--- product_id: 5106847 title: "Occultation and Other Stories" price: "€ 33.34" currency: EUR in_stock: true reviews_count: 10 url: https://www.desertcart.be/products/5106847-occultation-and-other-stories store_origin: BE region: Belgium --- # Occultation and Other Stories **Price:** € 33.34 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Occultation and Other Stories - **How much does it cost?** € 33.34 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.be](https://www.desertcart.be/products/5106847-occultation-and-other-stories) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description desertcart.com: Occultation and Other Stories: 9781597805148: Barron, Laird, Shea, Michael: Books Review: Unsettling, nightmarish, and surprisingly literate and crafted - Laird Barron has gained a reputation over the course of his short career as a master working in the same slice of horror that H.P. Lovecraft first launched - that is, a section of horror filled with horrific demons and monsters beyond any sense of imagination, otherworldly realms that are dangerously close to our own, and a pervading sense of darkness that fills our world in places we least expect. What sets Barron apart, though, is the complex and literary feel of his prose, which makes his stories feel incredibly constructed - a plus - but also dense and a bit forbidding. Over the course of these tales, Barron charts a group that's looking to move forward to the next phase of evolution, an anthropologist whose obsession with Satanic imagery tempts him to open some unclosable doors, and a group of gay men whose wilderness expedition leads them to places that should have stayed forgotten. These sound like the ideas of pulp horror, and simple plot summaries would do nothing to convince you otherwise. But to paraphrase Roger Ebert, these stories are not about what they are about; they are about how they are about them. From broken marriages to lost loves, from the pain of loss to the shadow of the past, Barron's characters are complex, nuanced, flawed people who would fit perfectly into any literary novel written today. But what you'll remember about Barron are the horrors he creates, horrors which are every bit as literate and exquisitely crafted and rendered as his people. Occultation is a hard sell, in many ways; it inhabits a world between literature and true horror that's hard to pin down, and one where very few authors tend to work. (I would say the inimitable Brian Evenson is one of the few in the same field.) The prose can be forbidding at first, even for a "serious" reader like me, and I won't say that it didn't take me a couple of stories to get into the book's rhythm. But as I continued to read, I found myself captivated by Barron's rich, horrifying world and his masterful prose. For those who like their horror with a touch of culture and literature, Occultation is a brilliant choice. Review: Great creepy collection - Great selection of cosmic horror stories ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #150,984 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #433 in Short Stories Anthologies #947 in Short Stories (Books) #2,241 in Dark Fantasy | | Customer Reviews | 4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars (553) | | Dimensions | 6 x 0.9 x 9 inches | | Edition | Reprint | | ISBN-10 | 1597805149 | | ISBN-13 | 978-1597805148 | | Item Weight | 14.1 ounces | | Language | English | | Print length | 256 pages | | Publication date | July 29, 2014 | | Publisher | Night Shade | ## Images ![Occultation and Other Stories - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71yY6lyJHtL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Unsettling, nightmarish, and surprisingly literate and crafted *by J***E on August 10, 2012* Laird Barron has gained a reputation over the course of his short career as a master working in the same slice of horror that H.P. Lovecraft first launched - that is, a section of horror filled with horrific demons and monsters beyond any sense of imagination, otherworldly realms that are dangerously close to our own, and a pervading sense of darkness that fills our world in places we least expect. What sets Barron apart, though, is the complex and literary feel of his prose, which makes his stories feel incredibly constructed - a plus - but also dense and a bit forbidding. Over the course of these tales, Barron charts a group that's looking to move forward to the next phase of evolution, an anthropologist whose obsession with Satanic imagery tempts him to open some unclosable doors, and a group of gay men whose wilderness expedition leads them to places that should have stayed forgotten. These sound like the ideas of pulp horror, and simple plot summaries would do nothing to convince you otherwise. But to paraphrase Roger Ebert, these stories are not about what they are about; they are about how they are about them. From broken marriages to lost loves, from the pain of loss