Just an Ordinary Day by Shirley Jackson (Bantam) was probably the most anticipated collection published in 1997 (the book began appearing in stores late 96). It is a retrospective of Jackson's short fiction and includes a batch of new stories recently found by her children. Unfortunately, the way the book is organized and produced does Jackson an injustice. Always a versatile writer, Jackson wrote everything from light domestic pieces to her dark classics. The new stories, which should have been organized by type, are instead in no particular order, and lack any headnotes to give a context for where they fit into Jackson's oevre. There are three or four little chillers here but none to rival her classics, "An Ordinary Day with Peanuts" or "The Lottery."
Six Stories by Stephen King (Philtrum Press) is a signed trade paperback limited edition of 1,100 copies. Presumably, it went out of print upon publication. The stories include two originals: the tour de force first person point of view piece, "Autopsy Room Four" and the excellent mainstream story "L.T.'s Theory of Pets."Also included are the brilliant award-winning stories "Lunch at the Gotham Cafe" and "The Man in the Black Suit."
The Mirror of the Night by Roberta Lannes (Silver Salamander Press) collects some of the more sexually explicit horror fiction of this talented short story writer. In this combination of reprints and originals, the stories are visceral and unflinching in their depiction of aberrations and the humans who perpetrate and/or endure them. The cover art is by Lannes.
Leavings, published in paperback by new publisher, StarsEnd Creations, is the first collection of stories by Bram Stoker Award-winning P.D. Cacek. Cacek is a crackerjack storyteller and her best work is powerful and moving.
In a Foreign Town, in a Foreign Land by Thomas Ligotti is a small, gorgeous clothbound book with CD published by the U.K.'s Durtro Press. The four original stories are related, with odd, overlapping inhabitants. The cover illustration and frontispiece are by Steven Stapleton.
Things Left Behind is the excellent debut collection (CD Publications)of the versatile Gary A. Braunbeck, reprinting some of his best stories and several new ones, a few of which will be appearing in upcoming anthologies. It's published as a trade hardcover limited edition with illustrations by Alan M. Clark.
Copyright (C) 1997 by Omni Publications International, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.