Painted Devils, by Robert Aickman ***1/4

Aickman is this summer's main discovery, probably the biggest literary discovery of 2007. The other new author I read this summer was George R.R. Martin, but I already knew who he was. I had been searching for an Aickman book for a while but never came across any at used bookstores until I was down in Chicago at this great bookstore I'd last been to four years ago when I first moved to the Midwest. Anyway, I found Painted Devils, which I hadn't intended to be my first Aickman purchase (explanation below), but since I'd been trying for a year to find something of his, I took what I could get.

Two good things about this book that I noticed before reading the first story:
1) awesome hand-drawn, B&W cover by Edward Gorey, with a couple of crows and a spectral-looking character that just gives the feeling of creepy old stories
2) all the stories are about 25-30 pages, which is about my favorite length for this material because it's long enough to create a complete experience but short enough to read in a single sitting. In my experience, this size yields the best horror stories.

Then I read the first story, sitting in my new favorite reading chair with my morning cup of coffee, and realized immediately that I was reading the work of a master of subtle horror. Aickman's writing compares favorably with Algernon Blackwood in terms of tone and ideas, though this is probably a more consistent collection than even Blackwood's best - there are no stories here that dip below about a **3/4. Nothing hits the highs of Blackwood's "The Willows" or "The Wendigo", but Aickman's "The View" comes close. Aickman's exquisite control of language and detail are a joy to read even when the overall story idea is mediocre, which only happens in a couple of cases. More often, Aickman's ideas are strangely fascinating and unexpected.

Another thing I really appreciate about Aickman is that his writing is more than simply entertainment. There's a pervasive sense of melancholy throughout these stories that makes the reading experience more poignant. The material seems to be functioning both as subtle, nuanced horror and social commentary at the same time.

My only real complaint is that Aickman's writings are available in two ways: either through several collections that don't have all of his material or in extremely expensive editions of the original books ($200 and more each). Painted Devils is one of the collections, and contains writings from several of his books from the 60s and 70s. I have since also purchased Cold Hand In Mine, which is the only widely-available original collection of Aickman's. Since I am almost certainly not going to buy the expensive editions, I am going to be tortured by the fact that there are stories of Aickman's that I may never read. I always try to avoid "greatest hits" collections, but in Aickman's case I don't have much choice. Very annoying.

SO - while I strongly recommend Aickman, I would encourage potential readers to search for Cold Hand In Mine first, which even though I haven't yet read it I can say that it will almost certainly be good. That way, at least, if you happen to be wealthy, you can then purchase the originals instead of the collections like Painted Devils. If you're not ever likely to putchase a $200 book, then I guess it doesn't matter.
(Summer 2007)

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