Visitants: Stories of Fallen Angels & Heavenly Hosts (2010)
(a) Ulysses Press, USA • tp • $14.95
ISBN 978-1-56975-838-0
In the Darkness, Something Wicked Spreads its Wings. The eternal battle between fallen angels and their Heavenly counterpoints plays out daily here on Earth. Without warning, ordinary people find their lives forever changed by the intervention of divine beings. But meddling with the living does not always go according to plan and the angels themselves fall under an all-too mortal spell-longing for love or thirsting for wicked revenge. With stories from such world-renowned authors of fantasy and horror as Michael Bishop, Ramsey Campbell, Neil Gaiman, Graham Masterton, Robert Silverberg, Michael Marshall Smith, Lisa Tuttle, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and Jane Yolen, Visitants presents a breathtaking collection of stories in which Heaven’s hosts reveal themselves on Earth and fallen angels struggle toward final redemption.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS | |
INTRODUCTION: AN ANGELOLOGY, OF SORTS | Stephen Jones |
MURDER MYSTERIES | Neil Gaiman |
THE HOUSES OF THE FAVORED | Jay Lake |
AN INFESTATION OF ANGELS | Jane Yolen |
SECOND JOURNEY OF THE MAGUS | Ian R. MacLeod |
THE BOWMEN | Arthur Machen |
OKAY, MARY | Hugh B. Cave |
PLAGUE ANGEL | Yvonne Navarro |
SCENT OF A GREEN CATHEDRAL | Jay Lake |
SNOW ANGELS | Sarah Pinborough |
NEPHILIM | Mark Samuels |
THY SPINNING WHEEL COMPLEAT | Chelsea Quinn Yarbro |
OLD MR. BOUDREAUX | Lisa Tuttle |
A FEAST OF ANGELS | Jay Lake |
TRANSFIGURATION | Richard Christian Matheson |
EVIDENCE OF ANGELS | Graham Masterton |
FEATHERWEIGHT | Robert Shearman |
MOLLY AND THE ANGEL | Brain Stableford |
S.D. WATKINS, PAINTER OF PORTRAITS | Steve Rasnic Tem |
BEING RIGHT | Michael Marshall Smith |
NOVUS ORDO ANGELORUM | Jay Lake |
SARIELA; OR, SPIRITUAL DYSFUNCTION AND COUNTERANGELIC LONGINGS: A CASE STUDY IN ONE ACT | Michael Bishop |
WITH THE ANGELS | Ramsey Campbell |
THINGS I DIDN’T KNOW MY FATHER KNEW | Peter Crowther |
THE FOLD | Conrad Williams |
BASILEUS | Robert Silverberg |
BEAUTIFUL MEN | Christopher Fowler |
GOING BAD | Jay Lake |
Reviews
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“Visitants is a well balanced mix of genres, providing more than four hundred pages of good reading about an unusual, but intriguing subject dating back to Old Testament but still topical in our modern times. ”
—Mario Guslandi
SF SITE, Mid-April 2011 -
“To the best of my knowledge, Visitants is the first anthology to be primarily geared to the darker aspects of the angelic realm . . . These stories can be quite disturbing, even while they range through funny, exciting, haunting, and heart-rending. Visitants is one of those collections that will stick with you for years to come after you’ve read it.”
—Dragonwomant
BSC REVIEW, April 4, 2011 -
“Editor Stephen Jones brings together an all-star team of writers for this anthology with stories both modern and classic . . . One of the remarkable things about this collection, apart from the amazing caliber of talent involved, is that it deals with the delicate subject of religion without being preachy . . . What we get instead is pure emotional storytelling at its finest by some of the best names in the business.”
—Sifu Scott
DREAD CENTRAL.COM, March 28, 2011 -
“If you are sick of zombie and vampire anthologies, I recommend giving this one a try.”
—Robert Brouhard
HORROR DRIVE-IN -
“This anthology offers a nice wide range of genres to keep things fresh and the reader guessing what
kind of tale they’ll get. Yes there’s horror to be found here, but also humor, a few that read as sci-fi
and others that smack of fantasy . . . If this hedonistic, non-believing infidel can enjoy this
collection then I know you can too. Touched by an Angel this book is not and thank God for that.
—Brian Simmons
HORROR WORLD March 24, 2011 -
“Edited by legendary anthologist Stephen Jones, Visitants collects stories of angels good and
bad . . . The angels of Visitants intervene in the lives of men and women, often with entirely
unintended—and occasionally horrific—consequences. By the end of the book you may begin
to wonder if having a ‘guardian angel’ is such a good idea.”
—Matt Staggs
SUVUDU, March 12, 2011 -
“If you’ve read any of Stephen Jones’ anthologies before then you’ll know just what high quality collections he puts together, no matter what theme he chooses . . . You can’t go wrong if you buy a book with Jones’ name listed as the editor, and this new collection reinforces his ability to collect the cream of the crop.”
—Scott Wilson
THE FRINGE MAGAZINE, March 5, 2011 -
“Fallen angels and heavenly hosts—what better subjects for a genre anthology of short stories? . . . The
editor has assembled a fine balance of humorous, poignant, and terrifying stories . . . Swooping in from
both Heaven and Hell, Visitants has enough stories for a long winter’s read, or during the summer
while relaxing on the beach. These ultimate bad beings, capable of both immense destruction and heavenly
acts, will captivate fans of this new paranormal fiction phenomenon.”
—Pamela K. Kinney
INNSMOUTH FREE PRESS, February 24, 2011 -
“It pains me to imagine the amount of time, effort, thought and research that went into putting together this anthology of stories of ‘Fallen Angels and Heavenly Hosts’, but I am absolutely thrilled that it happened. Rarely are you lucky enough find a collection that is so well worth reading cover to cover . . . I was definitely entertained enough to know that I will be seeking out another collection of works put together by editor Stephen Jones.
—Harry Shannon
HORRORNEWS.NET, February 15, 2011 -
“I never thought I would be inclined to keep my eyes open for a particular editor as opposed to an author, but I seem have no choice now.”
—John Trotman
HORRORNEWS.NET, February 15, 2011 -
“Jones lines up heavy hitters for this anthology of reprints dating back to 1914 as well as original tales about decidedly non-Hallmark angels . . . This wide-ranging anthology has something for every taste, from the light to the horrific, and is nicely completed by Jones’s introduction, which traces the history of angels in religious lore and modern fantasy.”
—PUBLISHERSWEEKLY.COM