Ashes and Entropy

by Robert S. Wilson (Editor)

Nightscape Press is proud to present ASHES AND ENTROPY edited by Robert S. Wilson, an anthology of cosmic horror, noir and neo-noir including stories by Laird Barron, Damien Angelica Walters, John Langan, Kristi DeMeester, Jon Padgett, Lucy A. Snyder, Matthew M. Bartlett, Jessica McHugh, Tim Waggoner, and many more. Ashes and Entropy will be beautifully illustrated by Luke Spooner.

Our Kickstarter campaign ends very soon and we have many exciting and rare rewards to share with you. So, please, stand on the precipice with us as we prepare to dive down through the event horizon into the bleak and mind-shattering void of both the cosmos and of humanity.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Anthologies, Lovecraftian, Weird Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction

325 pages, Paperback

First published December 11, 2018

About the author

Robert S. Wilson was an author once. Now he spends every day trying to swim out of an unending slush pile and back into the dark moneyless void of being a writer. He continues to fail. He’s also the editor of Nox Pareidolia and Ashes and Entropy.

Robert's short fiction has appeared in numerous publications including ​Vastarien: A Literary Journal, ​Nature Futures, Daily Science Fiction, ​Factor Four Magazine, ​Dark Moon Digest, Test Patterns: Creature Features, 32 White Horses on a Vermillion Hill: Volume One, Cosmic Scream, Darkfuse Magazine, Gothic Lovecraft, and more.

Reviews

[Janie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fully immersive and intoxicating mix of cosmic horror, calamitous wonder and gritty twists of fate. Each author in this collection creates situations that make us believe the impossible in an intimate fashion. Every story is forwarded by an illustration that entices us further into the unknown. This collection is a must for every seeker of dark possibilities.

[Karl]

Contents:

Interior artwork by Luke Spooner

007 - "The Gray Room" - by Tim Waggoner
019 - "The Head on the Door" - by Erinn L. Kemper
031 - "Flesh Without Blood" - by Nadia Bulkin
045 - "Scraps" - by Max Booth, III
059 - "Yellow House" - by Jon Padgett
065 - "What Finds Its Way Back" - by Damien Angelica Walters
079 - "We All Speak Black" - by Lynne Jamneck
095 - "Ain't Much Pride" - by Nate Southard
109 - "The Choir of the Tunnels" - by Matthew B. Hare
115 - "Amity in Bloom" - by Jessica McHugh
129 - "Red Stars / White Snow / Black Metal" - by Fiona Maeve Geist
159 - "Shadowmachine" - by Autumn Christian
175 - "The One About Maggie" - by Greg Sisco
185 - "Breakwater" - by John Langan
203 -"For Our Skin, a Daughter" - by Kristi DeMeester
213 - "Houdini: The Egyptian Paradigm" - by Lisa Mannetti
225 - "Girls Without Their Faces On" - by Laird Barron
230 - "Dr. 999" - by Matthew M. Bartlett
251 - "Leaves of Dust" - by Wendy Nikel
259 - "The Kind Detective" - by Lucy A. Snyder
269 - "The Levee Breaks" - by Jayaprakash Satyamurthy
275 - "I Can Give You Life " - by Paul Michael Anderson
317 - Acknowledgements

[Panagiotis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Το Ashes and Entropy είναι μια ανθολογία διηγημάτων τρόμου, από συγγραφείς οι οποίοι για τον ανυποψίαστο βρίσκονται στην αφάνεια. Ωστόσο, ανάμεσα στα πολλά νέα ονόματα, ο ενημερωμένος αναγνώστης θα αναγνωρίσει πολλούς από αυτούς που είναι στην προμετωπίδα της άνθησης που γνωρίζει ο χώρος. Ναι, ο τρόμος περνάει μια άνθηση, μια χρυσή περίοδο, περισσότερο λογοτεχνική και λιγοτέρο δημοφιλίας, και βιβλία σαν αυτό είναι μια τρανή απόδειξη. Φυσικά, ο κόσμος δεν θα σταματήσει να διαβάζει σαχλαμάρες. Τα αναγνωστικά κίνητρα όπως όλα τα κίνητρα της πλειοψηφίας του κόσμου είναι άγνωστα. Οι άνθρωποι χορεύουν στα χέρια κάποιας υπερκόσμιας οντότητας με άγνωστες βλέψεις, και τέτοιοι συγγραφείς αμφιβάλλω αν θα γίνω παραέξω γνωστοί.

