The Weird edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer

[@InfiniteText]

when I got this in the mail I was instantly intimidated by the 1000+ pages but then I realized a lot of the stories I've read in other anthologies ...I need another mandatory lockdown. Send my love to Roger.

[@peybak]

I think I've read some of these also but I might get a copy at some point.

[@gingerbibliophile]

Vampires, werewolves, and ghosts oh my! That’s close to moving from book to blunt force instrument!

[@szaggasd]

never worry about read time, my friend. Weirdly, you are one of the most consistent youtubers I follow, lean back a little, you're good

[@starstriker1881]

I missed reading books with two columns pages, reminded me of the days of reading Weird Tales. But boyy, its challenging with my old eyesight!

[@Klarkash-Ton]

The Colour Out of Space is the GOAT in my opinion.

[@charliedogg7683]

"Cabinet Of Curiosities" on Netflix, with Guillermo del Toro introducing each episode, adapted Michael Shea's "The Autopsy" and did a great job of it too.

[@MustReadMore]

There are a lot of great stories in The Weird, but the story I think of first is William Sansom's The Long Sheet. It's about prisoners in a steam room who have to wring every drop of moisture out of a huge wet sheet suspended across the room. Also, I really liked Sanitarium Under the Sign of the Hourglass by Bruno Shulz, Alfred Kubin's The Other Side, and Hagiwara Sakutoro's The Town of Cats.

[@kufujitsu]

I like these chunky doorstopper anthologies. I have a bunch of them - & most of them were consistently entertaining. I haven't got The Weird as yet, but it sounds like my type of book... You can devote several months to this book if you want to read right through it, or you can dip into it every now & then & finish it in a year or two. I've already read most of it's older stories in other publications, but it still has enough obscure stories to get me interested - & I haven't heard of many of the newer entries either. Machen's novella : "The Terror" would have been perfect for this anthology - The Terror hasn't been anthologized like his more famous works, such as The White People, The Great God Pan, or The Shining Pyramid - but it is every bit as good IMO. The Terror moves along like a thriller, & it is very atmospheric & weird, as we've come to expect from Machen.

[@tonette6592]

OK, you brought out the writer in me: "The Town Mangler". The person who owns the only wringer in a town of washtubs, but uses the wringer for nefarious purposes. I could run with this. I am surprised Stephen King didn't have this person in the Gunslinger stories.

[@peybak]

"Taint The Meat...It's The Humanity!"

[@AllanSmulling]

I've had that book sitting on my shelf for a few years now. I think this may be the year that I plow through it. :) Roger is looking particularly dapper this morning.

[@LiminalSpaces03]

That one looks fun, going to keep my eye out for it! Thanks for a great video!

[@bookMark2967]

One of my favorite books I own, and it introduced me to some of my favorite authors! I agree with your thoughts on the omissions etc.

[@inanimatecarbongod]

High time that I read this myself, I've had an ebook of it for years that I've never got around to. I kind of regret not picking up the print edition, though I have absolutely no room for it.

[@rickcroucher]

No Machen? No Matheson? Weird.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

@@rickcroucher indeed

[@fiberartsyreads]

I have been very slowly making my way through this book and enjoying it!

[@theramblingreviewer5150]

This is an excellent anthology. I havent read anywhere close to the entirety of it, but my favorite three are "In the Hills, the Cities", "The Willows", and "Summer People" by Shirley Jackson.

[@dreamakuma]

MY FAVORITE BOOK

[@dreamakuma]

This was the first book I read after I got a divorce. It still holds a special place in my heart. It introduced me to "The night wire". Absolutely my favorite book

[@LivingDeadEnby]

I still try to get through The Big Book of Science Fiction by the VanderMeers. I told myself to wait with buying The Weird until I got through the first one. I have read the whole book by Alfred Kubin though, "Die andere Seite", which was really, really good.

