When he returned, stumbling down the mountain and out of the jungle, he did not remember anything beyond having entered the stone hovel and seen, in the far corner of the dirt floor, a cage, partly covered in a feathered cloak. Even from the door, it did not seem that the hovel had been entered or the […]
The birds were white as they flew over the marsh, across the reedbeds and the frosted meres, but as they drew level with the hide their shade changed, from white to black. I saw their crimson eyes, sparks in the cloudy dark, as they disappeared into the storm. Richard and I crouched in the hide and waited. […]
I followed my boyfriend to the city because I was in love with him. He had come to fetch me from across the country, like a knight riding in for his damsel. He had dark and curly hair. My family is fair, and there was something about his darkness, something sharp and sexy and wild, that told […]
Translated from Urdu by Muhammad Umar Memon Khalida Asghar was born in Lahore in 1938. She started writing fiction in 1963. After half a dozen highly acclaimed short stories, she dropped out of the Urdu literary world altogether, and staged a stunning comeback after a twelve-year silence in 1977. She has published half a dozen collections of her stories, some […]
Translated by Michael Cisco The name of Alfonso Reyes reoccurs throughout any discussion of Latin American literature. In his native Mexico, he is considered a major 20th century author, and more than one street has been named for him there. Roberto Bolano referred to him in the short list of those writers he included in his […]
“The Upper Berth” is the final story in our weird voyages and strange seas week which featured three strange stories set at sea. – The Editors I Somebody asked for the cigars. We had talked long, and the conversation was beginning to languish; the tobacco smoke had got into the heavy curtains, the wine had got into […]
“The Rainbow” is the second story in our weird voyages and strange seas week which featured three strange stories set at sea. – The Editors Mark Feldmeier was too old for family vacations, but no one had invited him anywhere else. Unless he wanted to stay home alone for a week in an empty house in Milwaukee, he […]
“The Voice in the Night” is the first story in our weird voyages and strange seas week which featured three strange stories set at sea. – The Editors It was a dark, starless night. We were becalmed in the Northern Pacific. Our exact position I do not know; for the sun had been hidden during the course of a weary, breathless […]
The following story is part of our uncanny literature week. Be sure to check out our interview with Marjorie Sandor as well as Sandor’s essay on the subject. “The Sand-man“1 Translated by J. T. Bealby Nathanael to Lothair I know you are all very uneasy because I have not written for such a long, long time. Mother, to be sure, is […]
This week, we’re exploring uncanny literature with Majorie Sandor, the editor of the recent anthology The Uncanny Reader. Be sure to also check out our interview with Sandor. – The Editors And the crack in the teacup opens A lane to the land of the dead –W.H. Auden Trust me: trying to define the uncanny, whether as […]