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Laird Barron

The Imago Sequence and Other Stories Paperback – January 1, 2009

by Laird Barron (Author)

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To the tradition of eldritch horror pioneered and refined by writers such as H.P. Lovecraft, Peter Straub, and Thomas Ligotti comes Laird Barron, an author whose literary voice invokes the grotesque, the devilish, and the perverse with intensity and astonishing craftsmanship.

Collected here for the first time are nine terrifying tales of cosmic horror, including the World Fantasy Award-nominated novella “The Imago Sequence,” the International Horror Guild Award-nominated “Proboscis,” and the never-before-published “Procession of the Black Sloth.” Together, these stories, each a masterstroke of craft and imaginative irony, form a shocking cycle of distorted evolution, encroaching chaos, and ravenous insectoid hive-minds hidden just beneath the seemingly benign surface of the Earth.

With colorful protagonists, including an over-the-hill CIA agent, a grizzled Pinkerton detective, and a failed actor accompanying a group of bounty hunters, Barron’s stories are resonant and authentic, featuring vulnerable, hard-boiled tough guys attempting to stand against the stygian wasteland of night. Throughout the collection, themes of desolation, fear, and masculine identity are played out against the backdrop of an indifferent, devouring cosmos.

Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller, a national bestseller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors.

Print length

256 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Night Shade
Publication date

January 1, 2009
Dimensions

6 x 0.9 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

1597801461
ISBN-13

978-1597801461
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"If you think there aren't any new Richard Mathesons or Harlan Ellisons out there, you need to read Laird Barron."

Bestselling Author of A Prayer for the Dying --Stewart O'Nan

About the Author

Laird Barron: Laird Barron is the author of two collections: The Imago
Sequence, and Occultation. His work has appeared in
many magazines and anthologies. An expatriate Alaskan,
Barron currently resides in the wilds of Upstate New York.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Night Shade; 1st edition (January 1, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1597801461
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1597801461
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.9 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #233,664 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #453 in Horror Anthologies (Books)
- #754 in Fantasy Anthologies
- #2,280 in Hard-Boiled Mystery

Customer Reviews:
305 ratings

About the author

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Laird Barron

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Laird Barron is an expat Alaskan. Currently, Barron lives in the Rondout Valley and is at work on tales about the evil that men do.

(photo courtesy Ardi Alspach)

Customer reviews

5 star		67%
4 star		16%
3 star		9%
2 star		6%
1 star		2%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Joseph

Nothing Special, Sorry

Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2020

Verified Purchase

You will see some high praise calling it genre defining or that Barron is the best in the genre currently. This is true, if you've only read term papers written by Lit majors in college. This is his earlier works so I will cut him some slack but as is well known with Barron, he overuses the same elements again and again and some of it just isn't even comprehensible. Especially true with his first collection. Nothing original, nothing moving, nothing that scary. If you're the type to get jumpy on a childs haunted hay ride then sure this might be spooky enough for you. If you're expecting genuine horror and skilled writing, look elsewhere. What saves it is that it's only ~$10. I won't be buying any more Barron to keep in my collection though at any price.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

The Imago Sequence and Other Stories

Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2021

Verified Purchase

I enjoyed stories in The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All so I bought The Imago Sequence and Other Stories. While there is plenty of inventive story telling here, I found this volume to be rather uneven compared to The Beautiful Thing. The good stories are very good, but the way the narration leans so heavily on alcohol and cigarettes gets rather tedious. Barron has a predilection for noir and those are standard props in that genre, but page after page where half of the action taking place is lifting either a drink or a smoke starts to get wearisome. The real problem though is the clunkers here. Unlike The Beautiful Thing, there is a sharp delineation between the first string stories and the second stringers. For example, Procession of the Black Sloth is a bit of a slog to get through and doesn't come close to the level of Shiva, Open Your Eye. All in all, a good volume, but some stories probably didn't deserve to be here.

Helpful

J W Donley

Genre Defining Collection!

Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2017

Verified Purchase

Long ago, back about a decade ago, I worked at a big box book store. There I saw this book on the shelf which stood out from all of the others. The image on the front was intriguing and I had to have it.

The stories did not disappoint. As a fan of Lovecraft, I absolutely enjoyed the cosmic horror. But these had a more modern taste and, unlike Lovecraft, the characters are more realistic.

This man is at the head of modern horror and, since coming across this book years ago, I've voraciously sought out every title Mr. Barron puts out.

If you want to experience quality modern horror be sure to start here.

9 people found this helpful

Helpful

Peter Olafson

Four superb stories and some close calls

Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2015

Verified Purchase

Barron’s storytelling skills are in full bloom in this first collection. “Old Virginia,” “Hallucigenia” and “Bulldozer” are first-rate horror tales. Especially “Bulldozer.” Its air is thick with inevitability and the end just masterful in its deadly economy. For my money, this stands with later Barron classics like “Mysterium Tremendum” (from Occultation) and “The Siphon” (from Beautiful Thing).

And then there’s “Proboscis.” I didn’t quite get it at first; the epiphany and the terrifying scene that follows seem at first to come out of nowhere. (Notwithstanding, it threw a good scare into me.) Now I’m thinking that not quite getting it may be the point and I’m liking the story better and better for it. I’m still not sure whether I should be piecing together the insect lore or piecing together signs of incipient burnout in the narrator.

Some close calls. I like those, too. (Even when Barron is slightly off, he’s on.)

Endings can be an issue here. “Shiva -- Open Your Eye” is wonderful for as long as it stays on point. But having reached its summit, Barron goes on four more pages and, expanding the scope, diminishes the effect.

