Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Table of contents - “Best of Mystery & Horror #1” edited by Mircea Pricăjan

I find myself yet again owning a debt in reviews for some of the books I read recently and one such title for which I feel even sadder not being able to properly put my thoughts on the paper yet is A.R. Deleanu’s collections of stories, “Achluophobia, 10 Macabre Stories”. The main reason for feeling such sorrow because of this overdue review is that I don’t get many chances to read Romanian horror. Not because I am not willing to offer it my time and energy, but because its presence on the Romanian literature is scarce, to put it light. Considering once more the extremely rich vein of inspiration found within our folklore, mythology, history and modern society it is an issue that nudges me very often nowadays. However, there are reasons of optimism and signs of health for this genre, after all we’ve seen here published lately an excellent short novel with elements of supernatural and horror, “The Chocolate Testament” by Marian Coman, a gothic novel, “…and at the end remained the nightmare” by Oliviu Crâznic, a couple of themed anthologies such as “Beyond the Night: 12 Faces of the Gothic” edited by the same Oliviu Crâznic and “Zombies, The Book of Living Dead” edited by Mircea Pricăjan and the constant appearance of the online magazine, Revista de suspans (The Suspense Magazine), run also by Mircea Pricăjan, just to name those that come immediately into mind. Covering mystery, crime and horror it is always a delight to see Revista de suspans releasing a new issue, and I am not saying that because I assist this magazine at its editorial work, but because it offers a proper medium for the Romanian horror genre and writers. From the works published within the virtual pages of Revista de suspans comes a new exciting title, “Best of Mystery & Horror #1”, edited by Mircea Pricăjan and released by a bold new Romanian publisher, Herg Benet. Gathering 16 stories from the 105 published in the first 12 issues of Revista de suspans “Best of Mystery & Horror #1” brings forth some of the established and young voices of the Romanian genre literature tackling the suspense in its many forms. It is the perfect initiative, and again my opinion is not influenced by my collaboration with Mircea Pricăjan, for offering further hope to the Romanian horror genre. And I do have hope that this volume of best mystery and horror short fiction is the first of many.

Table of contents (in alphabetic order by author):

“Cuvânt înainte” (Foreword) by Mircea Pricăjan
“Credit restant” (Bad Debt) by Diana Alzner
“Răzbunarea mută” (The Mute Revenge) by Cezarina Anghilac
“A doua moarte a domnului Michael Conrad” (The Second Death of Mister Michael Conrad) by George Arion
“Proprietarul” (The Owner) by Raluca Băceanu
“Prin grele văluri de visare” (Through Heavy Shrouds of Dreaming) by Alexandru Dan
“Stingerea” (The Curfew) by Marian Dumitrașcu
“Păpușa” (The Doll) by Cătălina Fometici
“Ultimul zbor” (The Last Flight) by Teodora Gheorghe
“Un crâmpei de lumină” (A Scrap of Light) by Lena Kart
“Spaima” (The Dread) by Cristina Nemerovschi
“Omul cu șobolani sub piele” (The Man With Rats Under His Skin) by Alexandra Niculae
“Scurtă întâlnire” (Short Meeting) by Liviu Radu
“Vino la mine” (Come to Me) by Radu Romaniuc
“Arhanghelul” (The Archangel) by Paul Tudor
“Înainte să putrezească totul” (Before Everything Rots) by Felix Tzele
“Iluminare” (Illumination) by Ioana Vișan

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