StoryBundle: The Many Ways of Weird Fiction

StoryBundle is a website that presents of bundle of sci-fi and fantasy novels, novellas, and stories from both new and established writers. This time, we’re looking at a bundle of ‘weird’ fiction. This is a genre I enjoy, so it caught my eye among the several different bundles that are currently active. As usual, there are two tiers to the bundle. The first will set you back $5 and get you four titles:

• Grotesquerie by Richard Gavin
• Absalom’s Wake by Nancy A. Collins
• Weather and Beasts and Growing Things by Charlotte Suttee
• Maelstrom by David Niall Wilson

Absalom’s Wake hugely appeals to me. It’s pegged as “Melville meets Lovecraft” which is a big promise that any author will find hard to fulfill. Still, I’d be keen to see Collins try. I also think that Cthulhu-esque horror works particularly well at sea. There’s so much that can be done in that environment, and so much potential there.

Up your pledge to $20 and you will get not only the four items listed above, but also a further six items:

• Dog and Pony Show by Robert Jeschonek (StoryBundle Exclusive)
• The Wise Friend by Ramsey Campbell
• Dog Vs. Aliens, Grandma Othello & Shaolin Monks in Space by Melissa Yuan-Innes
• Glimmering by Elizabeth Hand
• Artwork – An Eve of Light Story by Harambee K. Grey-Sun (StoryBundle Exclusive)
• Contagion and Other Stories by Brian Evenson

From this tier, it’s Glimmering that stands out to me. The Washington Post heaps significant praise upon it:

“If Stephen King set out to rewrite The Waste Land as a novel, the result might resemble Glimmering.” —The Washington Post

The Washington Post

As with my choice from the first tier, that’s a big claim, but one I’d be keen to evaluate. The climate change themes are, of course, also very timely and add a chilling sense of possibility to proceedings.

There are quite a few books in this bundle that don’t interest me, but several that do. On balance, it’s probably not quite worth it for me, but maybe your tastes are different from mine. I hope they are, really.

You can click here to visit the bundle page over at StoryBundle.