Deathbird Stories by Harlan Ellison is a collection of short stories centering around the theme of gods, both literal and metaphorical, ancient and modern. The stories vary in tone and subject matter, from surrealistic fantasy worlds to haunting and poetic narratives. Ellison's writing style is described as experimental, vividly realistic, and viscerally descriptive, blending elements of science fiction, horror, and urban fantasy.
Genres:
Tropes/Plot Devices:
Topics:
Notes:
Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
The collection includes graphic violence, themes of death and euthanasia, urban decay, and existential despair.
From The Publisher:
Masterpieces of myth and terror about modern gods from technology to drugs to materialism-"fantasy at its most bizarre and unsettling" (The New York Times).
As Earth approaches Armageddon, a man embarks on a quest to confront God in the Hugo Award-winning novelette, "The Deathbird."
In New York City, a brutal act of violence summons a malevolent spirit and a growing congregation of desensitized worshippers in "The Whimper of Whipped Dogs," an Edgar Award winner influenced by the real-life murder of Queens resident Kitty Genovese in 1964.
In "Paingod," the deity tasked with inflicting pain and suffering on every living being in the universe questions the purpose of its cruel existence.
Deathbird Stories collects these and sixteen more provocative tales exploring the futility of faith in a faithless world. A legendary author of speculative fiction whose best-known works include A Boy and His Dog and I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream-and whose major awards and nominations number in the dozens, Harlan Ellison strips away convention and hypocrisy and lays bare the human condition in modern society as ancient gods fade and new deities rise to appease the masses-gods of technology, drugs, gambling, materialism-that are as insubstantial as the beliefs of those who venerate them.
In addition to his Nebula, Hugo, World Fantasy, Bram Stoker, Edgar, and other awards, Ellison was called "one of the great living American short story writers" by the Washington Post-and this collection makes it clear why he has earned such an extraordinary assortment of accolades.
Stories include:
"Introduction: Oblations at Alien Altars"
"The Whimper of Whipped Dogs"
"Along the Scenic Route"
"On the Downhill Side"
"O Ye of Little Faith"
"Neon"
"Basilisk"
"Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes"
"Corpse"
"Shattered Like a Glass Goblin"
"Delusion for a Dragon Slayer"
"The Face of Helene Bournouw"
"Bleeding Stones"
"At the Mouse Circus"
"The Place with No Name"
"Paingod"
"Ernest and the Machine God"
"Rock God"
"Adrift Just Off the Islets of Langerhans: Latitude 38 54' N, Longitude 77 00' 13" W"
"The Deathbird.
Ratings (2)
Loved It (1) | |
Did Not Like (1) |
Reader Stats (6):
Read It (3) | |
Want To Read (3) |
What can you read after
Deathbird Stories?
About the Author:
Harlan Ellison (1934-2018), in a career spanning more than fifty years, wrote or edited one hundred fourteen books; more than seventeen hundred stories, essays, articles, and newspaper columns; two dozen teleplays; and a dozen motion pictures. He won the Hugo Award eight and a half times (shared once); the Nebula Award three times; the Bram Stoker Award, presented by the Horror Writers Association, five times (including the Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996); the Edgar Allan Poe Award of the Mystery Writers of America twice; the Georges Melies Fantasy Film Award twice; and two Audie Awards (for the best in audio recordings); and he was awarded the Silver Pen for Journalism by PEN, the international writers' union. He was presented with the first Living Legend Award by the International Horror Critics at the 1995 World Horror Convention. Ellison is the only author in Hollywood ever to win the Writers Guild of America award for Outstanding Teleplay (solo work) four times, most recently for "Paladin of the Lost Hour," his Twilight Zone episode that was Danny Kaye's final role, in 1987. In 2006, Ellison was awarded the prestigious title of Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Dreams with Sharp Teeth, the documentary chronicling his life and works, was released on DVD in May 2009. He passed away in 2018 at the age of eighty-four.
When you click the Amazon link and make a purchase, we may receive a small commision, at no cost to you.
