THE WINE-DARK SEA - Robert Aickman


I don't remember when I first read a Robert Aickman story, but I think it was sometime in the mid-to-late 1970's. My reaction then was the same as now ... wow.

Robert Aickman's work is some of the best horror/dark fantasy fiction I've read. These stories are so tightly written - no word or thought wasted - that they are a pleasure to read, despite the dark and creepy tones.

One of the things about Aickman's work is that he trusts that his reader is intelligent and able and willing to read carefully. There's no hand-holding here, and the books aren't full of in-your-face shock or splatter.

It's hard to pick a favorite in this collection because each story is powerful and they're all pretty different. I'd lean toward "The Inner Room" which might be most easily described as a story about a haunted doll house, but it's so much more than that. Like most of these stories, the influence of growing up in Britain during World War II pervades his work.

"The Fetch," set in Scotland, is about as strange and creepy a story as you will ever read.  I loved this, and the closing image will probably stick with you for a very long time.

Aickman was not a prolific writer. In fact there's actually a very small body of work that he's left behind, and if you've never read Robert Aickman but are interested, I'd highly recommend first trying his more well-known collection, Cold Hand in Mind or Painted Devils. However, this will definitely give you and idea as to the nature of his "strange stories."

This is a reprint and I found an old copy of the original The Wine-Dark Sea and I was surprised to see that this newer edition has removed three stories from the book as well as the original introduction by Peter Straub and instead includes a new introduction by Richard T. Kelly and an essay about Aickman.

This edition includes:

An Introduction by Richard T. Kelly 
"The Wine-Dark Sea"
"The Trains"
"Your Tiny Hand is Frozen"
"Growing Boys"
"The Fetch"
"The Inner Room"
"Never Visit Venice"
"Into the Wood"
Growing up with Robert Aickman by Leslie Gardner
About the Author

Looking for a good book? The Wine-Dark Sea is a reprint of a collection of short stories by Robert Aickman, a true master of strange, dark stories.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.

4-1/2 stars

* * * * * *

The Wine-Dark Sea

author: Robert Aickman

publisher: Faber & Faber

ISBN: 9780571311729

paperback, 464 pages

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