Οι ιστορίες του βιβλίου κινούνται σ' έναν πολύ υψηλό επίπεδο, ακόμα και για τους για συγγραφείς οι οποίοι ακόμα δεν έχουν κάνει το προσωπικό εκδοτικό τους ντεμπούντο. Με ελάχιστες εξαιρέσεις, τις απόλαυσα όλες, κάποιες περισσότερο. Δεν θα κρυφτώ, ο ένας λόγος που αγόρασα το βιβλίο είναι οι συμμετοχές των Laird Barron και John Langan. Oι αινιγματικές του ιστορίες βίας, μυστηρίου, αλλόκοτου, κοσμικού τρόμου με δόσεις hard boiled, του πρώτου, και ο κοσμικός, λαβκραφτ-ικός τρόμος του δεύτερου, τους καθιστούν γκουρού, με συγκλονιστικά μεγάλη αποδοχή. Τον Barron τον έχω κατατάξει ανάμεσα στους πέντε αγαπημένους μου συγγραφείς, και η συμμετοχή του στον τόμο, Girls Without Their Faces On, είναι ένα διαμάντι. Όπως κάθε τι που γράφει, με άφησε ταρακουνημένο και μαγεμένο την ίδια στιγμη. Άλλες ιστορίες που ξεχώρισα ήταν το "Ain't Much Pride" του Nate Southard, το "Dr. 999" του Matthew Bartlett και φυσικά το Breakwater του John Langan.

Δεν είναι ένα εξαιρετικό βιβλίο, δίχως να σημαίνει ότι δεν είναι καλό. Αντιθέτως ήταν πάρα πολύ καλό. Αυτό που είναι εξαιρετικό είναι πως προσφέρει με ένα μικρό αντίτιμο την ευκαιρία να γνωρίσεις συγγραφείς και πιθανώς να ξεχωρίσεις κάποιους οι οποίοι θα γίνουν τα αυριανά σου αναγνώσματα. Εγώ ήδη έχω μαρκάρει του Bartleet και Southard, ως πολύ ενδιαφέροντες και θα τους παρακολουθήσω. Ήδη έχω βάλει πλώρη για την δεύτερη ανθολογία που έχει επιμεληθεί ο Robert Wilson, Nox Pareidolia.

[Bill Hsu · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not find the first two stories a promising beginning, and was starting to wonder if this was going to end up on the "abandoned" shelf.

Then Nadia Bulkin makes an entrance with "Flesh without Blood", probably as strong as anything in She Said Destroy. I usually prefer her Indonesian pieces to her middle-American pieces (like FwB), but this is a memorable tale about the tangled relationships between religion, sports, and power. The arc is not surprising, but the main character is nicely sketched, and you just know his unfortunate quest will end in some kind of horrific glory. Why didn't this make the Jackson shortlist for 2018?

The opening of Max Booth's "Scraps" felt unbearably cluttered. Overall, I think he tried to squeeze too much into the story. But after a few pages, "Scraps" seemed to discover its inner Marie Kondo (or whatever appropriate analog for prose), and opened up into a frictionless ride into its darkness. Another nicely drawn protagonist, desperate for redemption, engaging with a mysterious boy who communicates so much, one word at a time. The ending is quite beautiful, but I can't quote it without ruining your experience of the story.

After some largely forgettable stories, and a novelette that I consider laboriously overwritten but probably has lots of admirers among horror fans, Autumn Christian's "Shadowmachine" has some clever comments about our relationship with technology. I'm not sure about Greg Sisco's "The One About Maggie"; I think the voice is very effective, but it really annoys me. (I guess that's the point.)

