  | Book Details Title: Fighters of Fear: Occult Detective Stories |
Book DescriptionAbout the Author Mike Ashley is the award-winning author and editor of more than one hundred books, and is one of the foremost historians of popular fiction. His books include Adventures in The Strand: Arthur Conan Doyle and the Strand Magazine, Out of This World: Science Fiction But Not as You Know It, and the biography of Algernon Blackwood, Starlight Man. Read more Customers Review:Over the last year I’ve really gotten into occult detective stories and until recently I didn’t know there was a whole sub-genre for them! I saw this book available for pre-order and I ordered it.I’ve read 5 of the stories so far. Very pleased. Mike Ashley did a good job picking out a wide variety. There’s 31 different stories, each by a different author. So this is a really good introductory collection. In fact, I had only heard of 4 of the 31 authors before getting this book, so it was nice getting a wide variety.I have already gone out and purchased a collection of stories by two of the authors.Another thing I like about this volume is the introductions. There’s an short but interesting introduction to the volume, but in addition to that, each story has an introduction that gives you a brief background about the author and the detective, including dates. The dates are very helpful because the stories range from the 1800s to 1990. One minor thing, but I would have liked it if the editor had put the specific date of the stories in there. Some introductions have it, some don’t. But that’s a minor detail. The dates can be found in the 5 paged “Copyright Acknowledgment and Story Sources” found at the end of the book. This is really nice information, as not only does it include the date the story was published but also where it was first published. This information, however, would have been much better included right above or below the introductions for each story. Instead, they are listed on those 5 pages in seemingly random order (it’s actually alphabetical by author last name, but the title of the story is listed first, so it makes it look random). This is the biggest complaint I have about this book, and this is a very minor thing.This is my first book produced by Talos Press, though it’s owned by the same company that owns Night Shade (even has the Night Shade website on the back cover). I have several other books produced by Night Shade and they make a solid book. The paper used seems good and the binding is good. The covers did crease immediately upon opening, which is going to happen with such a large book (2 inches thick), but there doesn’t seem to be any problem with the binding. The font is crisp and very easy on the eyes.In retrospect, I kind of wish I had splurged for the hardcover edition instead of the paperback. This is an attractive book and a nice addition to my growing library. I highly recommend this for anyone looking to get into occult detectives. | |
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