Soon, the entire town is afflicted with a snail-like disease.

    It is issued in a foil-stamped slipcase. Published in a larger format than the Dark Tower series which enhances Michael Whelan's thirteen full-color plates and over twenty-three black & white designs."The Man in Black fled across the desert and the Gunslinger followed." This is our introduction to Roland Deschain, the last Gunslinger, published by Donald M. Grant in THE DARK TOWER: THE GUNSLINGER in 1982. Twenty years later Stephen King revised and expanded this volume. In his own words: "What I did want to do was to give newcomers to the tale of the Tower (and old readers who want to refresh their memories) a clearer start and a slightly easier entry into Roland's world. I also wanted them to have a volume that more effectively foreshadowed coming events.This volume contains that expanded version as well as the novella THE LITTLE SISTERS OF ELURIA which chronicles an earlier adventure of Roland's as he pursued the Man in Black.

    

    In Pandora, fledgling vampire David Talbot chronicles the history of Pandora, a two-thousand-year-old vampire, and in fifteenth-century Renaissance Florence, Vittorio finds his world shattered when his entire family is destroyed in an act of unholy violence and embarks on a desperate quest for revenge, in Vittorio, the Vampire, in an omnibus edition.From the Trade Paperback edition.

    McCammon (Swan Song, Stinger, The Wolf's Hour).Both set in the South, Boy's Life tells a haunting tale of a young boy's seemingly ordinary life in a town called Zephyr, until one day he witnesses a car with a man at the wheel plunge deep into Saxon's Lake. "This superbly told tale combines the sensibilities of Mark Twain, Flannery O'Connor, and Steven Spielberg...a solid coming-age story and a fine mystery...Devour this bountiful book." -- New York Newsday.In Gone South, a moment of rage and fear, and a past filled with disturbing memories turns Dan Lambert into a unwitting killer. When he flees South and meets a woman named Arden in search of a faith healer, there ensues a riveting, twisting tale of desperation and discovery. "A gothic picaresque that mixes gritty plot and black comedy...a thriller..." -- The Wall Street Journal. "Gone South is an absorbing, bizarre thriller that blazes through the dark and swampy bayous of Louisiana like a jagged bolt of hot summer lightning...McCammon is a truly original American author." -- Lansing State Journal.

    His renditions of Hell's landscape and bizarre inhabitants, with tormented souls and hideous demons populating the living structures, sprouts from the darkest regions of the human imagination.

    This is because 28-year-old Chris has xeroderma pigmentosum (XP)--a light-sensitivity so severe that he cannot leave his house in daylight, cannot enter a normally-lit room, cannot sit at a computer. Chris's natural element is the night, and his parents, both academics, chose to live in Moonlight Bay because in a small town Chris can make the nightscape his own--roaming freely through the town on his bike, surfing in the moonlight, exploring while most people sleep. But Chris's brilliant mother, a scientist, was killed in a car accident 2 years ago, and as the book opens his father, Steven Snow, is dying of cancer; Chris's protected life is about to change forever. We meet Chris as he is carefully preparing himself to go out in the late-afternoon sun to visit the hospital. In his last moments of life his father tells Chris he is "sorry" and that Chris should "fear nothing"--cryptic words that Chris cannot really relate to. Steven Snow's body is removed to the hospital basement for transport to the funeral home/crematorium, and when Chris goes downstairs for a final moment of farewell, he witnesses a frightening and clandestine encounter: the funeral director and another man Chris doesn't recognize are substituting the body of a hitchhiker for Steven Snow's body-which is being taken not to the crematorium but to some secret destination. For Chris, this scene is the first intimation of a conspiracy that he will come to realize envelopes many of his townspeople. His parents knew of it and wanted to protect Chris from it. His best friend has had hints of something wrong because of the frightening nocturnal visitors that have come to his beachhouse. And the first person to try to explain to Chris what's going on--and warn him about the special danger he himself is in--will be hideously murdered. In the 24 hours this book encompasses, Christopher Snow will find out that, sheltered though he's been, he has the soul of a fighter and an adventurer. By the end of the book he will have killed a man, will have discovered the role his own mother played in the birth of the conspiracy, will have come to recognize the extraordinary guardians that, unknown to him, have watched over him for years. He will realize that some people hate him, others revere him, and neither his own life nor those of anyone he knows will ever be the same.

    Years later, the writer’s stepson reflects upon his stepmother and the strange stories she used to tell him. Meanwhile, a surgeon’s lover vows to kill him if he does not leave his wife. Before she can follow-through on her crime of passion, though, the surgeon will cross paths with another remarkable woman, a cabaret singer whose heart beats delicately outside of her body. But when the surgeon promises to repair her condition, he sparks the jealousy of another man who would like to preserve the heart in a custom tailored bag. Murderers and mourners, mothers and children, lovers and innocent bystanders—their fates converge in a darkly beautiful web that they are each powerless to escape.Macabre, fiendishly clever, and with a touch of the supernatural, Yoko Ogawa’s Revenge creates a haunting tapestry of death—and the afterlife of the living.

