arrives for a man who made a deal with a wizard in John Farris' entry. The power of music is explored in stories by Caitlín R. Kiernan and John Harrison.

Max Brooks and Steve Niles offer pieces based on their own ongoing creations (World War Z and paranormal detective Cal McDonald, respectively). Usually I dislike this practice, as it often gives the impression of an advert, but these particular ones stand on their own pretty well.

Gary Brandner's story of an unethical writer who loses the ability to decode language feels (ironically) in itself somewhat familiar. See the Twilight Zone episode "Wordplay." Similarly, Ray Garton's story about a man who hires an assassin to murder his wife seems right out of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, or one of the master's films. But it's a good story, anyway.

The only really substandard entry is is by L.A. Banks, who I think has a superficial grasp on the genre but not a genuine understanding. She writes vampire huntress novels.

If you're tired (as I am) of extreme horror fiction and appreciate subtlety, I'd recommend this collection.

Dark Delicacies is an anthology assembled to celebrate the California bookstore of the same name. It starts out promising, because most of the good stories are front-loaded. There is a touching zombie story told from a new perspective by Ray Bradbury, body horror by Brian Lumley and F. Paul Wilson, a tale of madness by Roberta Lannes, and a darkly funny story about a man who has a very bad day by John Farris. My two favorites were "The Seer" by Robert Steven Rhine, about a precognitive man who cannot escape his destiny, and "Kaddish," in which Whitley Strieber imagines a wounded America rebuilt as a fascist theocracy--easily the most frightening of the lot. About halfway through the quality takes a dive. Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and Steve Niles provide a couple of half-baked mysteries featuring their ongoing characters (St. Germain and Cal McDonald, respectively). Nancy Holder's story of two cannibal buddies reads like Poppy Z. Brite lite (and I'm not a fan of Ms. Brite.) Gahan Wilson's story of an artist who paints unusual subjects is good but anyone who's read Lovecraft will guess the reveal early on, and David J. Schow's tale of a forbidden book of dreams is the only real bright light in the second half. The collection wraps up with a typical z-grade entry from Richard Laymon (somehow contributing four years after his death) and a tale of necromancy by Clive Barker that is weak especially for him.

There is some good work in here but I really can't recommend the book as a whole. I hope [b:Dark Delicacies II|4448835|Dark Delicacies II Fear More Original Tales of Terror and the Macabre by the World's Greatest Horror Writers|Del Howison|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1266738079s/4448835.jpg|776957] is better and more consistent.

Del has done an excellent job of collecting a great set of stories. Generally when I finish a collection of stories, the book can fit into one of three categories: not so good with only a couple of good stories, pretty good with around five stories that qualify as favorites, and really good where almost every story is good and choosing the top favorites is difficult. This book fit in between the last two categories; I was able to pick favorites but the overall feel was that all the stories were good. I've already enjoyed the follow-up second book and look forward to reading the third. And hopefully even more.

"The Seer" by Robert Steven Rhine - A watchmaker is able to see the future in addition to his own death.

"Part of the Game" by F. Paul Wilson - An old fashioned, hard-boiled detective story set in San Francisco's Chinatown in the 1930s.

"Dark Delicacies of the Dead" by Rick Pickman - A fun mix of real and the unreal as a massive book signing at a horror store goes awry. By the way, Del Howison owns a store in Burbank dedicated to Horror; it's called Dark Delicacies.

"The Diving Girl" by Richard Laymon - A man obsesses over a woman performing dives into a pool.

"Haeckel's Tale" by Clive Barker - A man tells the story of being trapped in a cottage near a cemetery with a old man and his younger wife.

This third in a wonderful collection of short stories by the masters of horror, selected by Del Howison and Jeff Gelb is an absolute must read for the lover of the macabre. As always, there is not a dud in the whole bunch. Every single story is chock full of delightful things that go bump in the night. Most enjoyable.

Mainly decent contemporary horror stories. Names I recognized: Barbara Hambly (vampire on the Titanic, which is both funnier and more horrifying than you might think); Joe Lansdale (gore), Tananarive Due (purely mental horror), L.A. Banks (the only one I hated, because of the premise “lots of criminals get off on ‘technicalities’” that was not redeemed by later “humans shouldn’t disregard the law” noises), Greg Kihn (forgettable, but I do know his name!), and Caitlin Kiernan (serial killer loves the violin).

Did not finish it. First few stories bored me.

I normally have a hard time with anthologies. This one was excellent with only a dud or two (can't win them all) in the bunch. Excellent!

The inside of the book claims to have 20 stories, then another page claims to have 19, but I only counted 18 stories - of which I found 11 to be pretty good. There's something for everyone in here: a vampire, a crazy demon-dog, a creepy mausoleum, torture/experimentation, a monster brought to life, a drunk driver paying the price, a ghost, a musical instrument made from a dead girl, and one story - about a man about to get everything he wants - was so tragic, I lost sleep that night thinking about the story over and over. Also, while not a story itself, the Introduction by Del Howison was so fun to read, it made it even more exciting to move on to the stories inside the book. If only I could make a dark and stormy night on command...I am definitely intrigued to see what the first book (Dark Delicacies) holds.

I recently bought about five anthologies of horror stories, and so far this is best. Dark Delicacies is a bookstore in LA that specializes in horror writing, and this is a compilation of some of their best authors.

I have yet to read a clinker story in the bunch. Some actually made my skin crawl, something which does not happen very much to me. This is also a good cross section of newer and more established authors.

If you are going to get ONE anthology of horror stories, and you like to be scared, shocked, or made squirrely, I highly recommend this collection.