Product Description: Aliens... Angels... Demons... Zombies... Ancient Evils... Modern Horrors... These are MADMEN'S DREAMS.
Eric S. Brown and D. Richard Pearce present a deranged collection of 34 horror and sci-fi tales so startling they could only come from the nightmares of the insane. Brown and Pearce take the reader into the darkest corners of the madhouse in these tales that run the gamut from classic horror and science fiction to intense action and psychological terror. "Madmen's Dreams" is a peek at the inner workings of an unstable mind.
Good, engaging, and yes, short! I've read and enjoyed a lot of Brown's work, wherein his shorter stories generally consist of a grim one-two punch. I don't find anything wrong with that - but when mixed in are a few of his longer works, the ones where the characters and plot are developed more deeply, it can leave the other stories feeling lacking. That said, MADMEN'S DREAMS is nonetheless a fun, brisk read.
good anthology This horror-science fiction anthology consists of thirty-four for the most part ultra short stories (mean average length is 4.2 pages) that are predominantly written by Eric S. Brown as D. Richard Pearce contributes two solos and three collaborations. The tales run the gamut of horror and science fiction from A (angels) to Z (zombies) with plenty of supernatural and alien stops in between. The bloodsuckers bring a new meaning to "Family" while Zombies display how high the price of gas can become and tyro Demons attend "Hells Daycare. Most of the stories are well written, but in this minuscule format no character develops beyond their front fangs. Overall a solid cross section of the two genres, MADMEN'S DREAM is a fine collection though at times readers will believe longer formats would have suited the contribution like the "Underdweller" and "Last One Standing".
Harriet Klausner
Awful, just awful The stories are far too short to get any pleasure from. They read like somthing a 12 year old has written. I remember being at school being told stories consist of a beginning, a middle and an end then writing a story with a paragraph for each section. That is exactly how these stories are written.
Save your money and the weeks of waiting as they print this book for your. If you want a good horror read try Richard Matheson, I am Legend. Or if your after short stories try the book of flesh trilogy.
A great and relevant collection of scenario based horrorr Eric S. Brown's storys, once you get used to their format, are intriguing and insightful. His stories are usually short, some just one and half pages, and that took some getting used to on my part. After reading the first half of the book I was a little bit mad. many of the stories could have been expanded into novellas or novels or movies or ANYTHING. He just gives you a taste of a world so finely crafted and drawn...and then takes it away! But i wouldn't have been mad if i didn't like the stories. I just wanted more. By the time I finished the book it didn't bother me so much. You got to go from one strange place to another and you didn't have to invest 3 weeks reading a book. You could easily read 4 or 5 stories a night and go to bed well spooked. Richard Pearce shows upat the end and holds his own using humor and a higher word count than Brown but of the 35 stories, i think 32 or 33 are from Brown so it's mainly his party. If you like Zombies, Vampires, etc. this book will be a welcome treasure. It had stories that reminded me of X-Files episodes as well as The Stand, The Time Machine, etc. My only bit of advice to Brown would be this...EXPAND!!! There are AT LEAST 7 short stories in this collection that would make EXCELLENT stand alone Novels. I don't have the book in front of me so i can't cite the Title but the story about the man holed up in an abandoned gas stattion who befriends a coyote as zombies take over earth would make an excellent novelas would the story of the human who is seen as the "real" monster by the majority zombie population. Very twilight Zone-esque. I loved it.
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