The Autopsy: Best Weird Stories of Michael Shea

Though Shea (1946–2014) is best known for his fantasy novel Nifft the Lean, this fine collection of 11 weird tales proves him a master of that genre as well. Shea combines a variety of prose styles with intriguing premises, as exemplified by “The Horror on the #33,” whose unreliable narrator, a wino traveling on a city bus, is terrified to witness one of his two fellow passengers, a bag lady, pull off her head to reveal “the head of some huge wasp, or great carnivorous fly” and suck dry the other commuter. “Polyphemus” cleverly imagines an elaborate alien ecosystem in its fraught account of an expedition attempting to survive attacks from a monstrous titanic creature dwelling in a lake on another planet. The standout is the title tale, in which Dr. Winters, who, despite having terminal cancer, responds to a call for help from a mining town’s sheriff. An underground explosion at the mine has killed multiple people, but the sheriff suspects foul play, and Winters agrees to conduct an autopsy to get to the truth, which is both unexpected and chilling. This volume does its gifted author justice. (Nov.)