Not as strong of a collection as The Wide Carnivorous Sky, but you can see the development of Langan’s style of a story-in-a-story-in-a-story. Even though I wasn’t enamored with the title story, Mr. Gaunt, the style was enjoyable and I can see how it evolved for later collections and The Fisherman. I only skimmed the final tale, Laocoon, as it was almost 100 pages and didn’t draw me in.

Ok, it wasnt terrible. I appreciated how each story takes on a different "monster", i.e. the reanimated skeleton, the mummy, etc. The author is a big fan of Henry James and tried to write in the same style, but ultimately the stories are unsatisfying. The stories were too long and rambly, in my opinion. The title story is definitely the best, but even that one leaves you with a bit of "so what?" at the end.

4.5, really. Langan's byzantine, beautiful prose sometimes distracts me from the plots. (Not a surprising quality in a James lover.) I have to think about these some more.

This is John Langan's first short story collection (by now he also has a debut novel out). It contains 4 short stories of varying lengths and one previously unpublished novella.Langan has an excellent prose style and a great grasp of atmosphere and character. However, he often stumbles when it comes to introducing the element of the horrific into his stories. The most effective story here, 'On Skua Island' nods to Henry James' 'The Turn Of The Screw' in its structure, and for the most part Langa...

John Langan is my new favorite author. Seriously creepy and unsettling stories (novellas, really).His writing style is new to me and at first, I was thinking, Oh God, just end the sentence already! But the subject matter in the first story piqued me and I continued. Glad I did.Horror isn't my favorite genre, but Langan controls it spectacularly. You won't believe how he wields words and sentence structure. It is truly amazing and gives me hope that writing can be an adventure. But his talent als...

This anthology of stories started off really strong. On Skua Island was horrifying, atmospheric, haunting. It's a new twist on the old mummy story and it stayed with me long after reading. The second story, Mr. Gaunt, was just as creepy but completely different. "No little boy!!! Don't try to peek into the forbidden attic!! You're better off not knowing what's there!" The 3rd story, Tutorial, was quite imaginative and I loved the originality. The story of a would-be student writer struggling wit...

Wonderfully crafted, original tales of terror penned in the grand tradition of great horror fiction.John Langan’s collection of four short stories and a novella is great supernatural fiction, a fine full-bodied mix of the ‘old English ghost story’ and the best horror pulps of the 1920s and 30s. With delightfully rich and sophisticated prose, Langdon masterfully blends traditional elements of horror and dark adventure – from mummies, sarcophagi, and post-apocalypse survivalists -- with modern pop...

Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters (2008) by John Langan, containing the stories "On Skua Island" (2001), "Mr. Gaunt" (2002), "Tutorial" (2003), "Episode Seven: Last Stand Against the Pack in the Kingdom of Purple Flowers" (2007), and "Laocoon, or, The Singularity" (2008):John Langan's 2002 novella "Mr. Gaunt" is on my all-time list of the most startling 'first-time' reading experiences I've had with an author. It's a great, disturbing piece of horror that acknowledges the past (especially He...

I loved The Fisherman so much I immediately sought out all three volumes of Langan’s short fiction. That may have been a hasty decision. I finished this book, but it took me forever and it felt like a slog. There were a couple of very nice stories here, but overall it just wasn’t all that satisfying.

Early John Langan is good John Langan as well, this just in! Who's surprised, though? This is getting a new release soon, but I found my copy in stacks at a used bookstore in DC a couple years back (somehow it had migrated there from the Wichita public library system). While some of it didn't quite hit right, most did with his typical ability to spin words. The biggest misfire for me was Episode Seven; cool story and interesting delivery, but the interesting delivery didn't really work for me. T...

This collection of five (long-ish) stories was quite fantastic. “Mr. Gaunt” the title story was particularly chilling. Mr. Langan’s talent for building tension and developing oppressive atmospheres really shone here. As a surprisingly wonderful bonus, as I was reading I noticed a reference to (what couldn’t possibly be) a landmark right down the road from my own house. Thus, in the age of Google, I looked Mr. Langan up and discovered, in fact, that he lives in my general neighborhood and teaches...

John Langan continually show that he a true artist, seamlessly blending classic sensibilities with modern style. In an intro for this collection, Elizabeth Hand mentions that he invokes not just the classics of the genre, and writing in general (like M.R. James, Henry James, H.P. Lovecraft) but also the modern masters, such as Stephen King and Ramsey Campbell, and is absolutely correct. No one writes modern horror literature like Langan does. He is a truly gifted craftsman of language.The first

Similar to many others, I have also been hugely impressed with this collection, and would like to get hold of the next book by this author. The stories in this collection are:1) On Skua Island: A Mummy/Zombie/ancient-horror story, that succeeds in getting our attention with its old-world charm and once-fashionable-no-sadly-abandoned format of story-telling around the fire. It is very good, and despite its length, is taut & gripping.2) Mr. Gaunt: A horror story involving occult, monstrous uncle a...

A pretty good book if you have the patience for it.I found that it did drag some, especially in the middle, with the first story being the best one in the mix.A very quick review follows.The first story,On Skua Island,reminds me a little of Lovecraft and those who have followed after him.The characters are well drawn and the pace keeps you interested until the end.Mr. Gaunt,which the book is named after,was also an interesting story about an evil uncle and his side-kick who appears to be not wha...

The first two stories of Langan's collection are marvelous recollections of the work of Henry James and M.R. James. Both are told in a Victorian style evoking the old, confident voice of a practiced ghost story teller. "Mr. Gaunt" in particularly, despite it's obvious allusions to Henry reminded more of M.R. James' "Count Magnus" or "Lost Hearts" with themes of the occult's corrupting influence on the family bloodline. The second third of the collection exhibits a more experimental style. "Tutor...

I am a big John Langan fan and this is the second story collection I've read from him, though it was his first published. I do prefer The Wide Carnivorous Sky to this collection as I loved the experimental stories in that and had a blast overall. Having said that, this is still a very good and well-written collection of stories and I very much enjoyed it overall. The title story here is I think one of Langan's best as I loved the creepy atmosphere of it and how it made skeletons creepy as they a...

Full review here: http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com/?p=855

This is one of the finest collections of weird fiction I've had the great pleasure of reading! !!

3.5, rounded up.A solid collection of Gothic and weird tales. The highs are astounding, but the lows... I don't generally work this way, but there are only five stories here so I'll tackle each individually."On Skua Island" is the best story here, hands down, surprising for a mummy story. By focusing on a Scottish bog mummy, Langan rings some cool changes on the theme while still hitting many traditional beats. He also plays with framing and the classic "club story". Not his best work, but aweso...

These felt more like writing exercises than finished, published pieces. While each story had some clever element to its style, they all felt a little too raw and incomplete. The book's end material mentions that these stories were written during breaks in his scholarly work; I think when he wraps up his thesis and can really focus on fiction, he has the potential to turn out some great work. I look forward to seeing this author on the shelf again in a few years.