Any solid speculative anthology should contain a tale or two by Stephen King. "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut" takes one of those slots in my collection.
What's not to like about a sprite of a feisty woman whose obsession with shortcuts takes her into an age-reversing alternate dimension? That narrative voice, a first-person piece told through the eyes of an older caretaker, is just quintesessntially King. At times humorous and horrific, and always atmospheric and unsettling, this is one of his finest.
I think that description of the ghastly frog the size of a large dog is one of my favorites in weird fiction (saw a Colorado River Toad at the zoo this past weekend--that sucker was a monster!)...
To date:
"Mrs. Todd's Shortcut" ~ Stephen King
"Voluntary Committal" ~ Joe Hill
"The Pear Shaped Man" ~ George R.R. Martin
"The Small Assassin" ~ Ray Bradbury
"Professor Gottesman and the Indian Rhinoceros" ~ Peter S. Beagle
3 comments:
Oh excellent, an imaginary anthology! I'm always making up these kind of lists and make-believe anthologies in my head.
Some great choices so far - I've read three of the five. You obviously have good taste so I'll look up the others...!
This is shaping into a special, special collection. Keep 'em coming.
Good Morning, Aaron and James,
Thanks for dropping by! I love these little exercises myself. I used to read slush as an editor at the Clackamas Literary Review, and I always wondered how a collection of all my favorites would shape up.
I suppose I'm about 25% of the way there!
Post a Comment