I Read Books: Ars Gratia Sanguis
Ars Gratia Sanguis
This is the 6th Great British Horror anthology Steve Shaw* has put out; this year the theme is art, bloody art**. The contributors took the brief seriously. They’re all British to varying degrees (some rooted in particular times and places, others more generically). They all revolve around pieces of art. Some fairly straightforward haunted or demonic paintings, others odder and more complicated works.
A good mix and some really cool stories. I especially enjoyed Sarah Lotz and Having A Benny, which references Cold War Steve’s collages. Steve Duffy’s The Acolyte’s Triptych works effectively while running down some well worn tracks, the inevitability of events as more and more bad signs emerge heightening the tension. And Stephen Volk riffs off a famous story in this genre, to great effect.
This is some good horror, by good authors who if you aren't familiar with offer an introduction to their work.
Read This: Blood, art, horror, what’s not to like? (Britain
did you say?)
Don’t read this: You like nice paintings of maybe flowers or
dogs or something
* Full disclosure: Steve and I have been friends for so long
that when we first met Margaret Thatcher was still Prime Minister
** I haven’t done a lot of research on Latin for this review
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