So this morning I found out that The Outcast Hours, edited by Mahvesh Murad & Jared Shurin, is up for a World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology.
The brilliant collection was published by Solaris last year and features stories by authors from across the globe, including myself and fellow South Africans S.L. Grey, Lauren Beukes, Dale Halvorsen, and Sam Beckbessinger.
Continue reading “The Outcast Hours Nominated For World Fantasy Award” →
This is not a review of The Outcast Hours. Well, not really.
I have a story in the collection, which makes it hard as a blogger and reviewer, because I really, really, really want to tell you all about these stories, but then I would be reviewing something I’m involved in, which would be weird.
So instead, I made LEGO stories of my favourite pieces from the anthology. No conflict of interest whatsoever.
This Book Will Find You by Lauren Beukes, Dale Halvorsen and Sam Beckbessinger
Ambulance Service by Sami Shah
Blind Eye by Frances Hardinge
Bag Man by Lavie Tidhar
Gatsby by Maha Khan Phillips
Swipe Left by Daniel Polansky
Not Just Ivy by Celeste Baker
Above the Light by Jesse Bullington
Welcome to the Haunted House by Yukimi Ogawa
See? I didn’t give anything away. Now you’re safe to go discover these stories for yourself.
I will say one thing though.
I love short stories. I love how things can go from bad to worse to the very extreme that an author’s imagination can go. And these little snapshots of what goes on during the ungodly hours do exactly that – they up the ante to the next level, going that much further than you thought was possible.
You think Matt in Daniel Polansky’s story Swipe Left is having a bad date. You have no idea how much worse it’s going to get.
Find it on Goodreads.
Sally Partridge