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Cutting Edge
This anthology contains:
Blue Rose by Peter Straub
The Monster by Joe Haldeman
Lacunae by Karl Edward Wagner
Pale Trembling Youth by W.H. Pugmire and Jessica Amanda Salmonson
Muzak for Torso Murders by Marc Laidlaw
Goodbye, Dark Love by Roberta Lannes
Out There by Charles L. Grant
Little Cruelties by Steve Rasnic Tem
The Man with the Hoe by George Clayton Johnson
They're Coming for You by Les Daniels
Vampire by Richard Christian Matheson
Lapses by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
The Final Stone by William F. Nolan
Irrelativity by Nicholas Royle
The Hands by Ramsey Campbell
The Bell by Ray Russell
Lost Souls by Clive Barker
Reaper by Robert Bloch
The Transfer by Edward Bryant
Pain by Whitley Strieber
Blue Rose by Peter Straub
The Monster by Joe Haldeman
Lacunae by Karl Edward Wagner
Pale Trembling Youth by W.H. Pugmire and Jessica Amanda Salmonson
Muzak for Torso Murders by Marc Laidlaw
Goodbye, Dark Love by Roberta Lannes
Out There by Charles L. Grant
Little Cruelties by Steve Rasnic Tem
The Man with the Hoe by George Clayton Johnson
They're Coming for You by Les Daniels
Vampire by Richard Christian Matheson
Lapses by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
The Final Stone by William F. Nolan
Irrelativity by Nicholas Royle
The Hands by Ramsey Campbell
The Bell by Ray Russell
Lost Souls by Clive Barker
Reaper by Robert Bloch
The Transfer by Edward Bryant
Pain by Whitley Strieber
299 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1986
About the author
Dennis Etchison
184 books110 followersaka Jack Martin.
Dennis William Etchison was an American writer and editor of fantasy and horror fiction. He is a multi-award winner, having won the British Fantasy Award three times for fiction, and the World Fantasy Award for anthologies he edited.
Dennis William Etchison was an American writer and editor of fantasy and horror fiction. He is a multi-award winner, having won the British Fantasy Award three times for fiction, and the World Fantasy Award for anthologies he edited.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
September 10, 2023
Despite all the big names here, including Clive Barker, Peter Straub, Ramsey Campbell, Whitley Strieber and so forth, this is a pretty mediocre collection. Joe Haldeman's "The Monster" was my favorite while Strieber's "Pain" ended the volume painfully (sorry for the pun); I never got into Strieber's UFO conspiracy stuff.
Etchison divided the volume into four sections: "Bringing it all back home," "They're coming for you," "Walking the Headlights" and "Dying all the time" but I still have no ideas regarding the supposed thematic justification for this. This was first published in 1986 and all of the stories were first published in the mid 80s. I am not a big short story fan, but I have read much better collections. 2 meh stars.
Etchison divided the volume into four sections: "Bringing it all back home," "They're coming for you," "Walking the Headlights" and "Dying all the time" but I still have no ideas regarding the supposed thematic justification for this. This was first published in 1986 and all of the stories were first published in the mid 80s. I am not a big short story fan, but I have read much better collections. 2 meh stars.
October 16, 2021
This is a good, well-rounded anthology of (mostly) original horror stories from the mid-1980's. The book is divided into four sections: Bringing It All Back Home, They're Coming For You, Walking the Headlights, and Dying All the Time. I recommend the stories by Joe Haldeman, Karl Edward Wagner, Charles L. Grant, William F. Nolan, Ramsey Campbell, Clive Barker, Robert Bloch, and Edward Bryant. Also, there's an interesting Peter Straub novella, Blue Rose.
August 5, 2015
-Aunque representativa a la hora de ofrecer trabajos y autores del subgénero, menos potente en su generalidad que volúmenes anteriores de esta serie de antologías.-
Género. Relatos.
Lo que nos cuenta. Con Dennis Etchinson como responsable de la selección de los trabajos (y de la introducción que mezcla crónica y ensayo), todos escritos para esta antología, 20 relatos que ofrecen distintas aproximaciones al terror y que nos contarán, entre otras cosas, lo que descubre un autor que se infiltra en el mundo de la prostitución con la intención de documentarse para su próximo libro, los asuntos sucios que se resuelven en la Manhattan sobrenatural, las confusiones de una mujer entre su marido y su amante, el descubrimiento del hipnotismo por parte de un muchacho malvado, el trato de un escritor con La Muerte y su incapacidad para cumplirlo, los recuerdos de un soldado que prestó servicio en Vietnam y que está encerrado en un correccional psiquiátrico, las consecuencias del trato que hace una mujer casi sin querer, los efectos de una nueva droga muy especial, una experiencia aterradora en un local londinense o la relación cercana entre un asesino en serie y su amorosa mamá, entre otros temas.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
Género. Relatos.