    The original illustrations combine horror and humour in equal measure.

    

    This edition includes Poe's most famous tales and poems, including "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Purloined Letter," "The Pit and the Pendulum," "The Raven," "Lenore," and "Annabel Lee."

    There are also interviews with director William Friedkin and writer/producer William Peter Blatty.

    The most exciting book yet! More "special" stories, an all-new 'Russell Lee Interview' section and over 50 stories inside! A must-read, extra-special 10th book!

    4). It was originally published in 1998 and contains 6 one-shots.[CHAPTERS]01. The Face Burglar - Machida is the new girl in school, and has unwillingly made a new best friend. One who takes identity theft to a whole new level.02. Scarecrow AKA Kakashi - When a grieving father places a scarecrow on his daughter’s grave to scare chase away her boyfriend, it slowly starts to take her likeness.It doesn’t take long before the townspeople take notice and long to see their own loved ones again.03. Falling - An unexplained rash of suicides hits a town. They all leave the same not, saying only ”something strange is going to happen in this town.” Soon townsfolk begin disappearing in the night, reappearing only when they fall from an empty sky to their death.04. Red String - Iishi thought he was tied by fate to his girlfriend Momoko, but she still broke up with him. It only takes him a few days to get over it, but starts finding stitching of read thread all over his body.05. My Dear Ancestors - Makita finds his friend in a strange state of amnesia when walking home from school one day. As she tries to start her life anew, she starts seeing hallucinations of a giant caterpillar. 06. The Hanging Balloons - Kazuko has locked herself up in her room, hiding from something that started with the death of her friend. A monster with a face thatresembles her own.

    The beauty of these stories and poems lies in their readability: ideal for sharing aloud around the campfire or for a quick, thrilling dip . . . under the covers with a flashlight. The writing itself sends as many awe-inspired shivers down the spine as do the ghosts and goblins on these pages.Edgar Allan Poe, the master of the horror story and the chiming lyric poem, opens the volume with his best-loved stories: "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," "The Black Cat," "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Pit and the Pendulum," "The Premature Burial," "The Tell-Tale Heart," "Berenice," and "Ligeia." Every bit as chilling now as on the day they were written, these tales retain their power to stir the reader again and again. Poe, who was as well known for his poems as for his stories, is also represented by such verse standards as "The Raven," "Lenore," "To Helen," "Ulalume," and "Annabel Lee," among others.Numerous other practitioners of the supernatural story are included: Edith Wharton, with her gripping "Afterward"; Charles Dickens and his famed ghost story "The Signalman"; W. W. Jacobs, with this compilation's inspiration, "The Monkey's Paw." Also here are Saki's engrossing "Sredni Vashtar"; O. Henry's story of love lost and hopes dashed, "The Furnished Room"; Wilkie Collins's lively "A Terribly Strange Bed"; and "The Boarded Window," Ambrose Bierce's tale of the bizarre. A year-round collection for reading aloud--and frightening your friends--The Raven and the Monkey's Paw will gratify all manner of thrill-seekers.The Modern Library has played a significant role in American cultural life for the better part of a century. The series was founded in 1917 by the publishers Boni and Liveright and eight years later acquired by Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer. It provided the foundation for their next publishing venture, Random House. The Modern Library has been a staple of the American book trade, providing readers with affordable hardbound editions of important works of literature and thought. For the Modern Library's seventy-fifth anniversary, Random House redesigned the series, restoring as its emblem the running torchbearer created by Lucian Bernhard in 1925 and refurbishing jackets, bindings, and type, as well as inaugurating a new program of selecting titles. The Modern Library continues to provide the world's best books, at the best prices.

    His arrival in the town coincides with the annual enactment of the Danse Macabre, or Dance of Death, wherein thirteen monks from the abbey don skeleton costumes and proceed through the streets. When Mr Metfield returns to the crypt, however, he is horrified to find that only twelve skeletons remain. Where is the thirteenth? And how many figures are taking part in the Dance of Death in the streets outside?In ‘The Ossuary’ and fifteen other stories in this new collection, Steve Duffy evokes the Golden Age of the ghost story with practised ease. Set mainly in the period between the Wars, the stories in The Night Comes On are consciously ‘Jamesian’ in style and setting. They feature libraries and academics and great old country houses, colleges and branch railway-stations and cathedrals; and, of course, any number of things less easily defined, which lie in wait for the foolish, the unwary, or the unlucky. The protagonists come through their adventures alive—though not always. And while they may be more or less intact in physical terms, they usually have a new insight into things for which they once had little time and less respect.Ash-Tree Press is proud to be publishing the work of startling new talent Steve Duffy. His stories will thrill lovers of the classic ghost story and will, undoubtedly, become classics in their own right.Jacket art by Douglas Walters.Contents: Introduction by Steve Duffy; ‘The Night Comes On’; ‘Out of the Water, Out of the Earth’; ‘The Close at Chadminster’; ‘The Last of the Scarisfields’; ‘The Hunter and His Quarry’; ‘The Ossuary’; ‘Running Dogs’; ‘One Over’; ‘Figures on a Hillside’; ‘Ex Libris’; ‘The Story of a Malediction’; ‘The Vicar of Wryde St Luke’; ‘The Marsh Warden’; ‘The Return Journey’; ‘Nigrendo’; ‘Tidesend’; Notes on the Stories.