I know John Langan has a lot of fans here, but it's hard for me to deal with prose like this:

Maureen isn't a size queen (a good thing in Frank's case), but damn, did he know how to use what he had. No doubt, the illicit nature of what they were doing added to its thrill, as in the days to follow he continued to return to her office when she was about to leave, and they added the couch, both her office chairs, and the floor to the register of places on which they stirred one another to shuddering climax.

[Merl Fluin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having read three of these stories for my "42 short stories in 42 days" binge (scroll down for my reviews of those), I came back to finish the rest of the collection, hoping that a complete reading would raise above the two stars I gave it on the strength of those three stories.

Well, I was wrong.

Apart from the Bulkin story I had already read, the only one I really enjoyed was Greg Sisco's "The One About Maggie", which started weakly but became compelling.

The rest was a fiesta of meh. Even the contributions from Jon Padgett and Laird Barron left me cold, much to my surprise. Several of the others were so dull and/or overwritten I didn't finish them.

Maybe the individual stories suffer from being lumped together in a collection where all the authors take the same themed approach to post-Ligotti cosmic horror. Or maybe I'm just not in the mood for this stuff at the moment. Either way, it didn't work for me.


42 SHORT STORIES IN 42 DAYS*

DAY 30: Scraps, by Max Booth III
★★
Maybe I'm just in the wrong mood today, but this one struck me as phony from start to finish.

DAY 29: Flesh Without Blood, by Nadia Bulkin
★★★★
I enjoyed this a lot: it's well crafted, creepy and suspenseful.

DAY 28: The Gray Room, by Tim Waggoner
★★
This self-consciously pessimistic vein of cosmic horror writing seems now to have become not just a convention but a conformity, and I find it increasingly unsatisfying.

*The rules:
– Read one short story a day, every day for six weeks
– Read no more than one story by the same author within any 14-day period
– Deliberately include authors I wouldn't usually read
– Review each story in one sentence or less

Any fresh reading suggestions/recommendations will be gratefully received 📚

[Mike D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ashes & Entropy kind of snuck in there during the last days of 2018 and because of the busy season many of us may have missed it, but despite its late entry it is without a doubt one of my favorite anthologies of short horror fiction from 2018. Ashes & Entropy delivers jaw-dropping cutting edge horror from some of the best and brightest literary talents working today. Full stop. This isn't some average, just fine thank you, there was a good story or two, horror anthology. Seriously, did I mention its got John Langan, Laird Barron, and Jon Padgett? Nadia Bulkin, Kristi DeMeester, and Damien Angelica Walters? Click here to read more about Ashes and Entropy at Signal Horizon

[Suz Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

ASHES AND ENTROPY is a great collection of cosmic horror stories. The project was funded through Kickstarter and resulted in offerings of a handsome color paperback with the choice of three different covers.

While each story is unique and a worthwhile read, several pieces became my favorites of the collection including “The Gray Room” by Tim Waggoner, “Scraps” by Max Booth III, “Shadow Machine” by Autumn Christian, “The One About Maggie” by Greg Sisco, and “The Kind Detective” by Lucy A. Snyder. Waggoner’s story is about addicts in search of the ultimate high. Booth’s looks at a different kind of hunger in the face of loss. Christian’s feature’s a group of kids whose unique qualifications and calling are channeled into a toxic love with the power to destroy everything. Sisco uses a cool narrative style to deliver a dose of karma. Snyder’s protagonist’s eyes are opened to a new purpose.

My favorites of Luke Spooner’s color illustrations are those that accompany “The Levee Breaks” by Jayaprakash Satyamurthy and “Breakwater” by John Langan.

This impressive collection contains a special something for all readers of horror and noir.

