A Budget of Book Reviews: The Uncanny in Translation Edition

It’s been a while since I’ve done a Budget of Book Reviews! So for this post, I’ll be discussing three anthologies that I’ve recently read: translations of non-Anglophone uncanny stories. Nordic Visions: The Best of Nordic Speculative Fiction edited by Margrét Helgadóttir Solaris Books, 2023 The term “Finnish Weird” used to be a thing some years back, as is the term “Nordic Noir” for thrillers by Nordic authors. The idea, I think, is that the inclemency of the Nordic environment–harsher weather, periods of long nights–gives Nordic writers a particularly moody sensibility. Writers from milder climes, perhaps, don’t express quite the same awareness of the cruel indifference of life and nature. Maybe. I would also add that the Nordic fiction that I’ve read and enjoyed the most also has a strong sense of the regional folklore, a kind of “Nordic folk horror,” if you will. I really liked “Finnish Weird,” and I am a fan of John Ajvide Lindqvist (Let the Right One In) and Karin Tidbeck…