Words from the decaying mind of Paul Haines
Doorways For The Dispossessed Publisher: Prime Books Year: 2006 Description: Follow murderous trails into the bloody foothills of Kathmandu; destroy yourself with obsessive sexual jealousies; disappear into the drug-hazed dust of the Baluchistan desert; and share health-conscious recipes with a gourmet cannibal. Read Paul Haines's dark, hard-edged fantasies about real people dealing with strong emotions in impossible situations and experience the paranoia, fear and lust that lurks in the shadowy recesses of the human soul. With an introduction by Jack Dann, this anthology contains twenty-one stories, including the Aurealis Award and Ditmar winning novella "The Last Days Of Kali Yuga". It also includes two previously unpublished stories "Burning From The Inside" and "Mnemophonic". Awards: Winner 2008 Sir Julius Vogel Best Collection Nominated 2007 Ditmar Best Collection Reviews: Doorways for the Dispossessed by Paul Haines (Prime) is a very strong first collection of twenty dark, edgy stories (two original to the collection) from this relative newcomer... - Ellen Datlow If you haven’t gathered already these aren’t flowers and kitten stories, not unless you’re making the flowers into a nice sauce to serve with kitten that is. These tales are dark and filled with sex, drugs, fear and paranoia with enough black humor thrown in to really make it fun. - HorrorWatch Take a slab of Hunter S. Thompson, add some Philip K. Dick, and throw them into a blender for a while. Add a little dash of Brother's Grimm and a spoonful of American Psycho and what do you end up with? - Strange Horizons This collection proves he has an eye for characterisation and demonstrates the intention to experiment with style and form. When he does this consistently, concentrating on the characters and exposing the foibles and fallible nature of humanity, he'll have few equals in the genre. - Ticonderoga Online Unlike some collections which suffer from inconsistencies in tone and style, Doorways for the Dispossessed presents a selection of stories that are linked through a strong and unique voice. Haines writes from the heart, using personal experience and observations from his extensive travels to give his characters and situations a rich and authentic feel. Many of his stories take place in eastern environments and are used as vehicles for Haines to comment on Western society’s misunderstanding of such cultures. His writing is further defined by a darkly, twisted sense of humour and is drenched in dark, menacing undertones. - HorrorScope Haines' best work involves sexual depravity and stories set in the underdeveloped world. The eponymous"Doorways For The Dispossessed" and the much-lauded novelette "The Last Days Of Kali Yuga" are amongst the best his collection has to offer. - Australian Dark Fantasy & Horror 2007 Paul Haines's strengths as a writer lie in the sexuality and twisted emotions of human relationships thrown into relief by the otherwise familiar conventions of genre fiction. Doorways for the Dispossessed is the best of his work. - Year's Best Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy #3 Doorways for the Dispossessed is an extraordinary collection. I can't recommend it highly enough, I really can't. Especially for those who like their short fiction twisted, perverted, and incredibly intellectual. Paul is for short fiction what David Cronenberg is for film; he combines the profane and the profound, the sacred and the revolting. And it's never gratuitous or pointless. Both visceral and thoughtful, unashamedly masculine and unabashedly emotional, and beautifully and meticulously crafted, this is a book that belongs on everyone's shelves. - Martin Livings, author of Carnies
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