    They have already ravaged his home planet, and now he has traveled to Earth to try and stop them once and for all. Once here, however, he finds that this world's inhabitants aren't all sweetness and light themselves. Some of them are busy creating freakish mutations out of their fellow man, and others are helping the invaders in their quest for domination. An outcast, Doc Horror is forced to live by the dark of night, and there he finds compatriots who must also shun the light of day. Polychrome, The Gunwitch, Starfish, Firelion, Komodo, and The Raccoon have all their share of knocks from humanity, but they want to save their homeworld anyway, and they don't care how many monsters stand in their way.

    Lovecraft. Beyond being modern updates of the pulp horror of the 1930s, these stories seamlessly intertwine the Cthulhu Mythos into modern day conspiracy theory and the myths of alien abduction and visitation.

    And once again the little town of LaMirada is haunted by brutal murder, strange tales, and the mournful howls of an unknown creature. Some say he is crying out for the human blood on which he must feed. But others say he is crying for release from his tormented form--release that only the lovely new occupant of the castle can give him...

    But soon he is pitted against an unlikely but fearsome opponent - a full-grown Bengal tiger that has somehow found its way into his jurisdiction.

    That's when she found a naked man with slimmer wings -- a real-life angel. But Joth is hardly the stereotypical cherub -- no angel from the mind of Nancy Collins could be. Despite her best efforts, Lucy falls in love with the unattainable. Joth must decide whether to return to the heavens or abandon immortality For the joys and pains of earthbound existence. Is the love of a woman strong enough to lure an angel from Heaven, yet save it from the fires of Hell?

    Many of these episodes became the series' most acclaimed and most frequently aired. Published here for the first time are eight original scripts. Each is preceded by an introduction and commentary that lends insight into Matheson's creative process, how he felt about the adaptation of his scripts, and his relationship with Rod Serling. Information about the fate of two 'lost' scripts and suggestions for further reading and viewing are also included. This volume includes the final six complete Twilight Zone scripts Matheson wrote for the show.

    The cult creation that spawned two hit movies and a bestselling soundtrack now takes flight again in a haunting anthology of original short stories and poems by noted horror and science fiction authors.

    Culled from the best of a wide variety of sources, this eleventh annual collection of fantasy fiction features contributions by Kim Newman, Joyce Carol Oates, Ellen Kushner, Jack Womack, Karen Joy Fowler, and others.

    Subterranean Press is proud to announce this brand-new edition of Brian Lumley's most sought after book, A Coven of Vampires, featuring a collection of 13 classic vampire tales: What Dark God?, Back Row, The Strange Years, The Kiss of the Lamia, Recognition, The Thief Immortal, Necros, The Thing From the Blasted Heath, Uzzi, Haggopian, The Picknickers, Zack Phalanx is Vlad the Impaler, and The House of the Temple.

    And he loves the stories because they help him know himself better. These eight tales in Brian Hodge's renowned second collection advance the cause a little further.Full of gods and devils, tormentors and deliverers, Falling Idols is a twisting, harrowing path toward the state of being that poet Kahlil Gibran describes as being able "to bless the darkness as we have blessed the light."Includes:"Stick Around, It Gets Worse" - The universe creates what it needs, even in a gritty urban Hell."A Loaf Of Bread, A Jug Of Wine" - A threatened village in World War II France has an unlikely defender: the allegedly soulless creation of Victor Frankenstein."The Dripping Of Sundered Wineskins" - A trio of immortal Sisters catapults an Irish stigmatic toward his destiny of being either a saint or a butcher. World Fantasy Award finalist."Cenotaph" - While exploring the fantastical sculptures at an ancient English church, a photographer discovers what really guided her ancestor's hammer and chisels."As Above, So Below" - A lifetime of searching that began deep inside a derelict railroad tunnel leads a very old soul to a desert town, for his final revelations in sacrifice, miracles, and love. Selected for The Century's Best Horror Fiction.

    Bizarre reports start to spread, describing attacks from vicious creatures, some human... some not. Victims are apparently eaten.At the epicenter of these deaths is a dark, secluded mansion belonging to the mysterious Umbrella Corporation. For years umbrella has labored within the mansion, unwatched, ostensibly conducting benign genetic research.Deployed to investigate the strange goings-on is the Special Tactics and Rescue Squad (S.T.A.R.S.), an unusual paramilitary response unit boasting an eclectic assortment of mission specialists: roguish Chris Redfield, former cat burglar Jill Valentine, dead-eye Barry Burton, and the enigmatic team leader, Albert Wesker. Together with the other S.T.A.R.S. operatives, they have a good reason to believe they're ready for anything.But what unfolds as the S.T.A.R.S. penetrate the mansion's long-locked doors is terror beyond their worst nightmares: creatures that defy the laws of life and death—the result of forbidden experiments gone disastrously wrong. Behind it all is a conspiracy so vast in its scope and so insidious in its agenda that the S.T.A.R.S. will be betrayed from within to ensure that the world never learns Umbrella's secret. And if any survive... they may well come to envy those who did not.

