One of my favorite McSweeney's, I think of this as the child of McSweeney's 10, McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales. The McSweeney's staff love genre tales and clearly feel it has a place in a literary magazine. The idea here was to alternate older stories from collections Bradbury and Hitchcock edited along with a few tales of suspense and terror from modern writers. It all works beautifully. The older stories still stand up, and the issue has an amazing number of vivid, fantastical tales. ( )

An odd collection of stories, really more of an anthology than a magazine or journal. I love Hitchcock and Bradbury and many of the stories are worthy of them. As in most anthologies, some stories fall short. It was a fun read. ( )

An excellent anthology of mostly old weird tales, with four brand-new ones added for fun.
The highlight of the book is “Sorry, Wrong Number,” Which was made into a classic noir film. The story holds up well, and the suspense grows as Leona Henderson tries to figure out how her phone call crossed with that of two men—who are plotting a murder.
Other highlights include the gruesome “In the Penal Colony” by Kafka; the delightful and still relevant “For All the Rude People;” a new one by E. Lily Liu, “The Pilgrim and the Angel;” The totally strange “Housing Problem;” and the philosophical “None Before Me.”
A couple had great premises but lacked full development, and the entry by John Steinbeck, “Saint Katy the Virgin,” was so silly that it bored this reader.
All in all, a great selection for anyone who likes the offbeat, from science fiction to fantasy to horror to crime. Recommended. ( )

Ladies and gentlemen, let’s get ready to Rummmmbllllllllllle…!!!

In the corner to my left wearing the fire red trunks, author of Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, and The Illustrated Man, and recipient of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize Special Citation … Raaaaaayyyy BRADbury….!

And in the corner to my right wearing the Union Jack trunks, the world champion Master of Suspense, Director of Psycho, North by Northwest, Dial M for Murder and dozens of other classic films… ALfred HITCHcooooooooooock…!

Refereeing tonight’s contest, in pinstripes, a prize-winning author in his own right and founder of McSweeney’s, audience please give him a warm welcome of applause … Dave “The Egg-man” Eggers.

…

Gentlemen, you’ve been read the rules; remember no plagiarizing, and when I say to move on to the next story, you must. Please obey my commands at all times; let’s have a good, fun read with stories you’ve selected from the 40’s and 50’s, and make it a clean, fair fight. Touch gloves and return to your corners.

…

As the boxers receive final advice from their trainers and await the opening bell, Larry what are their keys to winning the fight?

Well Jim, the key to the fight for Bradbury is to use his jab, to attack Hitch from all angles, using science fiction but also fantasy and an occasional horror story, keeping Hitch off-balance and staying outside, away from the bigger man. He is renowned for having a wide variety of literary influences and he may be successful utilizing some of those here.

For Hitchock it’s simpler: land the big blow. Stay patient, wait for Bradbury to make a mistake coming inside, and put together combinations. Hitch sees what other editors do not: eerie, spine-tingling stories, those that touch you deep inside – he needs to use this ability and look for a knockout.

…

The opening bell has sounded, and there’s Bradbury immediately going to a surprise – Roald Dahl’s The Sound Machine, an interesting story on plants feeling pain from 1949 from the author better known for his children’s stories! He follows with a jab in Josephine Johnson’s The Night Flight but it glances off, and there’s Hitchcock parrying with a right cross! Julian May’s The Dune Roller is good campy science fiction, like a 50s “B movie”, and with clever dialogue! Oh, Bradbury felt that one, didn’t he?

He sure did but wait a minute, here’s referee Dave Eggers now getting into the fray! Ladies and gentlemen in an unprecedented move, Eggers has just thrown a punch apparently aimed at both boxers, with China Mieville’s The Design. It was appropriately gory in parts but didn’t do any real damage to either man… but wow we’re going to have to keep an eye on him aren’t we?

