Gratia Placenti: For The Sake of Pleasing
Edited by Jason Sizemore and Gill Ainsworth, trade paperback, 194 pgs, $15.95, 2007
(also available in hardcover, for $30.00)

EDITOR'S NOTE: Today, Steve Vernon reviews Gratia Placenti. Tomorrow, Gabrielle Faust has her say!


I'm a hard-sell on anthologies. There's usually too damn much fluctuation in style, content and skill. However, I was surprisingly pleased by this fine little collection of tales.

Gratia Placenti is a Latin phrase that means, as the subtitle suggests, "For the sake of pleasing". I'm not necessarily happy with the title. I don't feel that every story necessarily followed this theme. However, the stories were pretty entertaining, thematically correct or not.

I find the best way to tackle an anthology review is to dig right in and tick the stories off one by one. Hopefully, I won't tick too many writers off in the process.

The first story, "Translation" by Geoffrey Girard is a post-apocalyptic tale of mood, despair and purpose as protagonist Keller, (sounds like killer), breeds his own peculiar form of paranoia. Basically, the protagonist feels that he might be somehow inspiring world-wide chaos and destruction in the service of some dark unseen master. It is a gripping tale and a fine beginning to the anthology.

"Follow the Canary" by Athena Workman is a sci-fi yarn with a kind of Heavy Metal, Mobius, Cholly and Flytrap flavour. The vivid imagination this yarn encompasses absolutely enthralled me. This piece was one of my favorites in the collection.

"Crasher" by Debbie Kuhn was a haunting little tale about a man who must come to terms with his guilt. Kuhn's prose is musical and terrifying and this well worth the read.

"Some Glue Never Dries" by David Niall Wilson is a creeping cloying tale that takes a look at what Charlotte Perkins Gilman might have discovered if her protagonist had found the nerve to peel back the irritating bit of wallpaper. Wilson never disappoints this reviewer and I guarantee that this tale will stick with you.

On the other hand, "The Cutting Room" by Shane Jiraiya Cummings was a wet little gothic "gotcha" fable that seemed a trifle perfunctory in scope. It left me wanting a little bit more.

"Bright Red Razors" by Teri A. Jacobs also fell short for this reviewer. I found there was just a little too much Gothic angst and this story was definitely not my favourite.

"Party Makers" by Adrienne Jones demonstrates her impeccable tale-telling talent as she brings to the table a cosmopolitan cocktail shaker full of irony, handjobs and sibling rivalry. I love a good clown story and this one is slick and chilling; a charmingly balanced mixture of the light and the dark. Horror is hard, humor is hard, the two of them together are damned near impossible but Jones makes it look easy.

"Them's Good Eats" by JA Konrath. What can I tell you? Konrath rocks with the best of them. This is a high cholesterol, low brow, finger licking dish of just desserts - fast food served up quicker than you can say "space tasers". There is nothing like a good old fashioned redneck yahoo trailer trash hillbilly meets unidentified flying object jamboree. I snorted pig grizzle and chittlings and chuckled the whole way through.

"Something Wet" by James F. Reilly. For those folks who have ever wondered just what sort of a story William Gibson might have written for a Penthouse Forum letter column, this one will surely fit the bill.

"Popup Killer" by Bev Vincent. Admit it. Everybody has got somebody they'd love to see vanish. Maybe your brother-in-law, maybe that guy in the office who talks too loudly, maybe that online troll you'd love to get rid of, or maybe even Greg Lamberson. (heh-heh). Just suppose you could do it. Make somebody vanish. Bev Vincent's sharply crafted textbook-perfect tale of comeuppance will let you know just what might go wrong.

"Only Spirits Cry" by R. Thomas Riley damn near made me cry. This was a haunting atmospheric tale that seemed to barely scrape the surface of the story and begged to be expanded into a novella, at least. Riley is surprisingly comfortable in this soft and sticky Southern Gothic fantasy. Some of the pieces don't quite fit together but I believe a little more elbow room might have made this story soar.

"Tomorrow and Tomorrow" by Mary Robinette Kowal is the closing piece of this anthology. The story is a futuristic O'Henry style yarn that slips the scalpel in on the last line and will demand an instant reread. A definite dropkick to the solar plexus.

So, in closing, I have to say that I recommend you pick up this solid little collection.

I believe you'll be pleased.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I'm watching you, Steve! We'll see if Gabrielle Faust suggests my demise in her review tomorrow.