    Includes three previously unpublished stories, and two stories which have been filmed for "The Hunger" TV series: 'The Secret Shih-Tan' and 'Anais.'

    He’s ready to do the bidding of his Master, The Dark Overlord! Where has the bucket-headed uber warrior with a passion for Parcheesi been, why is he back, and what does his return spell for Lenore, the cute little dead girl?

    Among the self-satisfied group were: Mrs Merriam, the sanctimonious shrew who was turning her husband into a nonentity and her daughter into a bigoted spinster; Mr Roberts, who found relief from the street's unending propriety in shoddy side-street amours; Miss Fielding, who considered it more important to boil an egg properly than to save a disturbed girl from destruction. It took the gruesome act of a desperate boy who lived among them to pierce the shell of their complacency and force them to see their own ugliness. HANGSAMAN is Miss Jackson's second novel. The story is a simple one but the overtones are immediately present. "Natalie Waite who was seventeen years old but who felt that she had been truly conscious only since she was about fifteen lived in an odd corner of a world of sound and sight, past the daily voices of her father and mother and their incomprehensible actions." In a few graphic pages, the family is before us—Arnold Waite, a writer, egotistical and embittered; his wife, the complaining martyr; Bud, the younger brother who has not yet felt the need to establish his independence; and Natalie, in the nightmare of being seventeen. The Bird's Nest: Elizabeth is a demure twenty-three-year-old wiling her life away at a dull museum job, living with her neurotic aunt, and subsisting off her dead mother’s inheritance. When Elizabeth begins to suffer terrible migraines and backaches, her aunt takes her to the doctor, then to a psychiatrist. But slowly, and with Jackson’s characteristic chill, we learn that Elizabeth is not just one girl—but four separate, self-destructive personalities. The Bird’s Nest, Jackson’s third novel, develops hallmarks of the horror master’s most unsettling work: tormented heroines, riveting familial mysteries, and a disquieting vision inside the human mind.

    This roller-coaster e of thrillers features this number-one bestselling novel, along with Demon Seed and Eyes of Darkness -- two Koontz classics never before published in hardcover. Rich in characterization, powerful suspense, lyrical prose, and extraordinary plots, these three novels are guaranteed to keep readers up late into the night, night after night.

    The next morning, the survivors discover that most of the town has disappeared into an enormous crevasse.As they struggle to survive, one by one people start to disappear without trace.

    Dead men walking. Unbreakable promises and unbeatable curses. Vampires, spirits, and sinister animals. All of these are to be found in Truly Scary Stories for Fearless Kids. Any kid who likes a good scare - and who doesn't? - will find plenty of them in this new collection of terrifying tales. With nearly thirty authors represented, Truly Scary Stories brings together chills and thrills both old and new. Such grand old yarns as "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (about a certain headless horseman), "The Monkey's Paw," and "Dracula's Guest" are found alongside brand-new frights like "Lizard: The Devil's Plaything" and "Best Before". Besides short stories, there are haunting poems like "The Cremation of Sam McGee" and "The Geebung Polo Club," with rhythms that heighten the horror. This collection will take unsuspecting readers on a strange and surprising journey. They will visit a ship adrift on the Pacific Ocean and learn of a strange moss that grows everywhere. They will meet a weary prospector at the North Pole, burdened with a promise to a now-dead companion. They will encounter witches in a lonely mountaintop cabin, and ghouls in a murky swamp. Wherever they take place, many of the stories revolve around children. Kids can be found dodging cruel aunts or taking vanishing lessons from ghosts, playing with haunted electrical train sets or worrying about food rotting in the refrigerator. And just so that the terror isn't too nonstop, some of the stories are downright comical, promising laughs as well as shudders. Whether funny or fearsome, these stories are guaranteed to hold readers spellbound well into the night - shivering with fright and delight.Includes The Monkey's Paw by W.W.Jacobs, Dracula's Guest by Bram Stoker, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington ... A Good Old Ghost Story by Stephen Leacock

