So, given that we missed some days on this project while I was traveling, I’d like to get us further ahead, so that we can wrap just as next year’s Women in Horror Month is starting (which was always my plan). Therefore, since it’s Tuesday, I’m gonna pull out an old trick from my days as a disc jockey, and proclaim this Two For Tuesday!
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Women In Horror Year: Day 140
Sympathy For the Dead by P. D. Cacek
A few words about the author from Thomas Tessier (quoted from the introduction he penned for this collection): "She can be wickedly funny, or savagely satirical, and she has an unsparing eye for the foibles, follies and obsessions that drive human beings to those extreme moments where they either suffer or inflict great horror. Her prose can be by turns street-smart, flip, or blunt, as well as poetic, evocative, meditative. In case you might think that all adds up to something like glibness — guess again. Think virtuoso."
Stories included in this collection:
The Christmas Spirit
The Storybook
Rituals
The Lingering Scent of Apples
… with bright and shining eyes…
A Book, By Its Cover
Stories Like Pearls
The Keeper
Call Waiting
The Music Box
Night Sounds
The Following
The Perfect Light
Santraí
P. D. Cacek (Trish to those of us who know her) always struck me as sort of The Wrecking Crew of horror fiction. For those too young to understand that reference, The Wrecking Crew were an infamous assemblage of studio musicians — hired guns who, in the 1960s and 1970s, played on literally hundreds of Top 40 hits, hundreds of rock and roll albums, and were the house band for Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound. They had a reputation for excellence, as well as dependability and professionalism. They never got the accolades — those all went to the bands and artists they played for. But it was their sound that created the hits. It was their rhythms and melodies and playing that listeners remembered.
Trish is a similar sort of artist. She’s worked behind the scenes as an editor and in other roles for the books of so many others, and as a writer, you often see her byline in the Table of Contents of various horror fiction anthologies. Like The musicians from The Wrecking Crew, you might not see her name on the cover. Those spots go to the New York Times Bestsellers. But it is her stories in those anthologies that the readers remember. And also like The Wrecking Crew, she has a reputation in our industry for excellence and dependability.
Tom Tessier nails it in his introduction to this collection: “Her prose can be by turns street-smart, flip, or blunt, as well as poetic, evocative, meditative.” Perfectly said. Trish is able to hit every sort of story this genre provides — from quiet, moody tales to darkly humorous extreme horror, she can — and has — written it all. Celebrated by peers such as Tessier, Jack Ketchum, Tom Piccirilli, and Peter Straub, her stuff is a revelation for aspiring writers, and a must read for fans of the genre. Sympathy For the Dead is a perfect introductory sampler.
Available in digital from Crossroad Press.
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Women In Horror Year: Day 141
The Fear Report by Elizabeth Massie
Out Of Print
A short story collection of over 100,000 words with both old and new and some very hard to find stories by the two time Bram Stoker award winning author Elizabeth Massie. Signed by the author and artist Cortney Skinner.
Contents:
Stephen
The Dwindle-Light
In the Cow Pasture
The Reclamation of Sweeney Todd
Hot Orgy of the Caged Virgins
The Fear Report
Thanks
Fixtures of Matchstick Men and Joo
Bargains at Binsleys’
Arrangements
Lock Her Room
Teachers’ Pet
The Merry Music of Madness
Daddy Man
Willy Wonka and the L. Walker BioFair
Slip of the Mind
Sick’un
That Old Timer Rock and Roll
Brazo de Dios
Products of the Past
Hooked on Buzzer
The Landlock
Day Is Done, Gone The Sun
Blessed Sleep
The Bath
Stinkin’ Rudy
Whittler
Inside Out
Dancin’ Man
If we want to stick with the music analogy that we used above for P. D. Cacek (and why not, because it pleases me to do so), then The Fear Report is like an artist’s career spanning boxed set where every song (or story in this case) is an absolute unskippable banger, and a testament to just how many great contributions they’ve delivered over the years. Specifically, I’m thinking of Rod Stewart’s Storytellers boxed-set, which went inexcusably and inexplicably out of print for a number of year before finally getting a rerelease. The same thing seems to have happened with The Fear Report. Originally published as a signed, limited edition hardcover by Bloodletting Press, it was later released as an eBook by Necon eBooks, and then Crossroad Press. Sadly, those digital editions are currently unavailable, and the hardcover is only available on the secondary market, with a median going price of $50. Not bad, and certainly so when you consider just how many of Beth Massie’s absolute best are contained herein, including such stories as the title tale, “Products of the Past”, “Stephen”, “Hot Orgy of the Caged Virgins” and so many more. It really is a career-spanning celebration. I wish one of you publishers reading this Blog would jump on this and get it back into print. In the meantime, for you younger readers looking to sample Beth’s work, spend the fifty buck on eBay and grab yourself a signed hardcover. You won’t be dissapointed, and you’ll be introduced to a versatile writer who could switch from Splatterpunk to mainstream to comedic horror effortlessly, sometimes within the same story.
