The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories

Excellent -- really something you want to buy, keep and thumb through when the mood hits or inspiration is required... ( )

Shrill, querulous bones
neverending vacations
pets that grow on you. ( )

A totally masterful put together anthology from Ann & Jeff Vandermeer. Especially awesome is the forweird by Michael Moorcock and the afterweird by China Mieville and the introduction by the Vandermeers as is usual in all of their anthologies is just spectacular. A lesson in weird literature and weird publishing. The selections and author biographies are just so freaking good.

A few of my favorites:
Alfred Kubin, The Other Side (excerpt), 1908 (translation, Austria)
F. Marion Crawford, The Screaming Skull, 1908
Algernon Blackwood, The Willows, 1907
Georg Heym, The Dissection, 1913 (new translation, Germany)
Hanns Heinz Ewers, The Spider, 1915 (translation, Germany)
Rabindranath Tagore, The Hungry Stones, 1916 (India)
Luigi Ugolini, The Vegetable Man, 1917 (first translation, Italy)
Franz Kafka, In the Penal Colony, 1919 (translation, German/Czech)
Stefan Grabinski, The White Weyrak, 1921 (translation, Poland)
H.F. Arnold, The Night Wire, 1926
H.P. Lovecraft, The Dunwich Horror, 1929
Margaret Irwin, The Book, 1930
Hagiwara Sakutaro, The Town of Cats, 1935 (translation, Japan)
Leonora Carrington, White Rabbits, 1941
Donald Wollheim, Mimic, 1942
Ray Bradbury, The Crowd, 1943
William Sansom, The Long Sheet, 1944
Jorge Luis Borges, The Aleph, 1945 (translation, Argentina)
Olympe Bhely-Quenum, A Child in the Bush of Ghosts, 1949 (Benin)
Shirley Jackson, The Summer People, 1950
Margaret St. Clair, The Man Who Sold Rope to the Gnoles, 1951
Robert Bloch, The Hungry House, 1951
Dino Buzzati, The Colomber, 1966 (new translation, Italy)
Michel Bernanos, The Other Side of the Mountain, 1967 (new translation, France)
Merce Rodoreda, The Salamander, 1967 (translation, Catalan)
Claude Seignolle, The Ghoulbird, 1967 (new translation, France)
Gahan Wilson, The Sea Was Wet As Wet Could Be, 1967
Daphne Du Maurier, Don’t Look Now, 1971
Robert Aickman, The Hospice, 1975
Dennis Etchison, It Only Comes Out at Night, 1976
James Tiptree Jr. (Alice Sheldon), The Psychologist Who Wouldn’t Do Terrible Things to Rats, 1976
Eric Basso, The Beak Doctor, 1977
Jamaica Kincaid, Mother, 1978 (Antigua and Barbuda/US)
George R.R. Martin, Sandkings, 1979
Michael Shea, The Autopsy, 1980
Leena Krohn, Tainaron, 1985 (translation, Finland)
Garry Kilworth, Hogfoot Right and Bird-hands, 1987
Kathe Koja, Angels in Love, 1991
Haruki Murakami, The Ice Man, 1991 (translation, Japan)
Jeffrey Ford, The Delicate, 1994
Martin Simpson, Last Rites and Resurrections, 1994
Stephen King, The Man in the Black Suit, 1994
Angela Carter, The Snow Pavilion, 1995
Craig Padawer, The Meat Garden, 1996
Michael Chabon, The God of Dark Laughter, 2001
China Miéville, Details, 2002
Michael Cisco, The Genius of Assassins, 2002
Neil Gaiman, Feeders and Eaters, 2002
Jeff VanderMeer, The Cage, 2002
Jeffrey Ford, The Beautiful Gelreesh, 2003
Thomas Ligotti, The Town Manager, 2003
Brian Evenson, The Brotherhood of Mutilation, 2003
Mark Samuels, The White Hands, 2003
Daniel Abraham, Flat Diane, 2004
Margo Lanagan, Singing My Sister Down, 2005 (Australia)
T.M. Wright, The People on the Island, 2005
Laird Barron, The Forest, 2007
Liz Williams, The Hide, 2007
Reza Negarestani, The Dust Enforcer, 2008 (Iran)
Micaela Morrissette, The Familiars, 2009

Yah - its most of the book is my favorite. For the the above stand out above the rest but the rest are also damn good.

