Spectrum 16: Now Fortified with Black Gate!
Spectrum 16, edited by Cathy and Arnie Fenner, was published this month by Underwood Books.
I’ve been a fan of these books since the first, way back in 1994. There are a lot of Best of… anthologies gathering the most acclaimed short fiction each year but, until Arnie and Cathy thought of it, no anthologies collecting the finest art. It was a stroke of genius, and that first volume was a hit. They’ve been at it ever since.
The books are full color and include lush layouts covering Advertising, Books, Comics, Concept Art, Sculpture, Editorial, Institutional, Unpublished — and even a lengthy Year in Review. Spectrum 16 weighs in at 264 pages, and is just $39.95 for the hardcover (I bought mine for $26.37 from Amazon.com). This year the Grand Master is Richard Corben.
Browsing these books is marvelous. Top-notch science fiction and fantasy often sets my imagination soaring, but not in the way that really great artwork can. The editors collect an astonishing array of diverse images from hundreds of gifted artists — pictures that are humorous, baffling, erotic, beautiful, disturbing, breath-taking, and everything in between. Depending on what your imagination is like, these books can be more diverting than a Stephen King novel.
This year is a special treat because the editors have seen fit to include Malcolm McClinton’s cover to Black Gate 13 in the Editorial section — in all its wrap-around glory. “Gladiatrix” was Malcolm’s first cover for Black Gate, and the first wrap-around image we’ve published since BG 3. It’s a knockout piece, and the response from readers was universally positive.
It’s a proud moment for us. I’d like to congratulate Malcolm for being included — and also for a fabulous cover.
Canadian SF magazine 
In addition to eating, putting the finishing touches on BG 14, eating, writing my editorial, and eating, I’ll be stealing a few hours for leisure reading. Thanksgiving weekend usually involves at least a little travel (this year we’re celebrating in Madison, Wisconsin, three hours from our home in St. Charles, IL), so anything too long is out. I need something I can finish in short bursts, in between sequential naps in a big green recliner.
Volume One, From Poe to the Pulps, features Herman Melville, Robert W. Chambers, Edith Wharton, Robert E. Howard, H. P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Robert Bloch and many others. Volume Two, From the 1940s to Now, includes John Cheever, Charles Beaumont, Vladimir Nabokov, Harlan Ellison, Richard Matheson, John Crowley, Stephen King, Steven Millhauser, and over a dozen more.
I am going to semi-repeat myself in my next two Black Gate posts, going over graphic novel versions of material that I’ve discussed over the past few months.
In my favorite month of October, I spent an inordinate amount of time away from my beloved book stores opting for movies and TV instead. Though I rarely pass on a horror flick in either venue, it’s equally rare for me to stumble across an offering that comes close to the entertainment value and overall creepiness of the vintage black and white, Universal Studio classics. 
Harry James Connolly made his first fiction sale with “
Though I had unrealistic high hopes for the remake of The Prisoner, if only because of the presence of Ian McKellan, 
On a more positive note, I just finished Jonathan Lethem’s 
In today’s mail arrived the December 2009 
Conan the Hunter
with my good friend ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}