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Dark Tales of Lost Civilizations Eric J Guignard 9780983433590 Books

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Dark Tales of Lost Civilizations Eric J Guignard 9780983433590 Books

Dark Tales of Lost Civilizations begins with an introduction by the book's editor, Eric J. Guignard. The introduction is very well written. It asks poignant questions, and reads like a cross between a Rod Serling narrative and an article from the National Geographic magazine. In fact, Guignard continues introductions by placing one in front of each story to give it a brief synopsis. This is surprisingly effective and increases the interest by the reader.

This book is not horror. Instead, I would try to type it into a mix of the sci-fi and fantasy genre, along with a large helping of history. The premise of Dark Tales of Lost Civilizations is to showcase different tales of adventure and yes, lost civilizations, some ancient, some more recent and some futuristic. The stories can be compared to those of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World and H. Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines.

Because this is an anthology of twenty-five stories, I don't have room to critique them all. Therefore I will discuss my favorites in the order that they appeared in the book.

"Quivira" by Jackson Kuhl is a colorful and lively story that includes Sioux Native American folklore told with humor. Lyddy was in New Mexico on a quest for gold when "a man who resembles his twin" shows up dead. An entertaining story.

"Quetzalcoatl's Conquistador" by Jamie Lackey is a realistic retelling of an actual historic event that originally took place in the 1500s. Spanish Conquistador Herman Cortez led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire, and this story twists the truth...but only by a little. This is a well-researched yarn that is realistic and exciting.

"Gestures of Faith" by Fadzlishah Johanabas stands out for its beautifully descriptive prose. Johanabas, a neurosurgeon in Malaysa, manages to court us with flowery fiction that includes Isis, Mount Olypus, and an Oracle that talks to Poseidon. This story would appeal to fans of Middle Earth.

"Bare Bones" by Curtis James McConnell is one of my favorites in this book. Fast paced and humorous, this one is in-your-face with action. A two-million-year-old skull is found, or is it? Why does carbon dating say it is old, but its features say it is modern? Is it de-evolution or time travel? My only regret with McConnell's story is that I didn't grab it first for The Horror Zine.

"The Nightmare Orchestra" by Chelsea Armstrong is told from a child's point of view. Skye doesn't understand why his father forbids him to play with "the dreamers." This story contains good character development and is a strange but compelling tale.

"Buried Treasure" by Rob Rosen is another personal favorite. What modern wonders of today will be archaic in the future? A 500-year-old map is the ticket to adventure. On a planet gone dry, water is worshipped as a god. But this water is man-made in a very surprising twist.

I was pleasantly surprised to see a story written by Joe R. Lansdale included in this book, who is one of my all-time favorite writers. And "The Tall Grass" lives up to Lansdale's high standards of quality. I thoroughly enjoyed the character's trip in 1901 on a train that always seems to break down in the middle of the night at a prairie of tall grass. The excitement begins when a passenger decides to explore the grass, and encounters frightening creatures within. "The Tall Grass" is probably the one story in the book that could be classified as horror. A real gem.

Of course all anthologies have their share of clunkers, and this one certainly does. Some of the fiction in Dark Tales of Lost Civilizations delves into so many explanations that the stories are bogged down under the weight of details. Others go off on unnecessary tangents, making me think, "Huh? What is this story about?" And there were one or two that were so slow in pace that my eyes glazed over and I could barely keep them open. I was disappointed that Eric J. Guignard, an accomplished writer in his own right, did not include one of his own works.

But overall, this is an anthology worth your time. Which stories would be your favorites depends upon what timeperiod in history fascinates you the most. Dark Tales of Lost Civilizations seems to cover a lot of interesting ground, from ancient Mount Olympus to modern day. I liked this book and believe you will too. And the price is right: 270 pages for only $14.95 paperback, $3.99 Kindle.

Jeani Rector, Editor of The Horror Zine


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Dark Tales of Lost Civilizations Eric J Guignard 9780983433590 Books Reviews

I've spent the last couple weeks contemplating whether or not to write a review for this book, out of fear of "who" might happen upon it. I've decided now that it no longer matters though, the strange nightmares and visions I've been receiving, even in waking life, proving that the end isn't far off for me. At least I hope it's the end.

Most of the book had been quite enjoyable. A mix of stories about Hernan Cortes and the Witches of Oz made for interesting afternoons. Then, I came upon Königreich der Sorge (Kingdom of Sorrow) written by C. Deskin Rink. I regret not being able to read the rest of the book after reading this particular tale, because I was forced to hurl it into the fire out of sheer terror of what I had just read. The story was about a team of men from the 3rd Reich stumbling upon horrible "things" under the Siberian snow, and while the actual story was un-nerving enough, it was the familiarity of the story that chilled me to the bone.

You see, my late great uncle Julius was in the United States army in WWII. He would always regale us with stories about the war, how he got the tip of his finger shot off, and other tales which, looking back, may have been a bit exaggerated. One time though, Julius told us a story we had never heard before. Apparently, he and his squad had stormed into a castle supposedly occupied by members of the SS. What they found though was a massacre. German soldiers, torn limb from limb, their appendages scattered across the room, along with strange runes written in blood and bile upon the walls. There were treasures and works of art in the room, but all of the boys in the squad being simple, Christian Oklahoma folk, felt too strange and terrified to remove any of the pieces. One thing my great uncle did recall though, was an old book entitled Torzul Balceor, sitting on a table. It appeared, from the manuscripts littering the table, that the Germans had been trying to translate the book at the time they were "attacked", the final page only half complete and covered in blood.

