This is a bumper crop of short fiction. In the substantial story notes (which I always enjoy) the author mentions the feeling of cracking open a big collection - King's Skeleton Crew, or Barker's Books of Blood, for example, and Children of the Fang does have that vibe. Indeed, it has a LOT of vibes - with each story seeming to pay homage to at least one horror luminary. This isn;t to say that they don't have their own voice - they most definitely do - but that the tradition, or 'genealogy' as L...

These were pretty good! Although it opened with some weak stories, there's also a few gems in here as well. I found the incorrect usage of hyphens a little distracting, though.

Wow. Langan is one of those authors I can be completely certain I'll be drawn into his work, and his latest collection is no exception. My biggest conflict is deciding whether his short stories or his longer fiction is better, and to that I've finally just decided, both. Children of the Fang is a widely varied collection, spanning tone, subject matter, and levels of horror. The recurring theme is a distinct and imitable ability to get under the skin of the reader, unsettle you in every way. It's...

Surprisingly varied but inconsistent collection of stories, several of which are quite short and fragmentary. Quality-wise Langan is head-and-shoulders above his peers and this book shows a lot of creativity. But it’s a little more scattered than previous books. Points for ambitious genre hopping though.

I think John Langan is one of the best weird fiction authors working today or really ever, and it's amazing that he's able to churn out so much work at such a calibre. After dabbling in a couple unsatisfying/less competent weird collections, it was nice to go back to someone who's just rock solid at the craft. But the longer I read, the less excited I felt, until I was kind of dragging myself through the end. I've expressed my annoyance with Langan's previous short story collections for his pred...

Children of the Fang and Other Genealogies, John Langan's fourth collection, comprises twenty-one short stories thematically bound by the author's influences and responses to other writers, particularly given that several of the shorts reproduced here were originally written for homage anthologies to the likes of Robert W. Chambers and Thomas Ligotti or were written with a particular author (and even a few film directors, like David Lynch and Dario Argento) in mind who acted as a compass and ins...

First things first, the introduction to this book, written by Stephen Graham Jones, is so choice. Bonus points right away for mentioning one of my favorite childhood stories ever: The Monster at the End of This Book (narrated by your lovable ol’ pal, Grover).Dr. Jones goes on to say, “John Langan, both delivering us some compelling horror but at the same time interrogating the basic form of horror.”That’s how this collection feels to me too: On its face, twenty-one stories of horror. Underneath

The latest collection from John Langan, who remains one of my favorite living horror writers, is audacious and anomalous for a number of reasons. For one, most of Langan's previous collections have consisted of a handful of longer narratives, often novellas that sometimes rubbed up against short novels. While Children of the Fang has a few of those, including the title story, they're far from the rule, here, where they stand as outliers in a field of sometimes markedly short tales that verge of

Longer review incoming!

Have you ever found yourself staring down from a great height, or gazing into a bright light for too long, only to step back from the edge or turn the light off - and find that you can't quite shake that dizzying feeling of unease? Like some sort of liminal threshold has been crossed, and you need a bit of time to readjust to your surroundings? That was what reading this short story collection was like for me. After only having read The Fisherman (one of my top 5 favourite books), I wanted to di...

John Langan is so freaking good at what it does that it’s almost annoying. He’s one of those authors who’s new books I’ll buy without having read even a single review, because I implicitly trust that I’ll love it, and “Children of the Fang” confirmed that my trust is well-deserved. Langan writes literary horror that is erudite and sophisticated, and I can’t get enough.This most recent collection is best read with keeping the story notes at the end of the book in mind: for each story, Langan look...

Review Appeared in the August 2020 Issue of Booklist and on the blog: https://raforall.blogspot.com/2020/08... Three Words That Describe This Book: immersive, atmospheric lyricalYou can suggest this collection to fans of an emerging class of stellar horror writers who have been inspired by Langan himself such as Usman Malik, Rachel Eve Moulton, and Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

I think the best way to start this is with a comment I made on Twitter a couple weeks ago- I've never read a book so inhabited by worlds. Almost every single story made me want more time with them, more time in those settings, and more time with these characters. I've never read world-building like this before and it blew me away. And not just one world, but over 20 of them, some with ancient histories that go back and some that go beyond.This collection is mostly comprised of stories Langan wro...

That John's new collection CHILDREN OF THE FANG would be brilliant (and freakin' scary) wasn't a question. But, jesus, the audacity, range, scope, and humanity of his imagination within his continued interrogation of genre and literary influence is, frankly, awe-inspiring. The only question for me was how many stories would employ a cactus. (answer: one). I love John's big terrible brain and look forward to eating it one day.

John Langan is almost certainly my favorite living author. But if you are new to his writing I would not recommend starting here. He shines best in the longer form short stories and novel length writings and the short and clippy stories that, for the most part, make up this collection do not do his prodigious talents the full justice that the three other collections he has released do. That being said, the longest story in here, 'Children of the Fang', from which the collection takes its collect...

Oh man, what an epic, diverse, and mostly fantastic collection. This is my third Langan book, and I'm convinced the man is a literary genius, even if he gets a bit carried away by his own indulgences sometimes.When he's on point, Langan writes some of the best short horror in the business. He pulls off some of the most insane story concepts I've ever encountered. "Irezumi" explores Lovecraftian Cyberpunk through tattoos. "Communion of Saints" tells a strangely character driven mystery while feat...

So much great stuff here! Another essential collection from one of the top few horror writers we've got. I also really enjoyed the story notes at the end, and wish more collections included them. Highly recommended.

Excellent collection. Part of the joy of reading this lay in the sheer variety of stories included here. I’ll certainly be checking out Langan’s other collections after this.

John Langan, man. This guy knows what he's doing. The stories within this collection are from a variety of sources, with one original to the collection. The plots and styles are, not surprisingly, varied as a result. Most of the stories here were great; personal favorites include "Sweetums" and the stretch of stories from "With Max Barry in the Nearer Precincts" to "Ymir". The story notes at the end list what authors, directors, etc. he was inspired by while writing them, and it's a solid list o...

John Langan is an absolute genius and treasure that we are not worthy of. This collection of stories is a mind bending, reality questioning, seep into your skin, horror injection that will stick with you. When I had to do things like work, eat, bathe, be normal, I decided instead to read this. And when I finished it I had a tough time not going back and rereading it. There are things in here that you haven't seen and probably shouldn't see, but let's be honest, you'll want to see them because it...