Caitlin R. Kiernan

Caitlin R. Kiernan
Author: James Goho
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 207
Release: 2020-08-28
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1476640734

Caitlin R. Kiernan is at the forefront of contemporary gothic, weird and science fiction literature. She has written more than a dozen novels, over 250 short stories, many chapbooks, along with a large number of graphic works. For these Kiernan has won numerous awards. This first full-length look at Kiernan's body of work explores her fictional universe through critical literary lenses to show the depth of her contributions to modern genre literature. A prolific and creative writer, Kiernan's fictions bring to life our fears about the other, the unknown, and the future through stories that range widely across time and space. A sense of dark terror pervades her novels and stories. Yet Kiernan's fictional universe is not disengaged from reality. That is because she works within the long tradition of gothic fiction speaking to the gravest ethical, social and cultural issues. In her dark fiction, Kiernan illustrates the terror of the tyranny of the normal, the oppression of marginalized people, and the pervasive violence of our time. Her dystopian sf propels today's dangerous economic, social, political and environmental tendencies into the future. Kiernan's fiction portrays troubling truths about the current human condition.

The Mammoth Book of Vampire Stories by Women

The Mammoth Book of Vampire Stories by Women
Author: Stephen Jones
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 825
Release: 2017-10-10
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1510723846

Thirty-five uncanny and erotic tales of vampires written by supernatural fiction’s greatest mistresses of the macabre. "Fashions change, and the urbane vampire created by Byron and cemented in place by Stoker has had to move on . . . Are you, like me, ready for the new dusk?" —Ingrid Pitt, from her Introduction Prepare to arm yourself with garlic, silver bullets, and a stake. Featuring the only vampire short story written by Anne Rice, the undisputed queen of vampire literature, and boasting an autobiographical introduction and original tale by Ingrid Pitt, the star of Hammer Films' The Vampire Lovers and Countess Dracula, this is one anthology that every vampire fan—vampiric feminist or not—will want to drink deep from. From the classic stories of Edith Wharton, Edith Nesbit, Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman, and Mary Elizabeth Braddon to modern incarnations by such acclaimed writers as Poppy Z. Brite, Nancy Kilpatrick, Tanith Lee, Caitlín R. Kiernan, and Angela Slatter, these blood-drinkers and soul-stealers range from the sexual to the sanguinary, from the tormented Good to the unspeakably Evil. Among those memorable Children of the Night you will encounter are Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's Byronic vampire Saint-Germain, Nancy A. Collins' undead heroine Sonja Blue, Tanya Huff's vampiric detective Vicki Nelson, and Freda Warrington’s age-old lovers Karl and Charlotte. Nominated for the World Fantasy Award and the International Horror Guild Award, and now revised and updated, The Mammoth Book of Vampire Stories by Women fulfils the bloodlust of the somnambulist horror fan, delivering the ultimate bite.

Blood Sisters

Blood Sisters
Author: Paula Guran
Publisher: Start Publishing LLC
Total Pages: 568
Release: 2015-05-05
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1597805769

A tantalizing selection of stories from some of the best female authors who’ve helped define the modern vampire. Bram Stoker was hardly the first author—male or female—to fictionalize the folkloric vampire, but he defined the modern iconic vampire when Dracula appeared in 1897. Since then, many have reinterpreted the ever-versatile vampire over and over again—and female writers have played vital roles in proving that the vampire, as well as our perpetual fascination with it, is truly immortal. These authors have devised some of the most fascinating, popular, and entertaining of our many vampiric variations: suavely sensual . . . fascinating but fatal . . . sexy and smart . . . undead but prone to detection . . . tormented or terrifying . . . amusing or amoral . . . doomed or deadly . . . badass and beautiful . . . cutting-edge or classic . . . Blood Sisters collects a wide range of fantastical stories from New York Times bestsellers Holly Black, Nancy Holder, Catherynne M. Valente, and Carrie Vaughn, and critically acclaimed writers Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and Tanith Lee, all of whom have left their indelible and unique stamps on the vampire genre. Whether they are undeniably heroes and heroines or bloodthirsty monsters (or something in between), the undead are a lively lot. This anthology offers some of the best short fiction ever written by the “blood sisters” who know them best: stories you can really sink your teeth into.

The Best Horror of the Year

The Best Horror of the Year
Author: Ellen Datlow
Publisher: Start Publishing LLC
Total Pages: 604
Release: 2013-08-27
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1597804754

Darkness, both literal and psychological, holds its own unique fascination. Despite our fears, or perhaps because of them, readers have always been drawn to tales of death, terror, madness, and the supernatural, and no more so than today when a wildly imaginative new generation of dark dreamers is carrying on in the tradition of Poe and Lovecraft and King, crafting exquisitely disturbing literary nightmares that gaze without flinching into the abyss—and linger in the mind long after. Multiple award-winning editor Ellen Datlow knows the darkest corners of fiction and poetry better than most. Once again, she has braved the haunted landscape of modern horror to seek out the most chilling new works by both legendary masters of the genre and fresh young talents. Here are twisted hungers and obsessions, human and otherwise, along with an unsettling variety of spine-tingling fears and fantasies. The cutting edge of horror has never cut deeper than in this comprehensive showcase of the very best the field has to offer. Enter at your own risk.

