Review: Does Terror Tales of Chaos Deliver the Frights?
Edited by Paul Finch, the Terror Tales series is – and this isn’t because I wish to rub my age in anyone’s faces – only 6 years younger than me, having been published since 2011. Even when Gray Friar Press closed, the series found a home with Telos publishing and so it’s never quite managed to keep its way off bookshelves – perhaps the best things just won’t die?
If nothing else, it was surely due a birthday celebration or two; and last Hallowe’en finally received one for its 16th entry – and the 25th anniversary of Telos Publishing – glossed up with beautiful sprayed-edges and containing tales focusing on beasts or familiar and unfamiliar renown. Better yet, an authorial banquet of familiar faces has been assembled to hand us these tales, like those weird anniversary episodes of TV series that entirely break the format and yet usually end up the most beloved.
From that plethora then, these were my favourites, although by no means are any of the stories collected here in anyway bad.
Stephen Volk’s contributes ‘Ogre’, a story with more levels than I think perhaps even Volk realised. I shan’t spoil them for you, however most prominent is the coming-of-age angle it adopts, allowing in the emotional rigours Volk has always been so profound at exploiting, before delivering some nicely violent twists and turns which upset the narrative. It isn’t a story which allows you much time for recalibration before pushing itself further beneath your skin; and in a Stockholm Syndrome-like way, the very pronounced sense of grittiness that it piles onto you is even more welcome.
Christopher Harman’s story, ‘Redcap’, was one of only two stories in here whose monster I was unfamiliar with before reading, so maybe this managed to deliver the extra blow that makes this so brilliant. Or perhaps it’s just ace. You certainly don’t expect the intersection where clog-dancing, two school caretakers, and school children with ideas of authordom collide to cultivate many terrors – and, to be fair, Harman’s concern isn’t demonstrating any vast dread or outright bloodlust.
What makes it so glorious is how creepy it manages to be in spite of this. Propelling you from page to page like none of the other stories in the anthology, everything is connected here as though all birthed from the mind of Robert Aickman. And as for the titular Redcap’s inclusion, a gnome creature of sorts, it’s injected into the narrative in a deliciously meta way, almost reminiscent of some of the better elements of Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of ‘The Shining’.
Classics stories, I’m unashamed to say, will always chime with me. After all, Classics is my current Uni degree, one I picked in no small part because it allows me yet another excuse to indulge my tweedier side. Reggie Oliver’s ‘Nephilim’ appeals to exactly that kind of persona, with Oxford, Ancient Greek languages and archaeological digs as the backdrop, a theatrical production of a macabre nature being central, and an almost ‘Quatermass and the Pit’-style interpretation of the titular Nephilim. Perhaps to the casual reader it’s a little… dense, and arguably it enjoys the world-building more than the punch at the end. But anyone who enjoys an M. R. James story will find a mental sanctuary here.
Simon Clark serves us ‘Bauk’, whose monster comes from Serbian mythology and likes hiding in whatever abandoned nooks and crannies it can find. As is usual for Clark, he mixes terror and action more acutely than a lot of other writers, although he keeps a very human story beneath. If you want a story which eschews uncanniness or gradual dread in place of evocative setting and a zeal for the creature feature, this should be a go-to, as the realisation of the Bauk is deliciously obstinate, the setting (a forgotten ski resort littered with unexploded mines from the Balkan War) is brilliantly realised, and the characters are so bullish you half expect him to title the story ‘China Shop’.
From Lynda Rucker, we get ‘Nixie’. While for some this might not get to the crux of the narrative soon enough, for those who give it a chance Rucker has an engagingly poetic style and she manifests the mental changes of the protagonist – an author who, mid-divorce, has retreated to Berlin for 3 weeks – adeptly.
The supernatural always plays second fiddle to the emotions of someone at odds with the world around them. The discomfort comes from watching someone fight with a sense of displacement, mental and physical, as much as anything else. Not only does this absolutely strike you in the emotional centres, it’s also a perfect environment for the Nixie, the mermaid-esque sprite, which is this story’s slice of folklore, as it’s delicate enough to compliment the breakdown – or perhaps, act of breaking free? – which creeps into the story.
‘Doppelgänger’ is David Barnett’s contribution and it’s a suitably nerdy tale. He pipettes the narrative with elements of existential angst and black humour, but uses twinges of social commentary to cushion it. Half the horror comes from the critique of our society’s growing misanthropy, the other half being how resolutely you understand the trials and tribulations of the person (and doppelgänger) whose eyes you’re seeing events through. It’s not horror by way of gore, it’s almost horror by way of urban mistrust and self-dissatisfaction.
A confession now – my father, Simon Kurt Unsworth, is in this collection with his story ‘Tupilaq’. But this isn’t a nepotic review; it’s the review of someone who is ordinarily his greatest critic. And so when I say he commingles claustrophobia and deep emotion really well, you can believe that without an ounce of bias.