Similarly, I liked the title story quite a bit, including the ending, but the lead-in to the ending felt expedient. (A stranger in a strange land shouldn’t wind up in exactly the right spot.)

And I think I know what Barron was after in “Procession of the Black Sloth” -- something akin to the slithery cross-cultural dread that powered the better of the “Grudge” films. Alas, he doesn’t quite get there -- someone has to spell it all out for us at the end -- and I’m tempted to interpret the story’s drawn-out quality and relative tameness as signals of tentativeness.

“The Royal Zoo Is Closed” and the closer “Hour of the Cyclops” are minor fare I’ve already visited with other guides -- though well-written and for better or worse Barron does innovate a bit in the latter with a lightly funny tone.

Finally, while “Parallax” seems a frequent favorite among other readers, I couldn't make a connection. Not even close. There’s just something inauthentic in its bloodstream that holds me at bay. The sense of intimacy -- both mine with the protagonist and the protagonist's with his wife -- pulled up short of the mark.

A first for me with Barron's work -- and thus a not-uninformative experience in itself.

8 people found this helpful

Helpful

Kerriell

Creepy for sure.

Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2016

Verified Purchase

I am not going to detail every story (it's been done here already), just give an idea of why I think these stories might give you a good scare, Constant Reader. I bought this late last night and have only read the first three stories and rate it a five already, how have I not heard of this writer before!? I was digging around and following links when I found him on the interwebs.
I have been a devoted fan of horror since about the third grade when I found Alfred Hitchcock's Ghostly Gallery in my school's library and have been on the hunt for new ways to shake things up (mentally) ever since. Unfortunately, much current horror is slasher- and torture-porn, which honestly, I think anyone with even minor writing skills can pull off. It simply isn't scary to me. I don't mind blood and guts if it contributes to a story line, just not so it's the whole point of the story. I prefer my horror more subtle; a creeping, unsettling feeling that things are just not right and maybe haven't been all along and then it all goes down the s*itter from there. I particularly liked William Hope Hodges' House on the Borderlands, very strange and creepy. It can be read for free on G ute nb e rg . c o m. Crouch End and "N" by S.K. were also quite good, so if you've read those and liked them, I think this might do ya.

5 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

markovski

I won't rest 'til everyone's read it

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 22, 2020

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There's lots of cracking books. I always go back to 'Black dogs' by Ian McEwan and 'A meal in Winter' by Hubert Mingarelli. Their prose is the most sumptuous chocolate.

'The Imago Sequence' is added to my small pool of re-reads. I get whisked away by Barron's fluid style. He brings everything to the table and I think 'The Imago Sequence' would be a different reading each time.

This book is absolutely fantastic. I've not been this enthused since Barker's 'Books of Blood'. Barron's imagery is really something else.

My only regret is that 'The Imago Sequence' went under the radar for so long. I'd heard Laird Barron's name; the excellent 'Black Wings...' series was my first outing in his unique Universe.

So pleased there's a large back catalogue. Final words: you really must read 'The Imago Sequence'. It's broad enough to cater for 'the everyman' but pure delight for Horror fans.

Absolutely fantastic...

One person found this helpful

West-side of the Dee

a seamless blend of horror noir and crime and the Cthulhu Mythos

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 5, 2022

Verified Purchase

I’ve never read anything by H P Lovecraft or any stories influenced by or based around the Cthulhu Mythos. Therefore, I started reading Laird Barron’s ‘The Imago Sequence’ with slight apprehension. The writing itself was never in question. Barron is a master craftsman, arguably one of our best living writers regardless of genre. From the very first paragraph, I knew I was in safe hands. And became more convinced of this as the stories progressed. His sentences sing, seamlessly blending genres, crafting stories that are both literary and entertaining.

Yes, the Lovecraftian influences are there, but so are the influences of Peter Straub, M. R. James, Jim Thompson, and a host of crime, noir, literary and horror writers. Yet Barron doesn’t just borrow from this venerated list, he creates his own style, creating a unique cosmos that is thought provoking, insightful, and highly entertaining.

These are stories about men and women who while battling, and in many instances, succumbing to the darker side of nature, the uncanny, the horrors of the ancients, are also fighting the darkness inside themselves, the past, age, vanity, mortality, and all the human ineptitudes that haunt them.

jonathan ward

an acquired taste.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 15, 2018

Verified Purchase

I'm a huge fan of Lovecraft, Thomas Ligotti and Adam Nevill, all writers who can create weird and unsettling imagery, and I was hoping for something of the same from Laird Barron, especially with everyone raving about this book. And I expect I'll eventually finish the book, seeing as how I've only two stories to go, but I'm not in any rush to do so. People have commented on his different style, which for me only works occasionally, and some of the horror is truly creepy, but I know deep down that this is a collection of short stories that I'll never re-read, unlike Lovecraft, Ligotti or Nevill, whose short stories beg to be read again and again.
If you can get a copy from a library, check it out, it may be just what you were looking for. But for me, genuine horror stories are so hard to find.

One person found this helpful

Michael P Crouch.

For followers of Lovecraft.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 25, 2015

Verified Purchase

Its the first time I've read anything by Laird Barron and was pleased to find this book of stories very good. I was surprised to find he's rather like a modern H P Lovecraft (a horror writer I've always been fond of) and intend to try more of his books.

Phil Devereaux

The Imago Sequence

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 10, 2014

Verified Purchase

Comparisons to Lovecraft,although valid,are missing the point.Laird Barron has a style and vision all his own.The 'hard boiled' horror writer tag is doing him a great disservice.

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