Lo que nos cuenta. Con Dennis Etchinson como responsable de la selección de los trabajos (y de la introducción que mezcla crónica y ensayo), todos escritos para esta antología, 20 relatos que ofrecen distintas aproximaciones al terror y que nos contarán, entre otras cosas, lo que descubre un autor que se infiltra en el mundo de la prostitución con la intención de documentarse para su próximo libro, los asuntos sucios que se resuelven en la Manhattan sobrenatural, las confusiones de una mujer entre su marido y su amante, el descubrimiento del hipnotismo por parte de un muchacho malvado, el trato de un escritor con La Muerte y su incapacidad para cumplirlo, los recuerdos de un soldado que prestó servicio en Vietnam y que está encerrado en un correccional psiquiátrico, las consecuencias del trato que hace una mujer casi sin querer, los efectos de una nueva droga muy especial, una experiencia aterradora en un local londinense o la relación cercana entre un asesino en serie y su amorosa mamá, entre otros temas.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
August 17, 2017
Some stories stronger than others, a real time capsule of decent and varied 1980s horror. I found it especially odd to read the short biography of Clive Barker, which contained no mention of Hellraiser! This was published shortly before that film arrived. Good collection though.
March 2, 2015
For the most part, very strong stories approaching the concept of horror from many different angles. At little dismayed that some of the amazon reviews I saw were apparently disappointed there wasn't actually more "cutting" in a collection titled "Cutting Edge." Probably the only story I didn't finish was - please don't shoot me - William F. Nolan's story. That one felt contrived, and forced.
March 17, 2009
A collection of horror stories written in the mid eighties. My favorites:
The Monster by Joe Haldeman
A soldier tries to defend himself against accusations of murder, but the accusations are the least of his worries.
Goodbye Dark Love by Roberta Lannes
This is the kind of story that Night Gallery would have shown if it was on Cinemax.
They're Coming For You by Les Daniels
Mr. Bliss' wife is having an affair, so he kills her and her lover. Best unexpected ending in the book.
Lapses by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
A woman has a car accident. Things get worse.
The Final Stone by William F. Nolan
Another take on the Jack the Ripper saga.
The Bell by Ray Russell
The main character makes a deal with God to save his father. Or does he? [insert evil laughter right here. :]
Lost Souls by Clive Barker
It's Clive Barker; of course it's awesome.
Reaper by Robert Bloch
Ross finds a way to cheat death. Second best ending in the book.
The Monster by Joe Haldeman
A soldier tries to defend himself against accusations of murder, but the accusations are the least of his worries.
Goodbye Dark Love by Roberta Lannes
This is the kind of story that Night Gallery would have shown if it was on Cinemax.
They're Coming For You by Les Daniels
Mr. Bliss' wife is having an affair, so he kills her and her lover. Best unexpected ending in the book.
Lapses by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
A woman has a car accident. Things get worse.
The Final Stone by William F. Nolan
Another take on the Jack the Ripper saga.
The Bell by Ray Russell
The main character makes a deal with God to save his father. Or does he? [insert evil laughter right here. :]
Lost Souls by Clive Barker
It's Clive Barker; of course it's awesome.
Reaper by Robert Bloch
Ross finds a way to cheat death. Second best ending in the book.
Want to read
July 1, 2018Another placeholder review until I actually get to the book proper.
Read Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's "Lapses" here: a good, solid story told in a fragmented way, as a woman traveling for business suffers a hideous event with her car (a live dog thrown from the open back of a pickup onto her windshield) and then finds her mind, sense of place and identity slowly begin to fray and unravel in unnerving and nightmarish ways as she endeavors to make her way home. Nicely done.
Read Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's "Lapses" here: a good, solid story told in a fragmented way, as a woman traveling for business suffers a hideous event with her car (a live dog thrown from the open back of a pickup onto her windshield) and then finds her mind, sense of place and identity slowly begin to fray and unravel in unnerving and nightmarish ways as she endeavors to make her way home. Nicely done.