[Sam Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an unthemed weird anthology, akin to Looming Low from Dim Shores. Fans of contemporary weird fiction will recognize a few names: Laird Barron, John Langan, Kristi DeMeester and many more. It spans a number of different subjects, ranging from a "sports horror" story from Nadia Bulkin to a very interesting Kaiju/Cthulhu story from Lynne Jamneck. Damien Angelica Walters has a phenomenal story, as do Greg Cisco and Max Booth III. Dr. 999, from Matthew M. Bartlett is my favorite story from him to date; and I can't quite think of anything Jon Padgett has written like his "Yellow House" in this little anthology.

This one will probably make the award rounds later in the year, so I'd recommend getting it now.

[Frances · Rating 4 out of 5]

This anthology is fantastic. It's been a while since I read such unabashedly strange horror, with such a range of tones and styles. Definitely preferred some stories over others, but even the ones not to my taste were amazingly written.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5 Stars)

[Curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cool book. Bought if for the new Laird story but still enjoyed all the other offerings. Familiar faces like John Langan and Nate Southard also gave stand-out stories, but the best of the collection was a tale called Shadowmachine from an author I hadn't heard of before named Autumn Christian. Overall, it's worth picking up for fans of Weird Fiction.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mild 3* for this one.As anthologies go, it was typical - some stories were good, some were fair, some were poor. This collection contains numerous speculative and cosmic tales, but also several that are hard to quantify or are just plain weird. The first nine entries are fairly decent, with the standouts being "We All Speak Black", a cross-genre South African Lovecraftian tale by Lynne Jamneck, and"Ain't Much Pride" by Nate Southard, a loosely Lovecraftian story that shines as one of the very best in the book.
For the remaining stories, he quality goes mainly downhill. I ended up skipping through three of them that were long, confusing and boring. Laird Barron, of whom I've never been a fan, surprisingly makes a short contribution for him, and one that isn't too difficult to grasp, although I would still call it an average entry. By far the star of the anthology is saved for last with Paul Michael Anderson's "I Can Give You Life", a soft of cosmic/folk mashup taking places several decades back. If you find yourself skipping through some of the weaker stories, don't skip over this one.

[Gavin · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's 3.5 stars... probably, but there wasn't a real "whoomph" story in the collection, you know? There was only one really bad one (Red Stars / White Snow / Black Metal), and also one that felt uncannily like an old Zack Parsons SA frontpage article (Dr. 999). The rest mostly fell into "meh/fine" territory, nothing I regret reading but nothing to ruffle the hair, either. Even my boy John Langan's story felt like a bad phoned in echo of Sefira.

Shout outs:

What Finds Its Way Back was actually legitimately frightening. You know what's coming from the first page and it does and you really feel for her, actually had me glancing over my kindle at the bedroom which just doesn't happen to me anymore.
Ain't Much Pride is my favourite kind of "cynical hardass confronted with eldritch horrors" story, ending wasn't terrific but the tone was perfect.
Girls Without Their Faces On was Laird Barron running at peak performance, really enjoyed this part-revenge part-monstrous transformation of victim story. Very well told.

The rest... eh. Fine. It's a thumb sideways lads.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished this for High Fever Books. So my full review will go there, but holy crap do yourself a favor and get this book! One of the best anthologies I've read in a very long time. I'll post a bit of my review here, but seriously, just go get the book.

There’s something terrifying about the unknown. It can be anything, hidden anywhere, and have an agenda that we can’t understand. In Ashes and Entropy, edited by Robert S. Wilson, we find ourselves appreciating this fear while trying to search for what is just outside of our vision. Twenty-two amazing authors take us on a journey into cosmic horror and neo noir giving us one of the best anthologies to come along in a very long time. Every story is stellar as they explore new and exciting ways to haunt us.

The unknown can encompass a lot when it comes to storytelling. We could go from something as simple as what’s in the basement all the way up to some ancient cosmic god that is the size of a solar system. I believe this is what makes Ashes and Entropy truly stand out, it doesn’t matter how small the unknown might seem, when you have to face it down, it is terrifying. A child could come up to you in an alley asking for food, pretty harmless, right? But in Max Booth III’s Scraps it becomes a gang of children asking, not leaving you alone, following you home. Or you could be looking for a fix, like in Tim Waggoner’s The Gray Room, and find yourself experiencing the death of the universe. It’s all scary when you are no longer in control and there’s something much bigger finding a use for you.