Lovecraft Unbound

Lovecraft Unbound
Author: Ellen Datlow
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 359
Release: 2023-02-28
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1504082710

“Readers who know Lovecraft’s legacy mostly through turgid and tentacled Cthulhu Mythos pastiches will find this book a treasure trove of literary terrors.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) Here are nineteen Lovecraftian stories—both new and rediscovered—that take their cues from the mythos of the iconic horror writer. Today’s masters of supernatural thrills celebrate H. P. Lovecraft’s oeuvre with tales of weird fiction and cosmic horror, collected by Hugo and Bram Stoker Award–winning editor Ellen Datlow. In “Commencement” by Joyce Carol Oates, a university begins its annual ceremony of renewal with three renowned scholars whose lifetime achievements are fodder for the student body. A couple desperate to have another child turn to the darkest rituals of folklore and mythology in “Catch Hell” by Laird Barron. And Holly Phillips’s “Cold Water Survival” trails a group of Antarctic explorers who encounter vast, unexplainable shapes in the ice—a danger to humanity awakening from its frozen slumber. Rounding out the collection are more spinetingling tales from Brian Evenson, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Marc Laidlaw, Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear, Dale Bailey and Nathan Ballingrud, Richard Bowes, Anna Tambour, Amanda Downum, Joel Lane, William Browning Spencer, Michael Cisco, Lavie Tidhar, Simon Kurt Unsworth, Michael Shea, Gemma Files, and Nick Mamatas.

Lovecraft's Monsters

Lovecraft's Monsters
Author: Neil Gaiman
Publisher: Tachyon Publications
Total Pages: 385
Release: 2014-03-24
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1616961643

Prepare to meet the wicked progeny of the master of modern horror. In Lovecraft's Monsters, H. P. Lovecraft's most famous creations—Cthulhu, Shoggoths, Deep Ones, Elder Things, Yog-Sothoth, and more—appear in all their terrifying glory. Each story is a gripping new take on a classic Lovecraftian creature, and each is accompanied by a spectacular original illustration that captures the monsters' unique visage. Contributors include such literary luminaries as Neil Gaiman, Joe R. Lansdale, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Karl Edward Wagner, Elizabeth Bear, and Nick Mamatas. The monsters are lovingly rendered in spectacular original art by World Fantasy Award–winning artist John Coulthart (The Steampunk Bible). Legions of Lovecraft fans continue to visit his bizarre landscapes and encounter his unrelenting monsters. Now join them in their journey...if you dare.

The Mammoth Book of Nightmare Stories

The Mammoth Book of Nightmare Stories
Author: Stephen Jones
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 475
Release: 2019-02-19
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1510736468

Winner of the British Fantasy Award Sixteen rare terror tales not to be read at night! To sleep, perchance to dream . . . of horrors! Here are some of the stories that gave their own authors nightmares—things that go bump at night, hauntings that lurk in the back of the mind, skin-crawling moments between the realms of wakefulness and sleep. In this somnambulistic collection, award-winning editor Stephen Jones asks many of the biggest names in horror fiction to choose their own favorite stories and novellas which, for one reason or another, have been unjustly overlooked or ignored. From Hugh B. Cave’s 1930s “shudder pulp” tale to Ramsey Campbell’s stunning novella of barely concealed hysteria and grim black humor, these are the “forgotten” stories ripe for rediscovery, by such acclaimed authors as Poppy Z. Brite, Basil Copper, Harlan Ellison®, Neil Gaiman, Caítlin R. Kiernan, Joe R. Lansdale, Tim Lebbon, Tanith Lee, and Michael Marshall Smith. Be warned: do not try to read this book at night, because these superior horror stories—both supernatural and psychological—will leave a lasting chill down your spine long after you have put it down, shut off the lights, and ducked under the covers. As you try to get off to sleep, who knows what dreams may come . . .?

The Madness of Cthulhu Anthology (Volume One)

The Madness of Cthulhu Anthology (Volume One)
Author: S. T. Joshi
Publisher: Titan Books (US, CA)
Total Pages: 351
Release: 2014-10-07
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1781164533

Sixteen stories inspired by the 20th century’s great master of horror, H.P. Lovecraft, and his acknowledged masterpiece, At the Mountains of Madness, in which an expedition to the desolation of Antarctica discovers evidence of an ancient ruin built by horrific creatures at first thought long-dead, until death strikes the group. All but two of the stories are original to this edition, and those reprints are long-lost works by science fiction masters Arthur C. Clarke and Robert Silverberg.

Haunted Legends

Haunted Legends
Author: Ellen Datlow
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2010-09-14
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1429948779

Winner of the 2010 Bram Stoker Award for Best Anthology! Darkly thrilling, these twenty new ghost stories have all the chills and power of traditional ghost stories, but each tale is a unique retelling of an urban legend from the world over. Multiple award-winning editor Ellen Datlow and award-nominated author and editor Nick Mamatas recruited Jeffrey Ford, Ramsey Campbell, Joe R. Lansdale, Caitlin Kiernan, Catherynne M. Valente, Kit Reed, Ekaterina Sedia, and thirteen other fine writers to create stories unlike any they've written before. Tales to make readers shiver with fear, jump at noises in the night, keep the lights on. These twenty nightmares, brought together by two renowned editors of the dark fantastic, are delightful visions sure to send shivers down the spines of horror readers. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.