September 5, 2011
Thankfully picked up - and devoured - early enough in my horror writing career, this turned me towards a whole slew of writers I'd never read before and contains some terrific, challenging fiction.
Virtually every story is worthy of a read but I do have some standouts:
Lacunae, by Karl Edward Wagner
Goodbye, Dark Love, by Roberta Lannes (still, in 2011, one of my favourite short stories ever)
Vampire, by Richard Christian Matheson
Lost Souls, by Clive Barker
A terrific collection, a milestone of the genre (I'd say), well worth a read.
Virtually every story is worthy of a read but I do have some standouts:
Lacunae, by Karl Edward Wagner
Goodbye, Dark Love, by Roberta Lannes (still, in 2011, one of my favourite short stories ever)
Vampire, by Richard Christian Matheson
Lost Souls, by Clive Barker
A terrific collection, a milestone of the genre (I'd say), well worth a read.
April 9, 2020
i won’t bore you with a story-by-story review because in fact every story in here is fucking awful. the clive barker piece is automatically the best of the bunch bc he can write, but it’s not even a good barker story. if you don’t tap out during the opener “blue rose” - a fucking FIFTY PAGE peter straub novella - karl edward wagner’s miserable “lacunae” is lying in wait ... a wildly but not interestingly transphobic bit of ~transgression~ that is as dull as this kind of outsider-gaze stuff usually is. elsewhere lie multiple stories about evil parasitic whores, including whitley streiber’s dismal closer “pain,” about S/m as uhhhh apocalyptic ruin. women do be fucking disgusting creatures.
anyway this kind of brainless, perspectiveless, genre-recitation bullshit is why i largely avoid horror fiction — so much of it is truly unreadable, empathy-free trash written to fulfill market expectations and avoid any kind of recognizably human experience. skip it !!!!
anyway this kind of brainless, perspectiveless, genre-recitation bullshit is why i largely avoid horror fiction — so much of it is truly unreadable, empathy-free trash written to fulfill market expectations and avoid any kind of recognizably human experience. skip it !!!!
July 24, 2018
Irregular colección de relatos de terror. Algunos muy buenos y algunos que pasan sin pena ni gloria.
A destacar el relato de Barker:, " Almas perdidas" donde aparece por primera vez el detective de lo sobrenatural Harry D'amour. Uno de los personajes de Barker que aparece en sus novelas.
El mejor relato es " La guadaña" de Robert Bloch, donde la muerte le ofrece la posibilidad a un hombre de alargar su vida si cada año le trae una victima que supla su turno.
A destacar el relato de Barker:, " Almas perdidas" donde aparece por primera vez el detective de lo sobrenatural Harry D'amour. Uno de los personajes de Barker que aparece en sus novelas.
El mejor relato es " La guadaña" de Robert Bloch, donde la muerte le ofrece la posibilidad a un hombre de alargar su vida si cada año le trae una victima que supla su turno.
December 22, 2013
Una buena recopilación de cuentos... como siempre pasa, algunos me gustaron mucho mas que otros, pero es un libro recomendable, me gustó.
March 20, 2015
Great collection of short fiction.
September 30, 2020
I actually didn't expect much from this book. I was negatively biased by its Goodreads rating. I knew it wasn't a popular book right away too (only 18 reviews! (about to be 19 with mine)).
I was surprised by the content. I certainly didn't think the stories would be that sick and twisted. They are truly terrifying. Even if some of them are not that good, the horror approach is definitely there.
Now lemme list the ones that deserve a special mention:
Blue Rose - A great one to begin this book. It's the longest, too. Children can be the devil. Won't say more.
The Monster - Really good and really graphic.
Lacunae - So good! Talking about trans people in the 80s? Yup. And that ending is siiiick.
They're Coming for You - Whoa, what a ride! Talk about unexpected endings.
Lapses - Really entertaining. I could feel the anxiety along with the main character.
And there are many more. Yes, it definitely got me in the mood for the spooky season.
Oh, and unpopular opinion: the one by Clive Barker, which according to the reviews is one of the best of the bunch, was among the ones I liked least. Oops.
I say give it a go if you're into horror. Though I don't know how easy it'll be to find it.
I was surprised by the content. I certainly didn't think the stories would be that sick and twisted. They are truly terrifying. Even if some of them are not that good, the horror approach is definitely there.
Now lemme list the ones that deserve a special mention:
Blue Rose - A great one to begin this book. It's the longest, too. Children can be the devil. Won't say more.
