Description:
Joel Lane's award-winning stories have been widely praised, notably by other masters of weird fiction such as M. John Harrison, Graham Joyce, and Ramsey Campbell. His tales also regularly appeared in the "best of" annual anthologies of Ellen Datlow, Karl Edward Wagner, and Stephen Jones. With this posthumous collection, Lane continues his unflinching exploration of the human condition.
"The Anniversary of Never is a group of tales concerned with the theme of the afterlife," observed Lane, "and the idea that we may enter the afterlife before death, or find parts of it in our world." These stories of love and death will burrow deep into the reader's mind and impregnate it with a vision often as bleak as the night is black.
Brief description: Joel Lane (1963-2013) was born in Exeter, but lived most of his life in Birmingham, where many of his stories are set. In addition to two novels, From Blue to Black (2000) and The Blue Mask (2003), Lane was the author of numerous collections, including the British Fantasy Award-winning The Earth Wire (1994), The Lost District (2006), and The Terrible Changes (2009). Where Furnaces Burn won the World Fantasy Award for best collection in 2013.
Review Quotes:
"Melancholy and bleak, the weird, often dark stories in this slim, beautiful volume are a fitting coda to Lane's life and work." - Ellen Datlow
"A liminal collection whose ghost-like state almost mimics that of much of the material contained within its pages." - Black Static
"Rich and varied forms of darkness illuminated by the author's wit and intelligence." - Supernatural Tales