The Secret History of Fantasy

The Secret History of Fantasy (2010) edited by Peter S. Beagle

This is an interesting collection of short stories, by some very good authors. I can’t say all the stories were to my taste, but they were all very good.

The anthology opens with “Ancestor Money” by Maureen F. McHugh which is a story of the afterlife, where the afterlife of a simple country woman meets the Chinese afterlife. It was an odd yet compelling story, and one that–assuming the afterlife was as presented–makes a certain kind of sense. We are becoming a global world, so traditions and idea meld and it’s certainly possible that the surviving kin of a country woman might well burn money in China.

Gregory Maguire’s story “Scarecrow” was good, but not particularly to my taste, which perhaps explains why I’ve never been able to get into “Wicked.” This continues the Oz theme, from the point of view of the Scarecrow as he develops awareness and eventually meets Dorothy. Not quite sure what it is I didn’t like, because the story that was happening behind the Scarecrow meeting Dorothy was very interesting. Perhaps his writing style simply isn’t my thing,.

Patricia A. McKillips story “Lady of the Skulls” was another interesting one. It unfolds slowly, as we learn what the Lady of the Skulls is doing there, how she got there, and possibly how the men who throw themselves at her tower might survive.

T.C. Boyle’s “We Are Norsemen” was another somewhat strange story. Well, I take that back, they were all very strange stories, they were all just strange in different ways. This one reads more like an excerpt from a Norse saga, with all the murder and mayhem and destruction that entails. I suppose it’s a supposition on what might have been.

“The Barnum Museum” by Steve Millhauser was another unsettling story, not that it was scary or frightening, but because it was, in a way, a discourse on life. I can’t really think of a better way to put it. The Barnum Museum is an amazing place, because of–or perhaps despite–it’s amazing qualities. From what I know of PT Barnum, it sounds like just the kind of place he’d have liked to have created.

Steven King’s “Mrs. Todd’s Shortcut” is not a scary story. A bit unsettling perhaps, and quite surreal in places, but not scary. And I liked the very idea of it.

Francesca Lia Block’s story “Bones” was yet another unsettling story. Bluebeard and something else entirely. And it was followed by the even more unsettling “Snow, Glass, Apples” which is one Neil Gaiman story I have never liked–it freaks me out too much.

“The Empire of Ice Cream” by Jeffery Ford is an unbearably sad story about synesthesia. Really, that’s the best way to describe it. It’s even sadder than “The Edge of the World” by Michael Swanwick. The world is mostly as we know it, except that it’s flat–you can fall right off the edge and down into nothingness forever. And that edge is what Donna and Piggy and Russ decide to explore one hot summer day.

Susanna Clarke’s “John Uskglass and the Cumbrian Charcoal Burner” I found very amusing, which was a nice change of pace from all the sad stories that came before it. And that is followed by “The Book of Martha” by Octavia E. Butler which isn’t sad and isn’t scary but is about God.

Robert Holdstock’s “Mythago Woods” was another very good, yet disturbing story. I’m not sure what it is about this collection that made my so uneasy, but this story is another prime example of it.

The final story was Kij Johnson’s “26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss” which I very much liked. Slightly sad, and yet I found its ending lovely.

All in all, an excellent collection of stories, albeit one I don’t recommend reading when you’re depressed.
Rating: 8/10

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