The Monster - Really good and really graphic.
Lacunae - So good! Talking about trans people in the 80s? Yup. And that ending is siiiick.
They're Coming for You - Whoa, what a ride! Talk about unexpected endings.
Lapses - Really entertaining. I could feel the anxiety along with the main character.
And there are many more. Yes, it definitely got me in the mood for the spooky season.
Oh, and unpopular opinion: the one by Clive Barker, which according to the reviews is one of the best of the bunch, was among the ones I liked least. Oops.
I say give it a go if you're into horror. Though I don't know how easy it'll be to find it.
June 13, 2020
3.5 stars, rounded down because I honestly didn’t retain all that much from these short stories. They span topics and perspectives, and remind horror readers that the definition of the beloved genre doesn’t always cling to monsters in the dark—but in all honesty, I wasn’t terribly impressed by a majority of these stories. Barker is one of my favorite authors, and I’ve enjoyed Straub and Bloch—Strieber has been on my list for awhile and I will be sure to revisit him after reading “Pain”, the closing story in this collection—but even their stories left something to be desired in my opinion. Foe the most part, I wasn’t impressed by these stories. Maybe I’m missing something more grandiose here.
Favorites:
“The Monster” by Joe Halderman
“Lapses” by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
“The Bell” by Ray Russell
“Reaper” by Robert Bloch
“Pain” by Whitley Strieber
Favorites:
“The Monster” by Joe Halderman
“Lapses” by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
“The Bell” by Ray Russell
“Reaper” by Robert Bloch
“Pain” by Whitley Strieber
August 8, 2020
Excellent mid-1980's original horror anthology edited by Dennis Etchison, one of horror's greatest short-story writers. Stand-outs include "The Monster," a rare foray into horror from Joe Haldeman (The Forever War, Forever Peace) that embeds its supernatural horror in Viet Nam.
There's also a superior tale of religious angst and the common fear of getting lost in Ramsey Campbell's "The Hands." Les Daniels journeys into short fiction for a weirdly hilarious take on ghostly vengeance, "They're Coming for You." Chelsea Quinn Yarbro offers a disturbing tale of disintegrating memories and consciousness in "Lapses." In all, a solid anthology with very few misfires. Highly recommended.
There's also a superior tale of religious angst and the common fear of getting lost in Ramsey Campbell's "The Hands." Les Daniels journeys into short fiction for a weirdly hilarious take on ghostly vengeance, "They're Coming for You." Chelsea Quinn Yarbro offers a disturbing tale of disintegrating memories and consciousness in "Lapses." In all, a solid anthology with very few misfires. Highly recommended.
October 16, 2021
A fairly entertaining anthology of horror! Each of the stories kept my interest, some more-so than others. My particular favorites were:
“They’re Coming for You” by Les Daniels
“The Hands” by Ramsey Campbell
“Reaper” by Robert Bloch.
“Pain” by Whitley Strieber.,
“They’re Coming for You” by Les Daniels
“The Hands” by Ramsey Campbell
“Reaper” by Robert Bloch.
“Pain” by Whitley Strieber.,
July 11, 2022
I picked this from my library for the Karl Edward Wagner story. It’s a Kane in the 80’s story and hard to find. The rest of the book is a mixed bag, but with names like Robert Bloch, Ramsey Campbell and Clive Barker, you can’t go wrong. Just a bit too uneven and pretentious to rate over 3 stars
October 20, 2018
No lo recomendaria
June 16, 2021
What a gem!!! As with all collections they are not all great but I give it a 5 because the strong stories are very strong.
September 20, 2021
Well written stories.
September 23, 2021
Pues no hay mucho que agregar. Relatos muy buenos la mayoría y de los mejores escritores. Solo con la condición de que te guste el género para que lo puedas disfrutar.
September 23, 2021
Tried to like these stories but fell short. Guess I don’t like short stories…
October 4, 2022
Many of these stories feature psychological horror (of which the editor is known), though there are a few shambling monstrosities present.
November 20, 2023
DNF
Bailed
Notes elsewhere...
Bailed
Notes elsewhere...
February 11, 2024
No Stephen King, no party
February 9, 2024
La temática de los relatos de esta antología es muy variada. Desde asesinos hasta fantasmas y monstruos, de pactos con el diablo a la Parca, de vampiros a extrañas terapias sadomasoquistas.
