John's first collection was released in late (I'm talking, 11:58 December 31st late) December, and on the strength of great reviews and word of mouth, is going into a second printing already. As others have noted, John's style is very much in the tradition of Henry and M.R. James, but at the same time, he's doing his own thing. His own thing is painstakingly crafted fiction that takes its time building mood, character, and narrative drive. That's not to say that every story is a quiet contemplation of horror. There are, frankly, just wild and chaotic scenes of action-terror (for lack of a better phrase), particularly in "On Skua Island" and "Mr. Gaunt," and these scenes are such an incredible rush/release because of masterful slow burn build-up. The best story in the bunch, however, is "Episode Seven: Last Stand Against the Pack in the Kingdom of the Purple Flowers," which is an experimental and eye-blink paced apocalyptic nightmare.

If you're in the mood for some old fashioned, goose bump inspiring stories told in the fashion of Robert E. Howard and M. R. James combined, MR. GAUNT AND OTHER UNEASY ENCOUNTERS by author John Langan is the story collection to read - and even if you are not a fan of Howard's or James' stories, you will be after reading Mr. Langan's eerie creep-feast of supernatural tales.

Fantasy author Elizabeth Hand informs readers as to what they might expect in her introduction to this collection of novellas by drawing comparisons to both M. R. James and the other James, Henry James, the latter whose ability to terrify readers with restrained prose is almost nearly unrivaled, until now. In her introduction, Ms. Hand shares with readers the American scholar Jack Sullivan's division of traditional tales of the supernatural into two camps: the antiquarian and the visionary. As Hand points out, antiquarian takes the detached position of observer whose narrative is often wry and witty but nonetheless convincing in his experience of supernatural horror.

The visionary approach is equally subtle in its narrative, often evoking the irrepressible and over-powering force of the supernatural in nature, as witnessed in Algernon Blackwood's, "The Wendigo" and "The Willows", to name only a few comparisons that touch upon the thrust of horror in Langan's collection.

"On Skua Island" the reader is offered a chilling narrative about an archaeologist who runs afoul of an ancient curse unearthed beneath a carved menhir (monolith) on an uninhabited island north of the Shetland Islands, off the coast of Scotland. Langan's opening novella swept this reader up and away and dropped her square into a supernatural adventure comparable to any of the excellent tales told by the earlier masters of the craft.

Second in the collection is the superb "Mr. Gaunt", a novella which I'd read previously in "Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine", and was only too happy to read again, since it is one of those creepy antiquarian tales that ends up becoming a masterpiece in the horror genre. You will not want to miss this story.

Third in the table of contents is "Tutorial", a sardonic visionary tale told in third person narrative which takes place on a university campus instead of the great outdoors, where the ineluctable force of nature in this clever story is rigid academics. I loved this one, laughed my head off. Thank you, John Langan.

"Episode Seven: Last Stand Against The Pack In The Kingdom Of The Purple Flowers" first appeared in "F&SF Magazine", then again in John Joseph Adams's apocalyptic anthology, WASTLANDS. Nonlinear in style, "Episode Seven" takes the reader on a tense journey of survival and mutation in a post apocalyptic world where only predators can survive.

Last but not least is "Laocoon, or The Singularity", a weird visionary tale about an artist whose encounter with a supernatural force of nature comes from within.

Finishing up MR. GAUNT AND OTHER UNEASY ENCOUNTERS are interesting notes written by Langan about each of his novellas, the history and origin of ideas that inspired each tale.

A must read for horror fans: Highly recommended.