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There are a number of quality stories in the horror genre but few vehicles in which to showcase them. I keep hoping for a breakthrough, and we just might have it with DARK DELICACIES, a new horror anthology edited by Del Howison and Jeff Gelb. Howison is the owner of Dark Delicacies, a bookstore that caters to horror fans. Gelb has made his own contributions to the horror field, most notably with the critically acclaimed HOT BLOOD anthology series that he edits with Michael Garrett. Howison and Gelb have assembled a stellar cast of authors to contribute to the inaugural voyage of DARK DELICACIES, providing a collection of stories that for the most part live up to even the grandest expectations.
It would be difficult to top a volume that opens with an original Ray Bradbury story. The inclusion of "The Reincarnate" sets the tone of quality that permeates this collection. It is reminiscent of Bradbury's work in the 1960s --- a fine, bittersweet tale of loss and yearning with a classic supernatural tone, one that relies on mood and emotion rather than shock and splatter (not that there's anything wrong with that!) to carry it along.
There are so many great stories here that it is difficult to pick a consistent favorite. "The Pyre and Others" by David Schow will resonate with bibliophiles, while giving a whole new meaning to the term "dream book." A previously unpublished Richard Laymon story, "The Drowning Girl," plays on a male fantasy dealing with voyeurism (as, indeed, much of his work did), yet it is as haunting a work as one is likely to encounter. William F. Nolan is also well-represented here with "Depompa." Nolan was writing well-crafted, understated short stories before I could even hold a pencil properly (and I'm old enough to remember black-and-white television). Yet "Depompa" may well be his best work, wherein he puts a new spin on Hollywood and hero worship with a James Dean-like actor and a fan with a death wish.
However, I would have to narrow my favorite stories down to three. "Art of the Game" by F. Paul Wilson is an understated, old-school story wherein a corrupt cop gets his comeuppance in San Francisco's Chinatown; "Bloody Mary Morning" by the criminally under-appreciated John Farris concerns a family of businessmen who carry the method of their ultimate destiny as a genetic trait; and "Haeckel's Tale," Clive Barker's best work in years, puts a whole new twist on grave robbing.
There is only one story in DARK DELICACIES that suffers by its inclusion, and that is "Kaddish" by Whitley Strieber; it doesn't seem to belong here at all, either qualitatively or thematically. Certainly, however, the collective embarrassment of riches contained here makes one quickly forget about this addition.
The inaugural volume of DARK DELICACIES easily could have been subtitled "The State of the Horror Genre, 2005." I'll be looking forward (hopefully) to similar summations in 2006, 2007 and beyond. Highly recommended.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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