[@macavitymacavity]

I'm pretty sure that's how I started reading horror as a kid, via anthology books. The ones I remember most are those "Alfred Hitchcock Presents..." hardcovers. Horror anthology with comics as well, ala "House of Mystery", "House of Secrets", "Witching Hour", etc etc.

[@GrammaticusBooks]

Very much enjoying the Book of the Week videos! Another good one! ....but no Richard Matheson????

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

@@GrammaticusBooks madness!

[@Paul_Bond.]

Hi Michael. I loved this book but one omission that quite upset me actually was Michael Marshall Smith. Haven't been around for a while so it's good to see you on strong form. Happy new year.

[@Zulda7231]

I just ordered a copy. Great recommendation!

[@stephenmorton8017]

I'm currently making my way through one of the best short story anthologies I've ever read. It's called " the world of the short story " selected and edited by Clifton Fadiman. Published by Haughton Mifflin. From 1986. Very hard-hitting short stories. Also contains one from Kafka. Whoda thunk it?

[@vilstef6988]

Great tenticular cover!

[@AmalijaKomar]

Impressive book.

[@vilstef6988]

If it were me, for Bradbury I would've chosen The Lake, The Scythe or Once There Was an Old Woman.

[@vilstef6988]

Martin's Sandkings is also in The Big Book of Science Fiction edited by the Vandermeers.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

@@vilstef6988 they must really like that story.

[@w.adammandelbaum1805]

Zon has it, just ordered it.

[@jannetteberends8730]

Ok, you convinced me. Just bought the ebook. (So, it’s easily to get) And I’m glad it’s in ebook format, cause now I’m older I can’t handle heavy books anymore. And in ebooks it’s easy to adapt the fonts, so I can read without needing reading glasses. 😀 Also downloaded The House of Souls by Machen on the Gutenberg website. Thanks for this video.

[@vilstef6988]

When you namechecked Michael Chabon, I thought I heard a different Michael!

[@glockensig]

Guillermo del Toro's House of Curiosities is what you were thinking of.... Was Nictzin Dyalhis in there?

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

@@glockensig unfortunately, no.

[@glockensig]

That's Soo Weird......

[@freelivefree7221]

I checked this book out from the library multiple times. It's a very good but not perfect anthology. The biggest mistake is not including a Robert E. Howard story. Or a Machen story. They included two Jean Ray stories, "The Mainz Psalter" and "The Shadow Street." I am a big booster of Ray. He is considered the Francophone equivalent of Poe or Lovecraft. He's as good as either at their best when he is at his best. When he's not at his best it is a different story... I liked both stories in the Weird, but I do wonder if they should of only included one and make room for another author like Howard. I have a Robert Barbour Johnson anthology I need to read.

[@glenmcculla6843]

Some of the glaring authorial omissions are Machen me angry. Lovely looking book, mind.

[@redwawst3258]

😊

[@PaulSaether]

Mervyn Peake (My favourite writer) - Got to be 'A Boy in Darkness' (Titus Groan)?

[@fredflintstone1485]

Book of the week is better than the Weakest Book ; oh my :)

[@alpastor6359]

Hey, outta curiosity, is there any good collection with the post-Poe/pre-Lovecraft weird horror guys as a sort of sampler for them?

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

@@alpastor6359 I can’t think of an anthology specific to that period. Lovecraft’s Supernatural Horror in Literature is certainly a good resource for those authors.

[@CodeBrown1.1]

Anyone who enjoyed this should also try the two Black Water anthologies by Alberto Manguel from the 1980s.

[@alanginger282]

Any Tanith Lee?

[@nedmerrill5705]

I'm half-way through H. P. Lovecraft's _The Dunwich Horror._ He's a really good writer; my vocabulary is expanding by leaps and bounds. But I'm wondering exactly _what_ that awful (offal?) odor is he keeps talking about. Better not ask, I guess ...

[@vilstef6988]

Read Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun. That will be a vocab builder too!

[@bucephalas67]

Any Shirley Jackson ?

[@ValzainLumivix]

Yes, The Summer People.