Exotic Gothic

Exotic Gothic is an anthology series of short fiction and novel excerpts in the gothic, horror and fantasy genres, edited by Danel Olson, a professor of English at Lone Star College in Texas.

Exotic Gothic: Forbidden Tales from Our Gothic World (published Oct. 2007 by Ash-Tree Press, hardcover and trade ppk., cover photography from Anne Brigman-courtesy Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 306pp.)(2007), "showcases twenty-three stories (eight original to the anthology) that take place around the world." The second volume (Exotic Gothic 2: New Tales of Taboo) was a finalist for the 2008 Shirley Jackson Award, and the third (Exotic Gothic 3: Strange Visitations) was a finalist for the 2009 Shirley Jackson Award and 2010 World Fantasy Award, and both had stories reprinted in the following year's round of "Best Of" collections.

According to the Houston Chronicle newspaper, "The collection includes contemporary ghost, werewolf, vampire, and beastly creature stories; weird and paranormal tales; and neo-Gothic romances....[prompted from] a sabbatical last fall [2006], after his own Gothic research led him to a walking tour of Transylvania and facing a gypsy woman's curse..." The 2003 Bram Stoker Award-finalist webzine Horror World concludes that Exotic Gothic "raises the question as to 'How does the contemporary global Gothic enlarge, transcend, scramble, subvert, or mock the genre?' Olson subdivided the Anthology into Sections for Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America, and North America. Each Section then has various stories that are set within or relate to the particular geographic area.." Inside the first volume, the editor "celebrates the loosening of geographic bonds, an emancipation of the genre."

Exotic Gothic 2: New Tales of Taboo was published Sept. 2008 by Ash-Tree Press, hardcover and trade ppk., original cover photography by Nicholas Royle, 318pp.

Ellen Datlow described "Exotic Gothic 2 edited by Danel Olson (Ash-Tree Press) as a worthy follow-up to the editor's first, mixed reprint and original anthology. EG2 has all new stories taking place all over the world. The most notable were those by George Makana Clark, Barbara Roden, Nicholas Royle, Nancy A. Collins, Edward P. Crandall, Christopher Fowler, Reggie Oliver, Tia V. Travis, and Rob Hood."

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