Algunos relatos me han gustado muchísimo, otros me han parecido simplemente entretenidos y otros me resultaron algo confusos y no me enteré bien de qué iban.
Mis favoritos son:
-Almas perdidas, de Clive Barker
-Rosa azul, De Peter Straub
-La última piedra, de William F. Nolan
-La guadaña, de Robert Bloch
En "Almas perdidas" nos reencontramos con el detective privado Harry D'Amour (El Señor de las Ilusiones, El Gran Espectáculo Secreto) que está dando caza a un demonio. En "Rosa azul" un niño hipnotiza a su hermano menor, pero la cosa se le va de las manos y decide llevarlo hasta el límite. El relato guarda una estrecha relación con la novela "Koko" de Peter Straub.
En "La última piedra" alguien está recreando los asesinatos de Jack el Destripador, y en "La guadaña" un hombre hace un trato con la Muerte: vivirá un año más por cada persona que mate.
Estos cuatro relatos son auténticas joyas, el resto son bastante olvidables.
Algunos relatos me han gustado muchísimo, otros me han parecido simplemente entretenidos y otros me resultaron algo confusos y no me enteré bien de qué iban.
Mis favoritos son:
-Almas perdidas, de Clive Barker
-Rosa azul, De Peter Straub
-La última piedra, de William F. Nolan
-La guadaña, de Robert Bloch
En "Almas perdidas" nos reencontramos con el detective privado Harry D'Amour (El Señor de las Ilusiones, El Gran Espectáculo Secreto) que está dando caza a un demonio. En "Rosa azul" un niño hipnotiza a su hermano menor, pero la cosa se le va de las manos y decide llevarlo hasta el límite. El relato guarda una estrecha relación con la novela "Koko" de Peter Straub.
En "La última piedra" alguien está recreando los asesinatos de Jack el Destripador, y en "La guadaña" un hombre hace un trato con la Muerte: vivirá un año más por cada persona que mate.
Estos cuatro relatos son auténticas joyas, el resto son bastante olvidables.
October 13, 2020
Ok. Después de una relectura pude apreciar mucho màs esta antologia de relatos de terror. Tenemos aquì varios autores muy grosos como Clive Barker, Peter Straub y Ramsey Campbell (entre otros) y nos presenta varias historias muy interesantes entre las que destaco:
Almas perdidas por Clive Barker (Aqui tenemos una historia del detective de lo paranormal "Harry D'Amour" y
con el dato de que solo se publico en español justamente esta colecciòn)
Rosa Azul por Peter Straub (Relato corto muy "perturbador" que al parecer sirve de precuela para otro libro llamado KoKo)
El Monstruo por Joe Haldeman (A mi parecer es el relato lovecraftniano de la colecciòn)
Vienen a por ti Les Daniels (Muy bueno incluso teniendo muy poquitas paginas)
La ùltima piedra por William Nolan (Nos cuenta una historia dònde "reaparece" un mítico asesino)
La guadaña por Robert Bloch (En uno de los ùltimos relatos se aborda la pregunta: "Que pasarìa si pudieras hacer un trato para vivir màs ?" Este es de lo màs reflexivos y con un buen final.
Almas perdidas por Clive Barker (Aqui tenemos una historia del detective de lo paranormal "Harry D'Amour" y
con el dato de que solo se publico en español justamente esta colecciòn)
Rosa Azul por Peter Straub (Relato corto muy "perturbador" que al parecer sirve de precuela para otro libro llamado KoKo)
El Monstruo por Joe Haldeman (A mi parecer es el relato lovecraftniano de la colecciòn)
Vienen a por ti Les Daniels (Muy bueno incluso teniendo muy poquitas paginas)
La ùltima piedra por William Nolan (Nos cuenta una historia dònde "reaparece" un mítico asesino)
La guadaña por Robert Bloch (En uno de los ùltimos relatos se aborda la pregunta: "Que pasarìa si pudieras hacer un trato para vivir màs ?" Este es de lo màs reflexivos y con un buen final.
March 8, 2015
Una recopilación con sus altibajos pero con una muy interesante mezcla de narrativas, recomendable para quienes no hayan salido del horror clásico aun y quieran acercarse a las corrientes mas modernas (aunque no contemporáneas)
Read
August 22, 2008Cutting Edge by Dennis Etchison (1987)
August 15, 2011
Una buena recopilación de relatos contemporáneos de terror de autores bastantes conocidos.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews