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+--- Thread: Freak Show (/thread-2746.html)
Freak Show - Alvin Fox - 03-03-2008
I don't know if anyone else knew this but the Horror Writers of America did some other themed books in the vein of Freak Show. There was Whitley Stieber's Aliens, Peter Straub's Ghosts, Robert Bloch's Psychos and Robert McCammon's Under the Fang. I was just reading about Robert McCammon's experience in writing Under the Fang and, well...
"Without talking out of school too much, suffice it to say that the job ended up being a disappointment for him. Several big-name authors declined to participate (even though the project was done to benefit the HWA and big names would have helped sell more books), and some of those who did apparently didn't bother to read the shared-world definition that McCammon wrote (which shows when you read the book, I think---while it's a good anthology, overall, few of the stories seem to be written to the shared-world McCammon had envisioned)."
I must admit that while certain stories out of the other collections were great, the overall best book of the lot was Freak Show. (Even though I have the disappointing paperback. Sorry, FPW.) Freak Show was great because it really stuck to the shared-world theme. I don't know if the other books were also intended to be shared-world or not but it really added to the pleasure of reading Freak Show. I know Bloch died before he finished editing Psychos and it was decided to let the stories stand by themselves. Then again, the other books it seems as though someone went, "Whitley, you've written books about aliens (or visitors), how about editing an anthology?"
That was my musing for the night. To sum up: Freak Show was good.
Freak Show - fpw - 03-03-2008
[SIZE="3"]I put a LOT into the editing and continuity. The only author who wouldn't do cuts was Dan Simmons. I thought his story was padded with a lot of useless medical quotations, but he wouldn't budge. [/SIZE]
Freak Show - Miskatonic & Gin - 03-03-2008
Any chance of us seeing Oz again? What a great character. It would be great to see him and Jack cross paths one more time.....
Freak Show - Bluesman Mike Lindner - 03-03-2008
fpw Wrote:[SIZE="3"]I put a LOT into the editing and continuity. The only author who wouldn't do cuts was Dan Simmons. I thought his story was padded with a lot of useless medical quotations, but he wouldn't budge. [/SIZE]
Maybe he knew you're an MD and was trying to impress?:confused:
Freak Show - Bluesman Mike Lindner - 03-03-2008
Miskatonic & Gin' Wrote:Any chance of us seeing Oz again? What a great character. It would be great to see him and Jack cross paths one more time.....
Yeah!
SPOILER!
SPOILER!
SPOILER!
When Rasalom launched his final attack in NIGHTWORLD, couldn't Oz and his crew have reappeared from one of the holes in the Earth?
Freak Show - Bluesman Mike Lindner - 03-03-2008
AlvinFox Wrote:I don't know if anyone else knew this but the Horror Writers of America did some other themed books in the vein of Freak Show. There was Whitley Stieber's Aliens, Peter Straub's Ghosts, Robert Bloch's Psychos and Robert McCammon's Under the Fang. I was just reading about Robert McCammon's experience in writing Under the Fang and, well...
"Without talking out of school too much, suffice it to say that the job ended up being a disappointment for him. Several big-name authors declined to participate (even though the project was done to benefit the HWA and big names would have helped sell more books), and some of those who did apparently didn't bother to read the shared-world definition that McCammon wrote (which shows when you read the book, I think---while it's a good anthology, overall, few of the stories seem to be written to the shared-world McCammon had envisioned)."
I must admit that while certain stories out of the other collections were great, the overall best book of the lot was Freak Show. (Even though I have the disappointing paperback. Sorry, FPW.) Freak Show was great because it really stuck to the shared-world theme. I don't know if the other books were also intended to be shared-world or not but it really added to the pleasure of reading Freak Show. I know Bloch died before he finished editing Psychos and it was decided to let the stories stand by themselves. Then again, the other books it seems as though someone went, "Whitley, you've written books about aliens (or visitors), how about editing an anthology?"
That was my musing for the night. To sum up: Freak Show was good.
I liked the paperback considerable, Fox. But the reworked version was a =lot= better.
Freak Show - Alvin Fox - 03-04-2008
Bluesman Mike Lindner Wrote:Maybe he knew you're an MD and was trying to impress?:confused:
While I enjoy reading Simmons's work, at times some of the fat can be trimmed from it. It's just his style.
Bluesman Mike Lindner Wrote:I liked the paperback considerable, Fox. But the reworked version was a =lot= better.
Yeah, that is on my list to buy. Along with the rest of the Borderlands Adversary Cycle editions. And the fifth Sims book now that it looks like it's finally coming out.