Gothic Wine

by Darren Speegle

In Darren Speegle's collection Gothic Wine, we encounter specters and incubi, unnatural children and maddened artists, succubi and mysterious strangers, all present in the classically resonant yet... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0970622538
• ISBN13: 9780970622532
• Release Date: June 2004
• Publisher: Aardwolf Press
• Length: 218 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Age Range: 17 years and up

Customer Reviews

Warped European Tales...unique voice

Darren Speegle is one of the most intriguing voices active in genre fiction. This collection centers on the unobtrusive theme of wine. The stories are not all about wine, but the wine flows through them and enriches them, and is never too far from the surface. Some of the unique flavor of Speegle's work is in the mix of cultures, Americans in Germany. Americans in France. While the landscapes and conflicts encountered in these tales are no less surreal than those of contemporary authors writing more homespun fiction, they derive a sort of "permission" for their oddness from experience just beyond the ordinary. Cultures collide, generations of history collide. The result is a very satisfactory mix of literary voice and grim, seedy surrealism. The lead story in this collection, "Chasing Fuseli," takes familiar literary trails in unique directions. It dwells on the disintegration of a man's life and mind while, at the same time, blending in the influence of artist Henry Fuseli and his painting, "The Nightmare." You are left uncertain throughout this piece whether the protagonist is writing from a perspective within this reality, or in some other, with the counter-rhythm of his wife's voice pleading and teasing throughout. Very inventive. Other standouts are "End of the Line," a story of a village and its madness, and "Red View," about an artist who may or may not have painted red into his painting, and the woman who provided the color. This one shows off a common thread of Speegle's work - the strange relationships between characters that seem to slip in and out of real-world perception. Enigmatic women who lead protagonists astray. Possessed and obsessed lovers and warped landscapes that lead to places just off the maps we are familiar with while staying in sight. Speegle's stories disturb by their ability to associated truth as we know it with slightly warped versions that skew reality. Darren Speegle's prose is elegant and sophisticated. Each story is disturbing enough to leave a mark and literary enough to appear in a school textbook without raising an eye. This is a wonderful collection by a talented author. Highly Recommended.

An incredible book

Nowadays most horror writers concentrate on gore at the expense of literary quality. Not so with this collection. These stories haunt you through their atmosphere, their settings, their language. It's the finest single-author horror collection since Poe. My favorites are "Porta Nigra," "Chasing Fuseli," "Der Tod," and "The Wholesome Scent of Cedar." You may have a completely different set of favorites. Each story is so well-done, so intricately plotted and perfectly paced, it's like a tiny novel in itself. My strongest recommendation.