“While all Aickman’s stories are excellent, it’s high time for a volume containing the best of the best.”

 

 

Robert Aickman’s fiction is in a class by itself. His self-proclaimed “strange stories” are indeed among the strangest tales ever written. Within the pages of his stories, you will not find the common tropes we associate with horror, or generous helpings of blood-splattered gore. Yet, one would be remiss to call his stories “quiet horror”. No, there’s really nothing quiet about the mounting intensity he creates with each story, the unquestionable dread that builds and builds as the laws of nature refract and bend at his command.

Why we’re excited about this book:

Aickman’s fiction is spread out through several volumes of books reprinted by Faber within the last couple of years.  While all Aickman’s stories are excellent, it’s high time for a volume containing the best of the best. Edited by Victoria Nelson, who also provides the introduction, the tales curated here span Aickman’s career and are consider among his more chilling and effective tales. Including such stories as ‘Raising the Wind’, ‘Residents Only’,  ‘Hands in Glove’, ‘Laura’, ‘The Strangers’, ‘No Time Is Passing’, ‘The Coffin House’, and many more, this volume is an excellent primer for those reading Aickman for the first time, and others familiar with his work as well. Published by Penguin Random House, Compulsory Games by Robert Aickman releases 8 May 2018 and is available for pre-order right now.

BOB PASTORELLA