This story scared me as a child, but as I grew older, it became more forgotten until I realized that my great uncle Julius had just been trying to scare us kids. Then I read this book, and saw the name Torzul Balceor. So many similarities. So many connections. Julius had always considered that the attack on the Nazis had been vengeful gypsies, due to the exotic strangeness of what they found, the arcane-pagan runes on the walls, and the book. Turns out, he was wrong. After all these years, that name has come back to haunt me. Now, I'm not insisting that their is any plagiarism going on here on the part of Mr. Rink. I believe the story to be 100% his own. I shutter though when I consider who or, I can't believe I'm saying this, WHAT he was in conference with while doing his research. May the gods forgive the bastard.
Dark Tales of Lost Civilizations, published in 2012 and edited by writer, Eric J. Guignard, collects 25 short stories by some of the most respected and established names in the genre, as well as some authors just coming into their own and starting to make their marks. Quality and variety of the stories are excellent, with tales of ghosts, archaeologists, treasure hunters, explorers, and other adventurers spanning the eras of history. Most have a dark bent to them, though some are rather funny and others quite inspirational. It's simply a great read.
Dark Tales of Lost Civilizations begins with an introduction by the book's editor, Eric J. Guignard. The introduction is very well written. It asks poignant questions, and reads like a cross between a Rod Serling narrative and an article from the National Geographic magazine. In fact, Guignard continues introductions by placing one in front of each story to give it a brief synopsis. This is surprisingly effective and increases the interest by the reader.

This book is not horror. Instead, I would try to type it into a mix of the sci-fi and fantasy genre, along with a large helping of history. The premise of Dark Tales of Lost Civilizations is to showcase different tales of adventure and yes, lost civilizations, some ancient, some more recent and some futuristic. The stories can be compared to those of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World and H. Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines.

Because this is an anthology of twenty-five stories, I don't have room to critique them all. Therefore I will discuss my favorites in the order that they appeared in the book.

"Quivira" by Jackson Kuhl is a colorful and lively story that includes Sioux Native American folklore told with humor. Lyddy was in New Mexico on a quest for gold when "a man who resembles his twin" shows up dead. An entertaining story.

"Quetzalcoatl's Conquistador" by Jamie Lackey is a realistic retelling of an actual historic event that originally took place in the 1500s. Spanish Conquistador Herman Cortez led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire, and this story twists the truth...but only by a little. This is a well-researched yarn that is realistic and exciting.

"Gestures of Faith" by Fadzlishah Johanabas stands out for its beautifully descriptive prose. Johanabas, a neurosurgeon in Malaysa, manages to court us with flowery fiction that includes Isis, Mount Olypus, and an Oracle that talks to Poseidon. This story would appeal to fans of Middle Earth.

"Bare Bones" by Curtis James McConnell is one of my favorites in this book. Fast paced and humorous, this one is in-your-face with action. A two-million-year-old skull is found, or is it? Why does carbon dating say it is old, but its features say it is modern? Is it de-evolution or time travel? My only regret with McConnell's story is that I didn't grab it first for The Horror Zine.

"The Nightmare Orchestra" by Chelsea Armstrong is told from a child's point of view. Skye doesn't understand why his father forbids him to play with "the dreamers." This story contains good character development and is a strange but compelling tale.

"Buried Treasure" by Rob Rosen is another personal favorite. What modern wonders of today will be archaic in the future? A 500-year-old map is the ticket to adventure. On a planet gone dry, water is worshipped as a god. But this water is man-made in a very surprising twist.

I was pleasantly surprised to see a story written by Joe R. Lansdale included in this book, who is one of my all-time favorite writers. And "The Tall Grass" lives up to Lansdale's high standards of quality. I thoroughly enjoyed the character's trip in 1901 on a train that always seems to break down in the middle of the night at a prairie of tall grass. The excitement begins when a passenger decides to explore the grass, and encounters frightening creatures within. "The Tall Grass" is probably the one story in the book that could be classified as horror. A real gem.

Of course all anthologies have their share of clunkers, and this one certainly does. Some of the fiction in Dark Tales of Lost Civilizations delves into so many explanations that the stories are bogged down under the weight of details. Others go off on unnecessary tangents, making me think, "Huh? What is this story about?" And there were one or two that were so slow in pace that my eyes glazed over and I could barely keep them open. I was disappointed that Eric J. Guignard, an accomplished writer in his own right, did not include one of his own works.

But overall, this is an anthology worth your time. Which stories would be your favorites depends upon what timeperiod in history fascinates you the most. Dark Tales of Lost Civilizations seems to cover a lot of interesting ground, from ancient Mount Olympus to modern day. I liked this book and believe you will too. And the price is right 270 pages for only $14.95 paperback, $3.99 .

Jeani Rector, Editor of The Horror Zine