Full Listing below:
Foreweird by Michael Moorcock
Introduction by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer
Alfred Kubin, The Other Side (excerpt), 1908 (translation, Austria)
F. Marion Crawford, The Screaming Skull, 1908
Algernon Blackwood, The Willows, 1907
Saki, Sredni Vashtar, 1910
M.R. James, Casting the Runes, 1911
Lord Dunsany, How Nuth Would Have Practiced his Art, 1912
Gustav Meyrink, The Man in the Bottle, 1912 (translation, Austria)
Georg Heym, The Dissection, 1913 (new translation, Germany)
Hanns Heinz Ewers, The Spider, 1915 (translation, Germany)
Rabindranath Tagore, The Hungry Stones, 1916 (India)
Luigi Ugolini, The Vegetable Man, 1917 (first translation, Italy)
A. Merritt, The People of the Pit, 1918
Ryunosuke Akutagawa, The Hell Screen, 1917 (new translation, Japan)
Francis Stevens (Gertrude Barrows Bennett), Unseen—Unfeared, 1919
Franz Kafka, In the Penal Colony, 1919 (translation, German/Czech)
Stefan Grabinski, The White Weyrak, 1921 (translation, Poland)
H.F. Arnold, The Night Wire, 1926
H.P. Lovecraft, The Dunwich Horror, 1929
Margaret Irwin, The Book, 1930
Jean Ray, The Mainz Psalter, 1930 (translation, Belgium)
Jean Ray, The Shadowy Street, 1931 (translation, Belgium)
Clark Ashton Smith, Genius Loci, 1933
Hagiwara Sakutaro, The Town of Cats, 1935 (translation, Japan)
Hugh Walpole, The Tarn, 1936
Bruno Schulz, Sanatorium at the Sign of the Hourglass, 1937 (translation, Poland)
Robert Barbour Johnson, Far Below, 1939
Fritz Leiber, Smoke Ghost, 1941
Leonora Carrington, White Rabbits, 1941
Donald Wollheim, Mimic, 1942
Ray Bradbury, The Crowd, 1943
William Sansom, The Long Sheet, 1944
Jorge Luis Borges, The Aleph, 1945 (translation, Argentina)
Olympe Bhely-Quenum, A Child in the Bush of Ghosts, 1949 (Benin)
Shirley Jackson, The Summer People, 1950
Margaret St. Clair, The Man Who Sold Rope to the Gnoles, 1951
Robert Bloch, The Hungry House, 1951
Augusto Monterroso, Mister Taylor, 1952 (new translation, Guatemala)
Amos Tutuola, The Complete Gentleman, 1952 (Nigeria)
Jerome Bixby, It’s a Good Life, 1953
Julio Cortázar, Axolotl, 1956 (new translation, Argentina)
William Sansom, A Woman Seldom Found, 1956
Charles Beaumont, The Howling Man, 1959
Mervyn Peake, Same Time, Same Place, 1963
Dino Buzzati, The Colomber, 1966 (new translation, Italy)
Michel Bernanos, The Other Side of the Mountain, 1967 (new translation, France)
Merce Rodoreda, The Salamander, 1967 (translation, Catalan)
Claude Seignolle, The Ghoulbird, 1967 (new translation, France)
Gahan Wilson, The Sea Was Wet As Wet Could Be, 1967
Daphne Du Maurier, Don’t Look Now, 1971
Robert Aickman, The Hospice, 1975
Dennis Etchison, It Only Comes Out at Night, 1976
James Tiptree Jr. (Alice Sheldon), The Psychologist Who Wouldn’t Do Terrible Things to Rats, 1976
Eric Basso, The Beak Doctor, 1977
Jamaica Kincaid, Mother, 1978 (Antigua and Barbuda/US)
George R.R. Martin, Sandkings, 1979
Bob Leman, Window, 1980
Ramsey Campbell, The Brood, 1980
Michael Shea, The Autopsy, 1980
William Gibson / John Shirley, The Belonging Kind, 1981
M. John Harrison, Egnaro, 1981
Joanna Russ, The Little Dirty Girl, 1982
M. John Harrison, The New Rays, 1982
Premendra Mitra, The Discovery of Telenapota, 1984 (translation, India)
F. Paul Wilson, Soft, 1984
Octavia Butler, Bloodchild, 1984
Clive Barker, In the Hills, the Cities, 1984
Leena Krohn, Tainaron, 1985 (translation, Finland)
Garry Kilworth, Hogfoot Right and Bird-hands, 1987
Lucius Shepard, Shades, 1987
Harlan Ellison, The Function of Dream Sleep, 1988
Ben Okri, Worlds That Flourish, 1988 (Nigeria)
Elizabeth Hand, The Boy in the Tree, 1989
Joyce Carol Oates, Family, 1989
Poppy Z Brite, His Mouth Will Taste of Wormwood, 1990
Michal Ajvaz, The End of the Garden, 1991 (translation, Czech)
Karen Joy Fowler, The Dark, 1991
Kathe Koja, Angels in Love, 1991
Haruki Murakami, The Ice Man, 1991 (translation, Japan)
Lisa Tuttle, Replacements, 1992
Marc Laidlaw, The Diane Arbus Suicide Portfolio, 1993
Steven Utley, The Country Doctor, 1993
William Browning Spencer, The Ocean and All Its Devices, 1994
Jeffrey Ford, The Delicate, 1994
Martin Simpson, Last Rites and Resurrections, 1994
Stephen King, The Man in the Black Suit, 1994
Angela Carter, The Snow Pavilion, 1995
Craig Padawer, The Meat Garden, 1996
Stepan Chapman, The Stiff and the Stile, 1997
Tanith Lee, Yellow and Red, 1998
Kelly Link, The Specialist’s Hat, 1998
Caitlin R. Kiernan, A Redress for Andromeda, 2000
Michael Chabon, The God of Dark Laughter, 2001
China Miéville, Details, 2002
Michael Cisco, The Genius of Assassins, 2002
Neil Gaiman, Feeders and Eaters, 2002
Jeff VanderMeer, The Cage, 2002
Jeffrey Ford, The Beautiful Gelreesh, 2003
Thomas Ligotti, The Town Manager, 2003
Brian Evenson, The Brotherhood of Mutilation, 2003
Mark Samuels, The White Hands, 2003
Daniel Abraham, Flat Diane, 2004
Margo Lanagan, Singing My Sister Down, 2005 (Australia)
T.M. Wright, The People on the Island, 2005
Laird Barron, The Forest, 2007
Liz Williams, The Hide, 2007
Reza Negarestani, The Dust Enforcer, 2008 (Iran)
Micaela Morrissette, The Familiars, 2009
Steve Duffy, In the Lion’s Den, 2009
Stephen Graham Jones, Little Lambs, 2009
K.J. Bishop, Saving the Gleeful Horse, 2010 (Australia)
Afterweird by China Miéville

