From The Borderlands: Stories Of Terror And Madness (Borderlands, # 5) (2004) - Plot & Excerpts
I’m sure almost all writers out there--at least, those who were writing in the 1990s and the earlier part of the 2000s--can tell you they had their list. The list consisted of those top few magazines or anthologies they submitted to on a regular basis, just praying for their shot at “the big time”. For me, one of those publications was always the BORDERLANDS anthology, edited by Elizabeth E. and Thomas F. Monteleone. I can’t tell you how many times I submitted to this thing, and never once made it.Now, having read the FROM THE BORDERLANDS paperback anthology, originally published as BORDERLANDS 5, I see just how far off the mark I was. These stories are so far removed from what I was then--and probably am now--capable of, it’s sad.I originally picked up this collection for the same reason I’m sure most of the people who bought it did: Stephen King’s name on the cover, promising “a new novella”. However, when I finally got around to reading this book, I didn’t even bother with King’s “Stationary Bike” because I had read it before in another of his solo collections a few years ago--that’s how long this one sat on my shelf--but considering the other talent in these pages, this was definitely money well spent.Gary Braunbeck would have been enough for me to buy it. And his story “Rami Temporalis” is all the motivation you’d need. But then there’s Whitley Strieber’s “Father Bob and Bobby” or Bentley Little’s “The Planting”, a story that starts with the lines, “I planted her panties by moonlight. I watered them with piss.” This was a brilliant piece of horror storytelling that could be an entire course in itself, covering imagery, word choice, flow, pace, style…just a great piece of horror fiction.Or there’s Tom Piccirilli’s “Around it Still the Sumac Grows”, which is nothing short of Pic’s usual top quality work. Another stand out for me was Bev Vincent’s “One of Those Weeks”, which read like a classic “Twilight Zone” episode, and that was all the reason I needed to love it, but then you throw Vincent’s prose on top of that and it’s just a fantastic story.I did find a clunker here and there--Michael Canfield’s “The Food Processor” seemed weird for weirdness’ sake but didn’t seem to offer much substance, while Brett Alexander Savory’s “Slipknot” just kind of fell flat for me--but the ratio of awesome to not in this collection is so much in favor of awesome, it’s hard to hold a less than great story against it when you compare that to the good ones. And the good ones here aren’t just good, they’re great like Frosted Flakes.Now I can look back on those Borderlands rejections and say, “Yeah, okay. You were right.” Because no matter how good I thought those stories were, they weren’t on this level.I wouldn’t call this collection a new direction in horror fiction, or the future of horror fiction, or even say this is where horror is headed. It’s already here. These authors just got there before most of the rest of us.
xi • Introduction: Time Doesn't Fly... It Red-Shifts • (2004) • essay by Thomas F. Monteleone and Elizabeth E. Monteleone 1 • Rami Temporalis • [Cedar Hill] • (2003) • novelette by Gary A. Braunbeck 31 • All Hands • (2003) • shortstory by John R. Platt 37 • Faith Will Make You Free • (2003) • shortstory by Holly Newstein 56 • N0072-JK1 • (2003) • shortstory by Adam Corbin Fusco 64 • Time For Me • (2003) • novelette by Barry Hoffman 92 • The Growth of Alan Ashley • (2003) • shortstory by Bill Gauthier 106 • The Goat • (2003) • shortstory by Whitt Pond 124 • Prisoner 392 • (2003) • novelette by Jon F. Merz 150 • The Food Processor • (2003) • shortstory by Michael Canfield 160 • Story Time with the Bluefield Strangler • (2002) • shortstory by John Farris (variant of Storytime with the Bluefield Strangler 2004) 177 • Answering the Call • (2003) • shortstory by Brian James Freeman [as by Brian Freeman ] 187 • Smooth Operator • (2003) • shortstory by Dominick Cancilla 201 • Father Bob and Bobby • (2003) • novelette by Whitley Strieber 233 • A Thing • (2003) • shortstory by Barbara Malenky 239 • The Planting • (2003) • shortstory by Bentley Little 257 • Infliction • (2003) • shortstory by John McIlveen 271 • Dysfunction • (2003) • shortstory by Darren O. Godfrey 287 • The Thing Too Hideous to Describe... • (2003) • shortstory by David J. Schow 300 • Slipknot • (2003) • shortstory by Brett Alexander Savory 313 • Magic Numbers • (2003) • shortstory by Gene O'Neill 330 • Head Music • (2003) • shortstory by Lon Prater 339 • Around It Still the Sumac Grows • (2003) • shortstory by Tom Piccirilli 352 • Annabell • (2003) • shortstory by L. Lynn Young 359 • One of Those Weeks • (2003) • shortstory by Bev Vincent 372 • Stationary Bike • (2003) • novelette by Stephen King 417 • About the Editors (From the Borderlands: Stories of Terror and Madness) • (2004) • essay by uncredited 419 • About the Contributors (From the Borderlands: Stories of Terror and Madness) • (2004) • essay by uncredited
What do You think about From The Borderlands: Stories Of Terror And Madness (Borderlands, # 5) (2004)?
There were some awesome ones (mostly good ones) and a few head scratchers, but overall I liked this collection. I do not tend to like short stories as a genre as much as I like novels, so that is why I was reading this one for months, but I do like horror short stories!My favorites:Rami Temporalis ( I liked enough to look for novels from the author and they are out there! Gary Braunbeck)Time for Me (being a teacher myself, I really understand where this is coming from!)Prisoner 392Answering the CallFather Bob and Bobbyand of courseStationary Bike by my favorite, Stephen King. This one is the best in the anthology by far. I had already read it in a SK anthology and it was my favorite there as well.This series of short stories is worth a read!
—Valerie the bookworm