to the shadow of the past, Barron's characters are complex, nuanced, flawed people who would fit perfectly into any literary novel written today. But what you'll remember about Barron are the horrors he creates, horrors which are every bit as literate and exquisitely crafted and rendered as his people. Occultation is a hard sell, in many ways; it inhabits a world between literature and true horror that's hard to pin down, and one where very few authors tend to work. (I would say the inimitable Brian Evenson is one of the few in the same field.) The prose can be forbidding at first, even for a "serious" reader like me, and I won't say that it didn't take me a couple of stories to get into the book's rhythm. But as I continued to read, I found myself captivated by Barron's rich, horrifying world and his masterful prose. For those who like their horror with a touch of culture and literature, Occultation is a brilliant choice. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Great creepy collection *by C***P on October 2, 2025* Great selection of cosmic horror stories ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Laird Barron: the anti-Ligotti *by P***N on January 9, 2012* The first thing that struck me about Occultation was that, after having read it and The Imago Sequence - Laird's first anthology - for the first time, I immediately turned around and read them both all over again. That's never happened to me before with any other book - not sure what it means, just taking note. Laird is often spoken of in the same breath with Thomas Ligotti, but they could not be more different. While I am in awe of Ligotti's work, his universe is one of futility - of clockwork horrors that don't even afford their victims the grace of personal animosity. Laird's horrors are intimately personal, with a predator/prey relationship oft-times fraught with gleeful malice - while his protagonists are doomed, they oppose their fate with a frontiersman's fatalism and stoic refusal to submit - this, I assume a result of Laird's upbringing in rural Alaska. While the characters in both Ligotti's and Barron's tales wind up as no more than peristaltic grist for the maw of Lovecraftian horrors intent on provender, Laird's protags at least have the decency to kick and struggle on their way down the gullet, rather than succumbing to the numb despair exhibited by Ligotti's people. Then there is craft. Laird leaves so much unsaid that the majority of his stories unfold puzzle-like behind your unconsciousness after you're done with them, ultimately looming several times their original size back in your oh-so-vulnerable lizard brain. His wording, phrasing, and editing are flawless - literally among the best wordsmithing I have encountered among writers active today. I am reminded of Joyce Carol Oates' very best in some of Laird's work, or Ramsey Campbell at his most hallucinogenic - Laird's characters are often face to face with facts and realities they refuse to recognize or acknowledge. Allusion is especially strong in all of Barron's work. This is strong stuff - not because of its often graphic violence, or its bleak Lovecraftian cosmological mindset - but more for Laird's unrelenting insinuation. With Laird Barron, resistance is futile - if anyone reads a hundred years from now, he'll still be in print. Occultation has an introduction by WFA winner Michael Shea of Nifft the Lean fame, with a beautiful opening sentence: "Laird Barron's carnivorous cosmos . . ." which says much. All the stories are excellent, but a few stood out for me. 'The Forest' is one of those tales that you just can't stop thinking about when you're done. The title piece is one that would have reduced Kafka and his cronies to stitches if Laird somehow traveled back in time and read it out loud to them at one of their writer's gatherings. 'The Broadsword' almost qualifies as science fiction (though technically ANYTHING smacking of Lovecraft's oeuvre could qualify as such) with a masterfully open ending that makes you ask yourself (***potential partial plot spoiler***) whether it would be preferable for the whole story to be a delusion on the part of the narrator -- trust me on this, if it IS delusion, the seconds after the end of the story can only be ugly indeed. Deserving its own paragraph, ghost story 'Six Six Six' is IMHO one of the finest short horror pieces I've ever read, on par with Poe, HPL, Machen or Ramsey. I foresee this tale being anthologized a lot in the future, it may even earn a position as a 'saw,' alongside such classics as William Hope Hodgson's 'A Voice In The Night,' or Saki's 'Svredni Vashtar.' It's THAT good, and it disturbed/infuriated me. Read it and weep. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.be/products/5106847-occultation-and-other-stories](https://www.desertcart.be/products/5106847-occultation-and-other-stories) --- *Product available on Desertcart Belgium* *Store origin: BE* *Last updated: 2026-09-30*