For the past month or so my attention has been devoted to one of my dream projects.

I’m editing The Apes of Wrath, an anthology of ape fiction for Tachyon. The volume, a reprint collection of 15-20 stories, comes with three original essays on various aspects of apes in pop culture; essentially a survey of ape literature that will include works by Edgar Allan Poe, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Franz Kafka, Gustave Flaubert, Joe R. Lansdale, Howard Waldrop, Steven Utley, Mary Robinette Kowal, Pat Murphy, Leigh Kennedy, James P. Blaylock, Clark Ashton Smith, Aesop, Hugh B. Cave, Jess Nevins, Scott Cupp, and others.

This is a book I’ve been contemplating for sometime (even to the extent that I even outlined such a volume as part of an SF Signal Mind Meld) and thanks to the success of Rise of the Planet of the Apes and the forthcoming sequels, it’s finally becoming a reality.

The fact that so many ape stories exist may come as a surprise to many, but stories featuring apes are almost as old as the art of storytelling. There are stories about apes in most societies. Simians, especially the great apes, play an integral, vital role in our culture, our collective unconsciousness. These creatures represent a part of humanity that must remain hidden. They can be both savage and gentle. They are much like man but they are not men. With their human-like appearance and actions, it’s easy to see what Darwin saw. They may be humanity’s closest relation. How could apes not fascinate?

Surprisingly, given the simian’s important and influential role in popular culture, only one previous anthology of ape fiction exists. Published in 1978 by Corgi, The Rivals of King Kong collected eight reprinted stories, two originals, and an excerpt from one of H. Rider Haggard’s Allan Quartermain books. Editor Michel Parry contributed the introduction and a checklist of simian cinema. The difficult-to-locate paperback original commands collectible prices, ranging from $30-$200, when found.

The Apes of Wrath comes your way in March 2013.

Presenting The Apes of Wrath was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon