Hornets & Others

By: Al Sarrantonio

Narrated by: Scott MacDonald

The things that live in the Earth...A haunted computer...A fragrant flower that signals the end of the human race...Billy the Kid's killer beginnings - in the womb...

Here, then, are 17 remarkable horror stories by Stoker Award winner, World Fantasy, British Fantasy and International Horror Guild Award finalist Al Sarrantonio.

In Hornets & Others you'll find a murderous jar of moonshine, a blood-red wind, a green face that commands carnage, a possessed coat that turns its wearer into a psychotic slasher. Plus two brand new stories, about a man made of glass and a horror beyond the stars!

Also the title story: The acclaimed novella "Hornets", the very first tale in the Orangefield cycle, about the warmest Halloween ever, and the orange-and-black-striped insect that brings death to the town of Orangefield.

And much more...

Hornets & Others is a veritable feast from a practitioner of the art of modern horror who has been called "A true creative wonder. An artist." (Horrorstruck magazine), "A very talented writer." (The Washington Post), and "A writer of great stories!" (Raymond E. Feist).

©2011 Al Sarrantonio (P)2020 David N. Wilson

Capsuled Weirdness

The stories here are ironic oddities and twists on conventions that feels like a cartoonish horror science fiction anthology. Appropriate to the short story format many of them feel experimental and weird. Not to judge a collection by the worst of it’s tales some of them feel too literal like one of a guy who wakes up to find he is simply made of glass and how the world reacts (it’s a curious ideal but out of the blue and with a progression that doesn’t seem anything more than a surreal prompt and silly end) or another with a revealing twist involving green skin. Another much better tale takes vampire tropes and subverts them cleverly or will make you think twice about cold weather wear. The initial ‘Orangefield Cycle’ tale (‘chapter 17’) is a nicely paced mystery more restrained than I expected with a more complicated take of family distress and creative frustration embellished with festive Halloween garb. Narrator Scott MacDonald has a grandfatherly ironic voice that works well for the material with a slight country tone. A minor peeve with the audiobook is that each segment is labelled ‘Chapter 1-17’ rather than the title of the story so it’s takes some cross referencing or guesswork to revisit a specific tale.

ALL TREATS NO TRICKS!

I LOVE Al Sarrantonio.
This book starts Sarrantonio's infamous Halloween Horror trilogy ( plus this book too, making it a... um... a really BIG trilogy!)

This collection showcases several really WEIRD TALES from horror to 'dark Sci-fi' (?) and one amazing Halloween novella that is so good it kick-started Al Sarrantonio's HALLOWEEN horror trilogy aka "The Orangefield Cycle"

Review coming OKAY, but first... I just figured out Al Sarrantonio wrote one of my all time favorite horror novels.... and lucky you have to hear about it.

BEST ORIGINAL HORROR TALES
Back in collage I bought a paper back of "Moon Bane" that I enjoyed so much I kept it in my physical library of hard covers.
It's an action-horror apocalypse tale like no other - mixing a classic monster with a "War of the Worlds" vibe (and not one zombie in sight thank gawd!) Sarrantonio is way too original for that. He doesn't go along with the herd, but blazes his own trails of surprising genius. Pure genius.

BEST HALLOWEEN BOOKS
So, when I was seeking out the best "Halloween" books I could find, I discovered he had not only written some great collections of Halloween stories, he had also written a whole series! It's about a small town "Orangefield" - The series is called the "Orangefield Cycle"
(BTW Orangefield is not called orange because they grow oranges. It's because they grow pumpkins, of course. )

READ 'EM ALL - DARN IT
After reading this one, I've started collecting all his books. So far I've not been disappointed, not even once. Al Sarrantonio's uniquely weird ideas are always a treat.

All treats no tricks.