We sure are, and back to the action, Bradbury keeps throwing the jab with J.C. Furnas The Laocoon Complex, but it’s his follow-up story that he penned himself that connects! The Pedestrian is not only ahead of its time in 1951 for projecting a time when people would be huddled in front of their screens at night, but is also interesting for what Bradbury called simply the beginning of his work Fahrenheit 451! That one caught Hitchcock squarely in the eye and he appears to be bleeding!

The fighters circle each other warily, and Ohhhhhhhhh! Hitchcock delivers a crushing uppercut! Down goes Bradbury! Down goes Bradbury! Down goes Bradbury! Sorry, Wrong Number from 1947 by Lucille Fletcher and Allan Ullman works on all levels! It’s film noir on the page, claustrophobic, creepy, and has an outstanding finish!

The crowd erupts! Bradbury is up but staggering! He could be in real trouble ladies and gentlemen! Wait! Here’s Eggers again, and this time he connects solidly to Hitchcock’s jaw with Brian Evenson’s The Dust! Talk about claustrophobic, you can just feel the confusion and paranoia seep through! Hitchcock is back on his heels and woozy, he didn’t see that one coming!

And that’s allowed Bradbury to regroup. He goes back to the jab with The Enormous Radio by John Cheever. Oh, the ability to overhear private conversations and marital woes, only to find them closer to home than one would have guessed! And there he goes to John Steinbeck with Saint Katy the Virgin but aside from it being Steinbeck, it’s uninteresting. Hitchcock counters with a jab of his own, For All the Rude People, wow, talk about vigilante justice gone wild! I don’t think we want a gun toting country like this American audience reading that one!

Here’s Eggers AGAIN! And again he’s connected, this time to Bradbury, with a wicked left hook! Benjamin Percy’s Suicide Woods about a suicide support group is clever and delivers! Bradbury stands his ground and goes to a body blow, the dark pathos of Franz Kafka! In the Penal Colony is, well, Kafkaesque folks, dark, bleak, and about not only man’s inhumanity to man, but how arbitrary it can be! Hitchcock appears content to stand back and watch the two go at it, dazed as he is. He’s biding his time, maybe an effective strategy, or on the other hand maybe he won’t land enough blows to win the fight if it goes to a decision.

Eggers seems stunned by that body blow, and his The Pilgrim and the Angel by E. Lily Yu, while fanciful, isn’t as strong. Bradbury works his jab some more, Housing Problem by Henry Kuttner is cute, and be careful of displeasing your leprechaun tenants folks! None Before Me by Sidney Carroll is thought-provoking not only as a story of God being a recursive concept, but also why God may have grown bored with his creation and acted vengefully. You can really see the range of Bradbury’s repertoire on full display here.

The seconds are counting down now, the fight appears over with all three men dazed but standing and apparently content to let it go the distance. Wait! Ohhhhhhhhhhh! Hitchcock springs forward and throws a huge roundhouse with Frederic Brown’s Don’t Look Behind You…! Talk about spine-tingling! Bradbury is reeling! Eggers is on the mat! Hitchcock is dancing around, arms in the air! The crowd has gone wild! There’s no one to count Bradbury out! He’s struggling to his feet, using the ropes! But there’s the bell, Bradbury is saved by the bell! The fight is over! It’s pandemonium! It’s absolute pandemonium here in Madison Square Garden!

The fighters are clinching, they’re both exhausted and holding each other up. Eggers is also up and staggering towards them with his genius intact, but heartbroken. Let’s listen in.

“There bloody well won’t be a rematch.”
“Don’t want one.”
“Mmmf. What is the What?”
“Ray!”
“Marguerite!”
“Ray!!!”
“Marguerite!!!”
“What is the What?”
Ladies and Gentlemen, the winner of tonight’s fight and still world champion … Alfreeeeeeed Hitchcooooooock!
“Ray!!!!”
“Marguerite!!!!” ( )

One of the best McSweeney's issues in a while, this one features stories selected by Alfred Hitchcock and Ray Bradbury for various anthologies (as well as a few new stories for this volume). Some truly excellent tales of the creepy, the bizarre, and the just plain odd. ( )