Fearful Symmetries

Ellen Datlow, an acclaimed science fiction and fantasy editor, was born and raised in New York City. She has been a short story and book editor for more than thirty years and has edited or coedited several critically acclaimed anthologies of speculative fiction, including the Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror series and Black Thorn, White Rose (1994) with Terri Windling. Datlow has received numerous honors, including multiple Shirley Jackson, Bram Stoker, Hugo, Locus, and World Fantasy Awards, and Life Achievement Awards from thexa0Horror Writers Association and the World Fantasy Association, to name just a few. She resides in New York. About Inferno More anthologies like Inferno , and its predecessor of a few years ago, The Dark , should be urgent priorities. It's very clear that horror at short length is poised for a major revival, and the commercial stimulus must, as here, be applied, and on a large scale...---Nick Gevers, Locus Magazine "...one of the best recent collections of horror as literature." -- Carl Hays , Book List Inferno will undoubtedly stand the test of time to become a classic in the field. ... Inferno is a monument to all that horror fiction is capable of.--Nicholas Kaufmann for Fearzone About Fearful Symmetries "I ...cannot say enough good things about the exceptional talent and overall quality that comes to life within the pages of Fearful Symmetries ."--Jess Landry for Hellnotes "One of the best horror anthologiesxa0I'vexa0ever read." --Alan Baxter for Thirteen O'Clock "... Datlow has assembled an eclectic mix of horror, fantasy, and quasi-science fiction stories, with a good measure of selections that fall between and just outside of those distinctions. About the only thing the tales have in common are their exceptional quality of storytelling." Stefan Dziemianowicz for Locus --This text refers to the paperback edition. From my introduction:xa0Introduction xa0 xa0 Fearful Symmetries was funded by Kickstarter, a crowd funding mechanism that has in the last few years increased inxa0 popularity. Why did I do this rather than use a traditional approach to publishing an anthology? I've rarely had problems selling theme anthologies to book publishers. Before a publisher commits to buying a book (novel, single-author collection, or anthology) the publisher must sell the book to its marketing and sales people, who in turn have to sell it to bookstores. But non-theme anthologies xa0have always been a hard sell, and it's even more difficult it today's publishing climate. xa0 Using Kickstarter was an experiment. I've donated to several Kickstarter projects, but had never been involved with one before. I approached Brett Alexander Savory and Sandra Kasturi, owners of the Canadian ChiZine Publications, to partner with me on the project. I thought they'd be a good match for what I had in mind because I enjoy what they publish and I love their production values and commitment to good-looking books. They also have excellent distribution, which means their books are available in most bookstores. This is important, so that the book is available to the general reading public, not only our several hundred backers. I was delighted (and relieved) when we reached our goal, and shocked when we went above it. The one thing we'd forgotten to factor in to our financial estimates was the percentage paid out to Amazon, who handled our payments, and to Kickstarter itself. So the money that went over our initial requirements went for that. xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0 xa0I solicited some of the writers I've worked with in the past and also a few whose work I've admired but never published before. And in a break from my usual working method, Brett, Sandra, and I decided to hold a month-long open reading period. We promised to keep at least a couple of slots open for unsolicited stories submitted during that period. We received 1,080 submissions. There were several readers, including Sandra and a prominent Australian publisher/editor. Of those 1080 submissions, 119 were passed on to me. I ended up buying four. xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0 Every anthology is a balancing act, be it reprint or original, theme or unthemed. xa0While I love editing themed anthologies, there's something especially challenging and fun molding an anthology with fewer boundaries. The editor has to be even more aware of varying tones, themes, voice, and locale in the stories she acquires. xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0 So what can you look forward to in Fearful Symmetries? There are monsters--human and non-human. There are children -those who victimize, and those who are victims. There are supernatural horrors, psychological terrors, nourish dark fantasies, and downright weird fictions. xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0 Come on in, and make yourself a cozy little nook in the dark, and enjoy. --This text refers to the paperback edition. Read more