    Braunbeck109 • The Pig Man • (1993) • short story by Augustine Funnell125 • Mobius • (1987) • short story by Richard Christian Matheson129 • The Rendering Man • (1994) • short story by Douglas Clegg147 • Weight • (1994) • short story by Dominick Cancilla159 • Layover • (1991) • short story by Ed Gorman169 • Johnny Halloween • (1992) • short story by Norman Partridge181 • Hope • (1993) • short story by Steve Bevan187 • The Mailman • (1988) • short story by Bentley Little197 • Silhouette • (1996) • short story by Stephen Mark Rainey215 • Roadkill • (1991) • short story by Tom Elliott221 • The Rifle • (1995) • short story by Jack Ketchum233 • Pieces • (1992) • short story by Ray Garton237 • Rustle • (1993) • short story by Peter Crowther255 • When the Silence Gets Too Loud • (1995) • short story by Brian Hodge269 • The Rabbit • (1990) • short story by Jack Pavey281 • The Flood • (1986) • short story by John Maclay287 • The Right Thing • (1994) • short story by Gary L. Raisor [as by Gary Raisor]305 • Pig's Dinner • (1991) • short story by Graham Masterton317 • Crash Cart • (1993) • short story by Nancy Holder329 • Wall of Words • (1994) • short story by Lucy Taylor337 • Metastasis • (1990) • short story by David B. Silva349 • Wrapped Up • (1981) • short story by Ramsey Campbell357 • Depth of Reflection • (1990) • short story by David L. Duggins369 • The Mole • (1990) • short story by David Niall Wilson375 • Saviour • (1991) • short story by Gary A. Braunbeck391 • Great Expectations • (1990) • short story by Kim Antieau397 • Shell • (1992) • short story by Adam Corbin Fusco403 • Eater • (1995) • novelette by Peter Crowther425 • Tyrannosaurus • (1994) • short story by Norman Partridge429 • Vacation • (1994) • short story by Matthew J. Costello [as by Matthew Costello]447 • A Taste of Blood and Altars • [Steve and Ghost Universe] • (1988) • short story by Poppy Z. Brite455 • Mr. God • (1993) • short story by Thomas Tessier469 • Drive-In Date • (1991) • short story by Joe R. Lansdale485 • Desert Pickup • (1970) • short story by Richard Laymon491 • Fyodor's Law • (1994) • short story by William F. Nolan501 • Five to Get Ready, Two to Go • (1996) • short story by Hugh B. Cave515 • Secrets • (1991) • short story by Melanie Tem525 • With the Wound Still Wet • (1991) • short story by Wayne Allen Sallee529 • Plainclothes • (1991) • short story by Steve Rasnic Tem541 • The Pattern • (1971) • short story by Bill Pronzini549 • Seesaw • (1990) • short story by David L. Duggins553 • Trial by Fire • (1992) • short story by Barry Hoffman575 • Almost Never • (1991) • short story by Edward Lee589 • Bloodline • (1990) • short story by Roman A. Ranieri599 • Four-in-Hand • (1989) • short story by William Relling, Jr.605 • The Cutty Black Sow • (1984) • short story by Thomas F. Monteleone619 • The Liar's Mouth • (1993) • short story by Darrell Schweitzer633 • Shattered Silver • (1990) • short story by James Kisner651 • YSEX • (1991) • short story by Steven Spruill675 • Mongrel • (1990) • short story by Steve Vernon679 • The Winds Within • (1991) • short story by Ronald Kelly695 • Crying Wolf • (1990) • short story by Rick Hautala709 • Animal Rites • (1995) • short story by Jay Bonansinga [as by Jay R. Bonansinga]719 • Easy's Last Stand • (1991) • short story by Nancy A. Collins737 • A Christmas Story • (1992) • short story by James S. Dorr [as by James Dorr]741 • Comes the Night Wind, Cold and Hungry • (1991) • novelette by Gene-Michael Higney (variant of Comes the Night Wind, Cold, And Hungry) [as by Gene Michael Higney]769 • A Conversation with Dean Koontz • (1997) • interview of Dean R. Koontz • interview by Robert Morrish783 • Afterword (The Best of Cemetery Dance) • essay by David B. Silva

    Instead they concern another Binscombe, linked to the first by subtle—but invisible—bridges of ‘what if?’. This other Binscombe is a place rich in history, where strangers are welcome, but not always safe; a place where watching a video is not as harmless a pursuit as it might seem, where waiting for the bus may take much longer than expected, and where churchgoers are advised to pay very close attention during the midnight service on Christmas Eve. It is, in short, a place which takes its history very seriously: and with good reason, as the unwary are apt to find out to their cost.No one takes Binscombe and its history more seriously than Mr Disvan, whose encyclopaedic knowledge of the village and its past seems to have been acquired through more than simply reading history books. We see Mr Disvan and Binscombe life through the eyes of Mr Oakley, a newcomer whose family has long had roots there, and who thus proves the truth of a local saying: ‘They always come back’. This local connection gives Mr Oakley an opportunity to see some of the stranger side of life in Binscombe, with Mr Disvan as his guide; but it also shows him that once you come back, it isn’t always possible to leave again.John Whitbourn’s Binscombe Tales have been entertaining readers since 1987. This, the first in a two-volume set from Ash-Tree Press, which will collect all the tales in the saga, contains fifteen stories, seven of which are published here for the first time.Jacket art by Alan Hunter.Contents: Introscript by John Whitbourn; Introduction by Professor E. Griffiths; ‘Another Place’; ‘Wating for a Bus’; ‘Till Death Do Us Part’; ‘’Only One Careful Owner’; ‘All Roads Lead to Rome’; ‘The Will to Live’; ‘Hello Dolly’; ‘Reggie Suntan’; ‘Here Is My Resignation’; ‘A Video Nasty, or, The Sins of the Fathers’; ‘Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Most Men’; ‘Binscombe Jihad’; ‘His Holiness Commands’; ‘Roots’; ‘The More it Changes . . .’

    Introduction by Richard Dalby 'Nightmare Jack''The Double Admiral''The Smoking Leg''The Grey House''The Tunnel''The Bad Lands''Mr Meldrum's Mania''Time-Fuse''Mortmain''Funeral March of a Marionette''Brenner's Boy''Not There''"Beyondaril"''The Firing-Chamber''The Renegade''The Childish Thing''The Feasting Dead'Afterword, 'A Forgotten Man' by Alexis Lykiard.

    

    Sometimes amusing, sometimes frightening, Wilson's short fiction is as eclectic as his cartooning. "Campfire Story" mixes nostalgia with unease. "The Marble Boy" is a story from the oral tradition - a tale to be told during a sleepover. "It Twineth Round Thee in Thy Joy" might have appeared in the science fiction pulps of the thirties. These tales and the twenty others that fill out this collection are entertaining and unnerving. To add to readers' enjoyment, "The Cleft and Other Odd Tales" contains more than two dozen original Gahan Wilson illustrations.

    His penchant for in-your-face horror is tempered, though, by the underlying moral tone in his fiction. The Exit at Toledo Blade Boulevard contains 12 short stories (six original to this volume) and a personal essay about the author's encounter with Henry Miller. "The Rifle," the best in the bunch, is a heartbreaking, provocative fable about a gun in the hands of a kid gone bad. It would serve well as a reading assignment for a group discussing the problem of shootings by school children. The other stories include one reminiscent of "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson, one about random violence on a freeway, three tales in which a villain gets his or her comeuppance, a story about snake phobia, a fantasy fable set in the wintry north, and others that use paranoia, cynicism, and humor in different combinations. (Some readers may find the humor a bit lame.) Also included is a well-crafted Romero-zombie story that was apparently intended for a Skipp-and-Spector Book of the Dead anthology that never materialized. The essay, "Henry Miller and the Push," is a brilliant finale. In the early 1980s Ketchum (Dallas Mayr) found himself in the position of representing Henry Miller for a New York literary agency. His description of the poignant encounter between the young and aspiring writer and the 85-year-old Miller is a real treat. This edition includes several black-and-white illustrations and two beautiful color illustrations on the front and back of the dust jacket by horror artist Alan M. Clark. The introduction is by Richard Laymon and all the stories have short blurbs by Ketchum. --Fiona Webster

    Violent ghosts, lost souls, and strange specters all wander spookily through these stories--and the creepy illustrations heighten the horror. Read a bone-chilling account of a night in a haunted house, and of a ghost who scared a dog to death. What would you do if a spirit kept messing things up after you, stealing clothes and food, and trying to wrap you in its arms? And one museum in Toronto appears to have more on the grounds than just fine art! Fly through time with a pilot who saw into the future --and foretold tragedy. Watch with astonishment as poltergeists wreak havoc, tapping and banging, turning lights on and off, and throwing over furniture. Meet a doll you won't want to play with, and a demonic hairdresser who'll really give you a bad hair day! The spirit of one sad boy, though, wanted only to see justice done. Many first-hand accounts tell of ghost ships, runaway trains, and phantom planes. Could they be true? Engineer J.M. Pinkney thought so. During a train voyage in 1892 he watched horrified as a fast-moving locomotive headed directly for his train. Pinkney didn't believe his friends when they claimed that the "daredevil driver" was a dead man, until he learned that the train had arrived safely at the station--without any driver. Don't let the icy grip of fear grow too tight--if you can help it! Sterling 352 pages, 4 3/16 x 5 1/4.

    One is an excerpt from a previously published novella; two stories, the prologue, and a foreword by Hayes himself are original to this volume. This is a limited edition of 550.

    Unable to write, and plagued by vivid nightmares set at the western Maine summerhouse he calls Sara Laughs, Mike reluctantly returns to the lakeside getaway. There, he finds his beloved Yankee town held in the grip of a powerful millionaire, Max Devore, whose vindictive purpose is to take his three-year-old granddaughter, Kyra, away from her widowed young mother, Mattie. As Mike is drawn into Mattie and Kyra's struggle, as he falls in love with both of them, he is also drawn into the mystery of Sara Laughs, now the site of ghostly visitations and escalating terrors. What are the forces that have been unleashed here—and what do they want of Mike Noonan?It is no secret that King is one of our most mesmerizing storytellers. In Bag of Bones, he proves to be one of our most moving as well.(back cover)