Unlike the dour, lengthier narratives which his oeuvre is mostly composed of, he delivers a shorter, sharper bast of cold air here and it’s to the story’s benefit. In fact, a lot of the stories here incline towards a longer length as they gradually build their various storms. In the right hands – not Mark Gatiss – as with Reggie Oliver’s story, I could see this making a very nice M. R. Jamesian ‘Ghost Story for Christmas’.
Carly Holmes’s ‘Baobhan Sith’ presents the other monster whom I was unfamiliar with before reading, but Holmes seems to predict that – and by the time the story is over it feels like, for better and for uncomfortable, you’ve been annoyingly old friends. As a result, of every tale collected here, this is arguably the best to go into “blind”. Just enjoy how she wields her pen with all the majesty and restraint of Boudicca gloriously charging into battle.
The final story which really thrilled me was Stephen Laws’ ‘Harpy’. It’s an aggressively bitter creature feature, wrapped within a psychological cage of misery and misunderstanding, itself wrapped within some ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’-esque trappings – and it’s really rather ace. One or two stories collected in ‘Terror Tales of Chaos’ flounder a bit with the ending, but Laws has apparently designed his with the nasty final stab in mind, so much so that if you told me this was an adaptation of a segment from an Amicus anthology film I’d believe you.
These aren’t the only brilliant entries of course – James Brogden, editor Paul Finch himself, S. L. Howe, Tim Lebbon, Keris McDonald, Mark Morris, and Sarah Singleton also deliver tales as clever as they are effectively horrific, helped by a nice balance between cinematic and literary influences to please those on both ends of the spectrum.
It’s really testament to Paul Finch’s editorial skill how well they combine – and the small “interludes” he writes where we greet other monsters of chaos perfectly smooth any rough edges which might protrude. One final point: the male writers do dominate here, but what sets the female contributors apart here is how well all of their tales work as a kind of emotively anarchic sextology. They might not stand up individually as well as many of the other tales, however they sort of beg for a private release of their own at some point – just a suggestion, Telos…
Terror Tales of Chaos by Paul Finch
Children of chaos, servants of darkness, monsters, aberrations and other devilish entities. From slavering man-beasts in dank, icy forests to strangler vines in tropical deathtraps, from the cold-blooded songstress in the depthless lake to the soulless suburban killer who looks just like you. The myths and folktales of all civilisations are filled with heinous miscreations, abominable beings who exist purely to wreak mayhem …
The giant serpent of the Richtersveld
The shapeless leviathan in the Polar Sea
The stone colossus of Prague
The winged predator of Thebes
The snow beast of the Balkans
The many-headed horror on Erytheia
The corpse eater of the Middle East
A feast of terrifying tales by: C C Adams, David Barnett, James Brogden, Simon Clark, Paul Finch, Helen Grant, Christopher Harman, Carly Holmes, S L Howe, Stephen Laws, Tim Lebbon, Keris McDonald, Mark Morris, Reggie Oliver, Lynda E Rucker, Sarah Singleton, Simon Kurt Unsworth and Stephen Volk.
PRAISE FOR THE TERROR TALES SERIES
‘The best horror stories canonical horror can provide … Original, compelling, and edgy horror fiction can be had with style, beautiful background settings, and careful control of language and imagination. If you agree, then look no further. Terror Tales of the Mediterranean is the quality fiction you’ve been searching for!’ Milt Theo
‘Terror Tales Of The Home Counties is an excellent anthology, bringing together 15 stories of supernatural woe with 14 short articles about the mythology of the Home Counties that has inspired such storytelling. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. If you live in or visit on holiday, a part of the UK that has been covered by another in the Terror Tales series, I’d warmly encourage you to have a look.’ Patrick Mahon, SciFi Crow’s Nest
‘(Terror Tales Of The Scottish Lowlands is) by turns shocking, thrilling, poignant and maudlin, but with a pervading undercurrent of resilience and tenacity so typical of Scotland as a whole, all-in-all, this volume would be a great little addition to any Fortean library.’ C M Saunders, Phantasmagoria Magazine #20
‘In the Terror Tales series, the fiction is interspersed with “true” stories of real horrors written by editor Paul Finch so you get a lot for your money … As with any rich collection of stories not entirely dissimilar in nature, Terror Tales Of The Scottish Lowlands is best taken in small bites, like haggis.’ Eamonn Murphy, SF Crowsnest
‘A top-quality anthology … if you are a fan of short stories, especially the British variety, then this anthology is well worth closer inspection.’ Tony Jones, Gingernuts of Horror
‘Terror Tales of Cornwall, for me at least, has three levels as there are good stories, very good stories, and excellent ones.’ Joe X Young, Gingernuts of Horror
‘According to Finch, the mission of this anthology series is to “reclaim the dark heart of Britain’s literary legacy”. The best stories here do that. Befitting our present state of contagion anxiety, the creatures and dark forces that move through these tales are disturbingly indistinct and insidious.’ William Brown, Horrified
‘(Terror Tales of the Scottish Lowlands) is a smorgasbord of a book, a large spread of toothsome (in some cases toothy) stories all with their own particular flavours, and some are very stong meat indeed.’ Tina Rath, Ghosts & Scholars
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