This long out-of-print classic is the perfect stocking-stuffer for any bah humbug.

    What do these ghosts want? That the truth about the violent events of long ago be exposed or remain concealed? Kate must struggle for her life against earthbound spirits and ancient curses as hate, jealousy, revenge and passion do battle across the centuries.

    "Ibe Pit and the Pendulum, 7be Fall of the House of Usher and The Black Cat are just three of Edgar Allan Poe's most famous tales in this chilling, enthralling collection.Contents:The SphinxThe Fall of the house of UsherThe Oval portraitMS found in a bottleA Descent into the maelströmThe Tell-tale heartThe Oblong boxThe Masque of the red deathHop-frogSome words with a mummyWilliam WilsonThe Black catThe Pit and the pendulum

    Story list: Advocates (with Suzy McKee Charnas); Art Songs; Cabin 33; Investigating Jericho; A Question of Patronage; Renewal; Salome; Seat Partner; Spider Glass; My Favorite Enigma (essay). There are also a bibliography and a chronology.

    

    Crammed with catastrophe, terror, and ghostly interventions, the novel was an immediate success, and influenced numberous followers. These include William Beckford's Vathek (1786), which alternates grotesque comedy with scenes of exotic magnificence in the story of the ruthless Caliph Vathek's journey to damnation. The Monk (1796), by Matthew Lewis, is a violent tale of ambition, murder, and incest, set in the sinister monastery of the Capuchins in Madrid. Frankenstein (1818, 1831) is Mary Shelley's disturbing and perennially popular tale of a young student who learns the secret of giving life to a creature made from human relics, with horrific consequences.This collection illustrates the range and attraction of the gothic novel. Extreme and sensational, each of the four printed here is alos a powerful psychological story of isolation and monomania.

    Written in diary form as Dracula is, this compulsively readable book has revelations that will shock and delight readers of the original. More erotic than Anne Rice, Kalogridis is a major new voice in vampire fiction. The first chilling tale in an exciting new trilogy is a rich and terrifying historical novel set fifty years before the opening of Bram Stoker's Dracula. At the castle of Prince Vlad Tsepesh, also known as Dracula, Vald's great-nephew Arkady is honored to care for his beloved though strange great-uncle...until he beings to realize what is expected of him in his new role. It seems that either he provides his great-uncle with unsuspecting victims to satisfy his needs, or Vlad will kill those Arkady loves. He is trapped into becoming party to murder and sadistic torture. And it is in his blood. When Arkady learns that his newborn son is being groomed one day to follow in his footsteps, he knows that he must fight Dracula, even if it means death.

    Original.

    While some sources reference the chapbook as "[being] reproduced in the first section of [his book] Cottonmouth Kisses," the claim is not entirely correct. As a matter of fact, of the 31 poems, two pen and ink illustrations and one photograph by Catalyst that appear in Caresses Soft as Sandpaper, only five poems - "Actions Speak," "Scorch," "Those Final Moments," "Anything," and "Yeah, Sure" - were included in Cottonmouth Kisses. Instead, Caresses Soft as Sandpaper is one of three sections in Cottonmouth Kisses. Conversely, that section contains three poems and a short story that were not - and are not - among the compendium known as Caresses Soft as Sandpaper.

    Contains the Judas Kiss and the Captive by Victoria Holt.

    But Don’s philandering and Jerri’s drinking and mental instability tear the family apart. Jeff digs a tunnel in a lot behind their Oregon house with his neighborhood pals–an underground shelter from the turmoil above ground–never imagining it will become his mother’s grave. Meena turns into a human spider, creeping about the house, spying on her dysfunctional family. Set in the 1960s and told from the children’s and their Aunt Debbie’s point of view, Going Under is a poignant and emotionally powerful tale about the darker side of the human spirit and the consequences for those least prepared to understand it.“Luvaas tells a terrible but absorbing story and tells it movingly. I hope this book finds the wide readership it deserves.” —Larry McMurtry, Pulitzer Prize winning Author of The Last Picture Show & Lonesome Dove“A mother drowning in alcohol drags her whole family down in William Luvaas’s powerful novel.” —New York Times Book Review“A surreal and frightening air prevails as guilt, aggression and madness escalate in this powerful evocation of family members coming to grips with crimes against one another.” —Publishers Weekly“Going Under is told with power and authority as it explores a family’s collapse into self-destruction and abuse. Luvaas’s great power as a storyteller brings the reader up out of these sorrows and into a sense of redemption that is triumphant and true.” —Frederick Busch, author of Sometimes I Live in the Country and Long Way From Home“Reading Going Under is like watching a train wreck happen before your eyes. It’s horrify­ing, powerful stuff you can’t tear your eyes away from.” —Susan L. Rife, Wichita Eagle“I found Going Under to be powerful, moving, frequently funny, and ultimately positive. Luvaas portrays the members of a dysfunctional family with compassion and insight… Those who admired Wally Lamb’s bestselling novel She’s Come Undone will find Going Under to be a richer, deeper, and more insightful study of the psychological problems that can damage essentially good people.” —Stephen Minot, author of Three Genres: The Writing of Poetry, Fiction, and Dra­ma and Surviving The Flood.

    . . . A rich American saga by the author of The Man Without a Face.

    Westall's tales are spooky and eerie, rather than downright scary. He creates likable characters and effectively sets them in slightly supernatural situations. "The Haunting of Chas McGill," for example, is a gem of a tale, perfectly plotted. During the London blitz in 1939, a boy discovers that a deserting British soldier (or perhaps his ghost) is hiding out in the old school into which he has moved. He comes up with a way to save the soldier, but in a delicious twist, his scheme has a surprising effect on his own family. Most of the stories are equally satisfying. Five of them feature adult characters exclusively. They are excellent, but seem slightly out of place, especially since Westall created such memorable children. In stories like "Fifty-Fafty" and "The Red House Clock," the thoughts and feelings of the boys who narrate are fascinating. When supernatural elements subtly appear towards the end of these stories, they have a significant impact because readers are already so involved with the lives of the characters. Three of the eleven stories also appear in The Call and other Stories (Viking, 1993); one has not been previously published; some are from out-of-print collections. A treat for horror fans as well as for those who appreciate well-told short stories. (School Library Journal)Contents:3 • Woman and Home • (1989)23 • St. Austin Friars • (1982) 53 • The Haunting of Chas McGill • (1982) 85 • In Camera • (1992) 113 • Fifty-Fafty • (1989)125 • The Cats 147 • The Boys' Toilets • (1985) 177 • The Red House Clock • (1989) 207 • The Call • (1989) 224 • The Cat, Spartan • (1989) 246 • Blackham's Wimpey • (1982)

    His plan fails, and the antipathy continues with beautiful Michael Bish, a female police officer Guy mistakenly lambastes for shooting local mortician Vernon Diest in the back. Michael claims it was self-defense, but few in town want to believe that Vernon Diest, descendant of Colson's founding fathers, is capable of such malice. Only Elma, the deaf-mute stepsister of Vernon, knows the truth. Elma, who lives somewhere on the third floor of the Diest mansion steals food from Vernon's refrigerator at night. She knows more about Vernon than she will ever be able to reveal, and it will take the light of a telling moon, a perfect summer moon, to awaken the people of Colson to the nightmare in their midst.

    These frenetic comics penned under a blood red moon are soaking in a sassy gothic appeal. Plus, there's a cake walk.