The introduction notes that certain stories were not included because of problems with obtaining the reproduction rights, but that the editors considered these stories as an extension of the anthology: Philip K. Dick's The Preserving Machine, J. G. Ballard's The Drowned Giant, Gabriel García Márquez's A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings and Otsuichi's The White House in the Cold Forest. ( )

An impressive compendium of Weird stories, classic and obscure, exhibiting a wide range of style, atmosphere, tone, and genre. Many entries are clearly Weird and serve almost as exemplars of the tradition. Others won't qualify for some readers, while simultaneously thrilling other readers.

Extra points for seeking out authors beyond Anglophone or even Continental influences, though I suspect this collection remains rooted in the literary world as defined by Western industrial economies. There are exceptions, but they're just that: exceptions. ( )

The biggest anthology I’ve ever found. Expanding on his earlier The New Weird, Vandermeer shows that he has spent a lot of care selecting these stories. There are well-known stories by H. P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith, as well as dozens of completely unknown authors like Bob Lehman who prove with one story that they are valuable contributors. The thing I like about this massive tome is that the work is taken from all over the world, not just America. A whole boatload of translators jumped on board the project and it was nice to see that the quality of the stories was uniformly good. I can only think of one other anthology that pretends to be this good and that is Dangerous Visions by Harlan Ellison. But instead of the endless essays that Ellison provides where he brags about his close personal friends who are all better writers than him, Vandermeer gives a brief description of each author’s career. What is so wrong about simply finding a gem and placing it in an anthology? I don’t care if the author was paid for the contribution or they’re long dead. I only want to read their words, see their visions and enjoy their madness. I read Vandermeer’s equally impressive Big Book of Science Fiction as well. I am also wondering if there will ever be an anthologist who can resist the temptation of anthologizing himself.
Whatever one’s opinion is of so-called weird fiction, you will probably love most of these stories. It is truly the only worthy successor to Dangerous Visions I have ever found – and yes I have read Again, Dangerous Visions…
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