Born of the L.A. horror bookstore of the same name, the new anthology DARK DELICACIES – see our review here – is packed with so many famous authors, it’s like a Who’s Who of horror.
Del Howison – the book’s editor and the bookstore’s owner – fielded five questions from BOOKGAM about the project.
BOOKGASM: Aside from DARK DELICACIES being yours, what makes this horror anthology stand out?
HOWISON: It is original tales by some of the masters. These are not reprints and I think we have as big a group of names as any anthology has seen in the last decade. But we’ve also made room for some terrific stories by up-and-comers. One of the recent reviews said the book ought ot be titled THE STATE OF HORROR 2005.
BOOKGASM: Was it easy to recruit so many big names to the project? And were there any you had to leave out, for whatever reason?
HOWISON: Sure there are people left out that I hope to recruit for #2. Just logistically, it would have been impossible to get them all. Everybody I spoke with was fairly receptive to the idea. I did have one or two who priced themselves out of the book. That’s their problem, not mine, as there are plenty of authors to work with. But, to me, it’s fairly egotistical to think you deserve more money than Ray Bradbury, Clive Barker and Richard Matheson. I really don’t know who in horror deserves more than they do and we refused to do it.
BOOKGASM: I was pleasantly surprised how most of the newer names stepped up to the plate, so to speak, and delivered some really strong stories that equalled or exceeded some of the “old pros.” Where do you think these authors will take the horror genre in the decades to come?
HOWISON: One can only wait and see. I hope they take it to places we’ve never dreamed of and yet never forget where they came from. I think the newer names were terrific and some of them wrote old-school stories and some of them really played around with psychological horror.
BOOKGASM: Any plans for future DARK DELICACIES volumes?
HOWISON: We have submitted a proposal for #2, so we’ll see. We plan to take it one book at a time. I think that way, we can grow with the horror genre.
BOOKGASM: Finally, since you run the world’s foremost horror bookstore, what current horror fiction should we be reading (other than this anthology, of course)?
HOWISON: There are other books? Actually, the anthology OUTSIDERS edited by Nancy Kilpatrick and Nancy Holder goes in an interesting direction. The two books edited by Stephen Jones and Kim Newman featuring the 200 best horror books is a wonderful place to start for a firm foundation. I’m a real stickler for knowing some history in the field you enjoy.
Related posts:
- Dark Delicacies
- Down These Dark Spaceways
- Four Dark Nights
- Doomed
- 999: Twenty-Nine Original Tales of Horror and Suspense
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Good for Del that he didn’t let those pricey authors strong arm their way into the book.
(Incidentally, I did not hold out, I just got a regular ol’ rejection. But I do own a signed copy of this one.)