[Armand Rosamilia · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with any collection of short stories, there are always going to be hits and misses. The hits far outweigh the misses in this collection. Only a couple of the stories meandered and fell flat for me, most above average and more than making up for them. Highlights for me include tales from Tim Lebbon, Paul Michael Anderson and Tim Waggoner, although there are so many more great stories in this one.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to debate myself on rating this book 3 or 4 stars, but ultimately, I have to give it 4. The stories in here that were good were outstanding. Standouts to me include John Langan's, Nadia Bulkin's, Paul Michael Anderson's, Greg Sisco's, Lucy A. Snyder's, and Tim Waggoner's. There were other that I liked, as well, but there were a few duds in this collection. I won't name those names, because I don't feel that's necessary and I don't want to seem mean spirited about not liking a person's story.

My biggest complaint about this collection was that it was advertised as cosmic horror and neo-noir, where many of the stories fell short of one of those in favor of the other. Maybe it's my own poor understanding of what it means for a story to be considered neo-noir, but many of these stories seemed to be straight horror, and sometimes not even cosmic horror. Most were still perfectly good stories that I enjoyed, but I felt primed for a certain thing and I often felt like I didn't get that thing. I think this anthology would be made better with a more selective editing process, but that's obviously only my opinion, and you can't please everyone.

The book itself was beautifully made. I bought the full color paperback with the second alternate cover, and I can't get enough of the artwork. It's fantastic. I also had excellent customer service from the publisher, and as such, they have won a customer for life.

[Tomasz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn, was that a trip and a half! Almost no missteps in the TOC, the best crowdfunded project it was my pleasure to throw money at (but then, I still haven't read Nox Pareidolia and a few others, so this is a momentary assessment). Thumbs up all the way.

[~ Lei ~ Reading Is An Adventure ~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

★★★☆☆ ~ 3 Stars
Nothing really stood out, ok anthology.

[David Thirteen · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some amazingly strong and powerful stories in this collection. Although not every story hit me as hard as some, they were mostly all worth reading. There was only one where the writing style put me off and I didn’t finish, which is pretty good for a diverse collection of 22 tales. Ashes and Entropy is presented as being cosmic horror, but it treats this theme quite broadly. I didn’t mind that, but it may not meet some readers’ expectations. I read the colored illustrated edition and it was a beautiful book, with stunning images and lots of attention to detail. This is an easy book to recommend to lovers of short horror fiction.

[Joseph VanBuren · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an awesome collection of cosmic horror, weird fiction, and neo-noir, and every story in this anthology is amazing in its own way. I am not sure I've ever said that before. I love anthologies, but there is usually a dud or three. Not in this one. While I did enjoy some more than others, every story is well-written. 22 twisted tales from some authors I already liked and a bunch I'd never read before. If you like weird and/or creepy short stories with a side of poetic prose, this is a must-read!

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had some time this afternoon and wasn’t all that excited to pick up the novel I’m working my way through, but it was cold and raining and I wanted to read, so I bought the kindle edition of this book, which I’d very much been looking forward to, and picked three stories to read almost at random. I read two by authors I’d never heard of before, and one by an author I’d been wanting to read but hadn’t had the chance to delve into yet. I think it bodes very well for this collection that all three were stunning, beautifully written, enthralling, and full of all the existential dread and cosmic horror that’d you’d expect from these authors. All. Three.

Also of note is that all of these noir, neo-noir, cosmic horror with a Lovecraftian tilt stories are brand new. In most anthologies, you get a fair number of reprints, but this is all new material. Not only is that something to look forward to, but it’s eing sold at a great price. Fans of Lovecraft, cosmic horror, the weird tale, and noir: I highly recommend you pick this up.