    It was originally printed in Japan in 1997. While it has not been officially released in English, it has been completely scanlated by fans, with the title "Undying Love".Ryuusuke, a boy returning to his foggy hometown of Nanchou-shi, notices that its unique form of fortune-telling has become increasingly popular since he left. People will go to crossroads and cover their faces, and ask the first passing stranger to answer their questions to find advice and solace in their lives. But ever since he left, girls who go to the crossroads have begun to break down and violently kill themselves after hearing an answer.While he seeks to find the cause and solution to this disturbing problem, he is challenged, for not only are the dead not leaving the crossroads, but Ryuusuke fears that he may be tied to the mysterious events in more ways than one...Included one-shots:The Intersection's Pretty BoyThe Troubled WomanShadowNight of ScreamsSequel: The White Clothed Pretty Boy

    Now it is a novel, stuffed full of the gruesome and horrible. Taken from the mythologies and histories of humankind, it follows the trail of the Mother Spririt of the worst that the world is capable of producing. From the catacombs of ancient Rome where a blasphemous sect twisted the message of the early Christians--to modern America with its obsession with violence, deities and saints and the reincarnations of beasts battle over sublime and profane, where the very reasons for existence for us all may lie in the unthinkable.Edward Lee (author of CITY INFERNAL, MONSTROSITY, INCUBI, and SUCCUBI) says in his introduction to this new novel-length version, "What's most unique of all here (and jealously fascinating) are the creative guts of the author. If there's an ultimate dichotomy in the horror genre, it's got to be Jacob...armed with a talent to write the most beautiful prose yet using that talent to examine the most unspeakable and detestable horror. ...It's one of my all time favorite novels in the field."

    Issue 387367 words.

    They should have listened to their friends' Fritz the hedgehog and Grethen the mouse, who have lived under the dark shadow of the castle for longer than most.

    It was originally published in Japan in 1997. Only one story, The Village of Sirens, has been released in English.Works Collected:The Town Without StreetsNear Miss!Road MapThe Village of SirensOccult Transfer Student

    Assembled here is a selection of Mr. Leiber's best horrific tales, many of which have been virtually unobtainable for decades. From the riveting "Spider Mansion" and "The Phantom Slayer" from Weird Tales to the more recent "Lie Still, Snow White" and "Black Has Its Charms" from rare, small-press magazines, this collection provides an overview of Leiber's fifty-plus years as an acknowledged master of the weird tale. While much of Leiber's seminal science-fiction and fantasy remains in print, his work in the field of supernatural horror has been sadly neglected until now. Edited by John Pelan and Steve Savile.

    This volume presents classic tales from three centuries that have many traditional elements in common, yet illustrate vastly differing perceptions of horror.

    But the fun ends for the new seniors when Trisha has a premonition of the entire senior class dying.

    Enter Jagutai Jen-Shian, bastard son of the Great Khan Sartac. Sent to ensure the signing of a vital treaty, he's his father's deadliest henchman, a small, steely warrior whose fearsome Urguz bow is more than a match for any spell. Opposing him is the demented High Priest of Tchernobog, Serrator Dessicatorius, who, believing that moisture is the principle of evil, dreams of a new and much drier Khymir. But Dessicatorius's insanity is too much for his heterodox second-in-command, Mancdaman Zancharthus, an engagingly ruthless pragmatist who enlists Jagutai in a plot to overthrow his master. Things are further complicated by the regal and beautiful Torrisanna, a temple prostitute with lethal designs of her own, and her her slinky handmaiden Lilitu, who'll stop at nothing to seduce Jagutai, or at least make him as miserable as possible... Supercharged with sex and bone-crunching action, Blood and Pearls is like nothing you've ever read, a hilarious, hallucinatory jolt of high-speed sword-and-sorcery.

    It was originally published in Japan in 1997. So far, none of the stories in this collection have been released in English.Works Collected:Long DreamThe Story of the Mysterious TunnelBronze StatueFloating Particles (Drifting Spores)Blood Sickness of the White Sands Villiage

    A mysterious committee, shredded yellowed newspapers, a daguerrotype of a Confederate soldier, a headless corpse and a corpseless head.... These are the clues which Smith must piece together to save his sanity and his daughter, and uncover the terrible secret of the Boss in the Wall. "What a scary story, like a modern Dracula but completely original in its concept and chillingly realistic in its narration. Avram Davidson was one of the finest writers the fantasy field has had, endlessly inventive and uniquely vivid. Grania Davis has completed this work, which he left unfinished, in a way that does him proud." -Poul Anderson"The Boss in the Wall is a last powerful and major work by a major and powerful author. -Gregory Benford "It is hard to imagine the genre that could encompass him; it is even more difficult to imagine fantasy or science fiction without him." -he Encyclopedia of Science Fiction"Davidson may be always doomed to be underappreciated, but he remains a true original and, in his own subtle way, one of the greats." -The St. James Guide to Fantasy

    This collection features PVG arrangements of 16 songs from the recent Broadway run of this controversial, critically acclaimed new musical that will be opening next year in Europe. Songs include: Come Look at the Freaks * The Devil You Know * Feelings You've Got to Hide * I Will Never Leave You * Leave Me Alone * Like Everyone Else * One Plus One Equals Three * Private Conversation * Say Goodbye to the Freak Show * Tunnel of Love * We Share Everything * When I'm by Your Side * You Should Be Loved * and more. Includes color photos from the Broadway production.

