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FALL OF THE OLD HOUSE OF HORROR?

review of new horror anthology edited by one of the stars of the genre

Date published: 1/4/2009

I HOPE AND PRAY that my old college English professors are too busy to read this review of "Poe's Children: The New Horror," a fine collection edited by Peter Straub that includes a story by an old favorite of mine--I must admit--Stephen King.

Thirty years ago, when I was supposed to be reading Thomas Pynchon, John Updike and Vladimir Nabokov for lit classes, I often could be found in the campus coffee shop, or on the 'quad,' with my nose in a Stephen King book.

If "Poe's Children" is any indication, the "new" horror is in good hands, with such other established terror talents as Jonathan Carroll, John Crowley and Ramsey Campbell representing the genre.

But it's King's entry, about an author with a gremlin in his typewriter, with its sure-handed pacing and story-within-a-story construction, that goes straight to the head of the class.

King, a voracious reader himself, whose eclectic picks for Best Books of 2008 were in his Dec. 12 Entertainment Weekly pop-culture column, has said that if you don't have the time to read, you don't have the time or the tools to write.

If you can't find the time to read "Poe's Children" all the way through, do yourself a favor: Make sure not to miss "The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet," a story by a grand "old" master of horror--Stephen King.

Then you'll see what this "new" horror thing is all about.

Kurt Rabin is a copy editor at The Free Lance-Star.

POE'S CHILDREN: The New Horror: An Anthology By Peter Straub, editor(Doubleday, $24.95)

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Date published: 1/4/2009