For my full, in depth review of one of the stories, “We All Speak Black” by Lynne Jamneck, check out my website, The Miskatonic Review, here: https://miskatonicreview.wordpress.co...

[Tony Ciak · Rating 5 out of 5]

delightful romp in current fiction - nice moment in time by quite a few authors. Wonderful.

[Amy Mills]

Starting with the stories in the Tor Lovecraft reread, then I'll probably go back and start from the beginning with the rest.
The Gray Room by Tim Waggoner
The Head On the Door by Erinn L. Kemper
Flesh Without Blood by Nadia Bulkin
Scraps by Max Booth III
Yellow House by Jon Padgett
What Finds Its Way Back by Damien Angelica Walters
We All Speak Black by Lynne Jamneck
Ain't Much Pride by Nate Southard
The Choir of the Tunnels by Matthew B. Hare
Amity In Bloom by Jessica McHugh
Red Stars / White Snow / Black Metal by Fiona Maeve Geist
Shadowmachine by Autumn Christian
The One About Maggie by Greg Sisco
Breakwater by John Langan
For Our Skin, A Daughter by Kristi DeMeester
Houdini: The Egyptian Paradigm by Lisa Mannetti
Girls Without Their Faces On by Laird Barron
Dr. 999 by Matthew M. Bartlett
Leaves of Dust by Wendy Nikel (4 stars, 4 tentacles) - Nicely written tale of isolation, and escape from isolation.
The Kind Detective by Lucy A. Snyder
The Levee Breaks by Jayaprakash Satyamurthy
I Can Give You Life by Paul Michael Anderson

[Ben Rogus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did you hear the one about Maggie?

One of many great stories in this anthology. There are some strange and horrifying, yet interesting tales in this book. I liked Erinn L. Kemper's piece about two friends refinishing a house that manifests a supernatural phenomena connected to local disappearances; other pieces that stuck out for me include sci-fi like horror tales from Lynne Jamneck and Autumn Christian, and a gangster-at-sea story by Nate Southard. Lucy Snyder's tale about a lovable detective investigating strange “natural” disaster occurrences was unique and stood out for being both warm and fuzzy and cosmically weird at the same time. Greg Sisco's story about a bad girl who does a bad thing and then meets a shape shifter while attempting to flee the scene of her crime is outstanding. Laird Barron's piece is cool, as it takes place in Alaska and involves a cult. I feel like it could have used an introduction by the editor, though, to describe the linkage between stories as seen by the publisher.

[Cat Voleur · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't love every story in this collection, but it was more than worth it for the several entries that really took my breath away.

Some of the standouts for me were "Amity in Bloom" "Shadowmachine" and "The Leevee Breaks" although there were many others that got me very invested.

I was surprised at just how many stories were included and how much range they covered in terms of perspective and content alike.

The stories that felt weaker to me were less appealing because of my personal preferences, and not because of quality. I think there's something in this collection for everyone, and even my least favorite entries were well-written with a little something to ponder.

[John Vance · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would probably rate this a five, but there were several pages in my copy that had a weird double print that made it unreadable. And it happened at the end of a few stories too. Yeesh. The beauty of it though is that I was completely sucked in to these stories, and just as I flip to the final page, boom. Can’t read it. So they certainly did their job making me keep turning the page, but then I was absolutely let down with no pay off a couple of times. I do recommend this collection though, wholeheartedly.

[Jack Clubb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had been seeing this guys name a lot around lately for writing amazing short story’s. I had gotten this book about a month ago and just read Breakwater by John Langan. I’m a bit lazy at ever writing reviews I have to tragically admit, but I tell you, read that story. It’s what you came here for.

[Mulkurul]

Girls Without Their Faces On by Laird Barron ☆☆☆☆

[Markthulhu · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a top-tier list of authors, many of which I count as my favourites, yet for some reason this anthology just felt dull and plodding. It's not you, Ashes and Entropy; it's me :(

[Lu · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75