    Suddenly there are genuine miracles to investigate.The trouble with miracles is that once they start, they're difficult to stop... like the 'gobbling' that the registered-dangerous dog Dookie attacks, or the invisible eight-foot-tall god called Yah-hoo, or the rip in the fabric of reality that leads to May Street, which was torn down in the early seventies.And there is a house in May Street, something is whispering across the years, promising to fulfil wildest desires and darkest yearnings.

    Twenty hair-raising illustrations highlight creepy classic and contemporary stories from Australia, Germany, India, El Salvador, and more, including a healthy helping of American apparitions. Do you dare walk down the lane where "Crooker Waits"? Or would you rather shake "The Hairy Hands"? These vivid retellings will keep readers and listeners on the edge of their seats, while thorough source notes are a boon to students and teachers. A supernatural treat for spine-chilling fun!

    Oh, say, the police are here.

    However, the twelve stories in this collection well justify a place alongside those written by E. F. Benson, A. M. Burrage, H. R. Wakefield, and Eleanor Scott, and their author, Margery Lawrence, possessed a story-telling skill comparable to each of those more famous writers.The collection is formed by the narrations of members of a dining club, hosted by Saunderson, a man who undoubtedly had a liking for congenial, interesting company. Lawrence writes that 'the one unspoken rule, the Open Sesame to dine at Fat Frank Saunderson's, was to come armed with a story worth hearing . . . The rarer and more curious the better.' Prior to the Ash-Tree Press edition in 1998, these 'rare and curious' tales last appeared in print in 1947, and readers can now once more share and enjoy the stories of Hellier, Vesey, Lutyens, Otway, Ponting, Denison, and all the others who shared the hospitality of Saunderson.Margery Lawrence's narrative style will transport the reader to the comfortable, club-style atmosphere of a dining club of the 1920s. Her stories entertain, chill, even horrify—for here are twelve strange tales, undeservedly neglected tales, that deserve their place alongside the very best that the genre has to offer.

    Behind the scenes was one man working flat out to produce those wonderful creatures. That man was Roy Ashton, and it was he who created all of the make-up effects for mummies, werewolves and Gothic horrors. Greasepaint and Gore takes a look into the props wardrobe and make up unit where Ashton, long before computer technology existed, created his own high standards of magical illusions. With an introduction from the late Peter Cushing OBE, who had the opportunity to watch Roy Ashton at work countless times (after all make-up can also make you look glamorous as well as horrific), this is a demonstration of a true professional at work. Greasepaint and Gore catalogues the largest single collection of Hammer production artefacts in existence, and is a must have for any horror. or indeed any film fan!

    In addition to entries on actors, directors, writers, technicians, horror-themed films and television series, the book provides essays on classic horror characters like Frankenstein and Dracula, and on recurrent situations like decapitation and body-snatching.

    

    That she is remembered primarily as a distinguished historical novelist (indeed, Hugh Walpole called her the greatest historical novelist England had produced in a generation), vastly underrates the quality of her supernatural fiction, which holds its own in any comparison with the readily acknowledged masters of the genre.Twilight and Other Supernatural Romances is the first major collection of Bowen's supernatural tales to be published since Arkham House's Kecksies and Other Twilight Tales (1976), this new collection offering a completely original selection of stories.A diverse repertoire is on offer here, from the particularly repulsive Madam Spitfire to the boasting spirit of Gabriel Letourneau, who is eventually unmasked by one of the sitters with whom he communicates at a séance. Also included in the collection are the novella Julia Roseingrave and two previously unpublished stories, 'The Recluse and Springtime' and 'Vigil'.The volume is completed by an Afterword from Marjorie Bowen's own pen, in which she describes a ghostly experience of her own.Twilight and Other Supernatural Romances is the first of two Ash-Tree Press collections of Marjorie Bowen's supernatural fiction. The volume is edited by Jessica Amanda Salmonson, and has a preface by the author's son, Hilary Long.Jacket art by Deborah McMillion Nering.Contents: Preface: 'Marjorie Bowen 1885–1952. Some Random Recollections by one of her sons'; Introduction by Jessica Amanda Salmonson; 'Dark Ann'; 'The Last Bouquet'; 'Madam Spitfire'; 'The Lady Clodagh'; 'Decay'; 'The Fair Hair of Ambrosine'; 'Ann Mellor's Lover'; 'Giudetta's Wedding Night'; 'Twilight'; 'The Burning of the Vanities'; 'A Stranger Knocked'; 'They Found My Grave'; 'Brent's Folly'; 'The Confession of Beau Sekforde'; 'The Recluse and Springtime'; 'Vigil'; 'Julia Roseingrave'; Author's Afterword: 'A Ghostly Experience: The Presence of Evil'.