Cross Harlan Ellison with Shirley Jackson, with just a dash of Italo Calvino. You wouldn't end up with Gerald Kersh, but you might see the parallels.
From Paul Duncan's Gerald Kersh newsletter:
"Gerald Kersh (1911-1968) was a great storyteller. He had 19 novels and 21 short story collections published; 21 of these books were never published in the US. He wrote novels, short stories and articles about mystery, SF, war and any subject you care to mention."
Nightshade and Damnations, published on the eve of Kersh's death, is a fine sampling. Some of the stories, such as "Men Without Bones," are little more than genre period pieces; others, particularly "The Queen of Pig Island" and "Whatever Happened to Corporal Cuckoo?" touch on the sort of magic realism of which Ellison would later become both an admirer and practitioner.
Ellison, from the Introduction: "Damn you, Kersh, for showing me, and all of us who strive to capture magic in a shot glass, how much better you are, how much more easily you can do it! ... No mortal can write this well."
This collection, like most of Kersh's writings, is out of print and difficult to find. For more information about the author and his work, visit the Gerald Kersh Appreciation Society or The Nights and Cities of Gerald Kersh.
