Besides a couple of 19th century horror novels, one of the first books I nabbed for my iPod's e-reader was Men Without Bones by Gerald Kersh, Harlan Ellison's favorite writer.
My Kersh is a little lacking.
Bones is proving to be an excellent way to catch up. The collection came out in the fifties and many of the stories appeared in The Saturday Evening Post and Esquire. They have the feel of other short stories of that era.
They remind me a little of the slightly skewed weirdness of Shirley Jackson, meaning they're chilling in very subtle ways.
The title story is science fiction horror with a twist, recounted by a narrator who has just encountered a man from a lost expedition. The man details encounters with the men without bones, leading up to startling and eerie revelations.
My favorite story so far is one called "The Shady Life of Annibal," another as-told-to-story in which a scandal sheet journalist interviews a famous actress. She reveals secrets of her parents and her slightly askew early life.
It's a really nice find for the new year, and I'm looking forward to turning a few more of the e-pages.
Further reading
Get more details on the featured stories here.
6 comments:
Sounds interesting! I'm all caught up in the middle of a painting right now, but I'll have to keep it in mind for the future.
How is the reading experience? Can you get a decent size font?
It's not bad, and I like the Stanza app best because it has the effect like real page turning.
Cool. My sister Vickie had to do a Gale essay on Ellison. He was not pleased with the result. "Who the f** is Vickie X?" he wondered. My big sister!
Nice. My 50's-era discovery lately is Gil Brewer...
It won't really have success, I consider so.
Post a Comment