Midnight reading

[bibliogramma]

Aegri Somnia, (eds.) Jason Sizemore and Gill Ainsworth

Despite its name – which means, in Latin, “a sick man’s dream,” this is a collection of stories to keep you awake at night. As Sizemore says in his introduction, “when you present a theme such as Aegri Somnia to a group of twisted horror writers, well, you should expect disturbing results.”

Now, I don’t read a lot of material that falls into the realms that can be variously described as horror, dark fantasy, supernatural horror, or horror fantasy (is there a specific name for dark or horror science fiction? – because there’s certainly some of that in this anthology too). But “a lot” is a relative term. I have more than a nodding acquaintance with some of the early masters – Shelley, Stoker, Poe, Lovecraft, Bloch, Smith – and some of the modern greats – King, Straub, Koontz, Striber, Wilson, Barker, Rice – and a few others along the way. In fact, when I’m in the mood, I derive a profound visceral pleasure from the experience of being freaked out of my skull.

Which brings us back to Aegri Somnia.

I must admit, in the interests of full disclosure, that I bought this collection because of one story, “YY,” by Jennifer Pelland. Pelland is not only a personal friend, but someone with a great deal of talent as a writer, and I’m delighted to see her work in publication. “YY” is a gruesome tale about misogyny, paternity, posterity, and what can happen when science is mis-used in support of questionable ideology. I enjoyed the story very much, as I knew I would.

Not unexpectedly, there are lots of other chilling freak-out reads in this collection. Some of my other favourites from the collection are:

“The League of Lost Girls” by Christopher Rowe – a satirical look at the conventions of the drama, with a true horror twist at the end.

“Nothing of Me” by Eugie Foster – A rich reworking of Greek legends, where the greatest horror lies in what we do to ourselves.

“Heal Thyself” by Scott Nicholson – in which the question is raised, not just for each of us, but for society as a whole: which is worse, the memory of past horrors committed, or the fear of retribution long-delayed.

“Letters from Weirdside” by Lavie Tidhar – a chilling and intriguing meditation on the processes of creativity and the sources of dreams and nightmares.

“Mens Rea” by Steven Savile – I have a particular, personal horror of being accused, hunted, punished, unjustly, of being innocent and yet trapped in the fate of the guilty. This story pushed those buttons, hard. And it doesn’t come out all right in the end, which is why this is a personal horror, because you know, the cavalry doesn’t usually come riding over the hill at the very last moment.

“Well of the Waters” by Mari Adkins – this little story about things falling apart draws on some very traditional Celtic elements – and if you know anything about me by now, you’ll know I can’t resist being drawn into a story like that.

Other stories included in the anthology – and all of them worth reading, even if they did not strike me quite as powerfully as the others:

“All Praise to the Dreamer” by Nancy Frieda
“On the Shoulders of Giants” by Bryn Sparks
“Dream Takers” by Rhonda Eudaly
“Wishbones” by Cherie Priest
“All Becomes as Wormwood” by Angeline Hawkes

Just the thing for reading on a dark and windy night, when you’re all alone…

Comments

[apexdigest.livejournal.com]

I'm delighted you enjoyed the stories. :)

And thank you for taking the time to review Aegri Somnia.