A woman chases the ghost of her neglectful father to a vanished amusement park at the end of the Long Beach pier. Two recently retired teachers learn just how much Los Angeles has taken from them.In these atmospheric, wide-ranging, surprisingly playful, and deeply mournful stories, grandkids and widows, ice cream-truck drivers and judges, travelers and invalids all discover -- and sometimes even survive -- the everyday losses from which the most vengeful ghosts so often spring.

    Each of them would pay dearly. Who would go willingly to a place of such evil? What dark enticements draw the fated guests? What appalling destiny awaits them? Martin Burden, the small-town beauty who had learned how to please men, but not well enough to keep up her New York City lifestyle; Edward Knox, a kind man with a bad habit of losing other people's money at the races, and his dear, sensitive wife, Elinor; Brian Dutton, the cut-throat businessman who watched his brother die beneath the ice of a frozen lake; Hamilton Temple, the once-great magician still searching for true magic; Julia Heine, the fading, lonely alcoholic, forever dreaming of a new life and of being young again; and the little boy, Tad, who came to the house on a dare, only to be hunted as a sacrifice to Stauf's monstrous evil. Seven guests will become entwined in a dark inferno tonight...

    Moses by Joyce Carol OatesWorse than Bones by Ramsey CampbellKing of Outer Space by Peter AtkinsPiano Bar Blues by Melanie TemThose Vanished I Recognize by Tom PiccirilliInland, Shoreline by Darren O. GodfreyThe Window by by Joel LaneAuthor, Author by Gordon LinznerHammerhead by Richard LaymonImbroglio by Conrad WilliamsTransorbital Love Probe by Th. MetzgerThe Impressionists in Winter by Susan FryWhose Ghosts These Are by Charles L. GrantPerdido: A Fragment from a Work in Progress by Peter StraubIn Real Life by William F. NolanPound Rots in Fragrant Harbour by Lisa MortonApologia by Robert DevereauxThe Bird Catcher by S.P. Somtow

    He was erudite, cranky, Jewish, wildly creative, and sold most of his wonderful stories to pulp magazines. They are wonderful.Now his estate and his friends have brought together a definitive collection of his finest work, each story introduced by an SF luminary: writers like Ursula K. Le Guin, William Gibson, Poul Anderson, Gene Wolfe, Guy Davenport, Peter S. Beagle, Gregory Benford, Thomas M. Disch, and dozens of others. This is a volume every lover of fantasy will need to own.

    Driving to Yellowstone in a motor home, seeing all the fantastic sights, getting to know their new neighbors...the trip should be a blast. It turns out to be anything but. First they discover their hosts, the Rupes, have no interest in nutrition, manners, or their own children. Even worse, two strange men seem to be following them. Could they have something to do with the one-hundred-dollar bills little Billy Rupe keeps finding in the motor home? Lewis is afraid the answer is yes -- and he should be.

    Among the dozen selections is the Nebula Award-winning “Bible Stories for Adults, No. 17: The Deluge.”Contents:Bible Stories for Adults, No. 17: The Deluge (1988)Daughter Earth (1991)Known but to God and Wilbur Hines (1991)Bible Stories for Adults, No. 20: The Tower (1994)Spelling God with the Wrong Blocks (1987)The Assemblage of Kristin (1984)Bible Stories for Adults, No. 31: The Covenant (1989)Abe Lincoln in McDonald's (1989)The Confessions of Ebenezer Scrooge (1989)Bible Stories for Adults No. 46: The Soap Opera (1994)Diary of a Mad Deity (1988)Arms and the Woman (1991)

    But Aleister has left a little gift behind -- will Jackson ever be the same?

    Must possess strong vocals, outgoing personality and great gazongas. Well, two out of three ain't bad.A showbiz veteran, Evie Parish knows she has the chops to sing and dance with the best. A Wonderbra should take care of the rest. YOUR SCENE PARTNER: Arch, aka Charles Dupont, a doting older husband. THE GIG: Eight days of smooching, fawning and otherwise making a PDA spectacle of yourselves on a Caribbean cruise. AND…THE CATCH: Arch is one of a team of former con men staging a sting to catch a grifter—and, under his stage makeup, he's the sexiest hunk ever to don a fake mustache....

    Contents:Mana (1937)Jay Score (1941)Homo Saps (1941)Metamorphosite (1946)Hobbyist (1947)Late Night Final (1948)Dear Devil (1950)Fast Falls the Eventide (1952)I Am Nothing (1952)Weak Spot (1954)Allamagoosa (1955)Into Your Tent I'll Creep (1957)Study in Still Life (1959)

    In return for a ticket she gives Mage what she says is the key to her apartment, but he quickly discovers that it's much more: it's a key to any door, to any place, to incredible power--and there are people who will stop at nothing to possess it. Suddenly Mage is on the run from Calgary to Los Angeles, under constant attack from ninja, Yakuza thugs, and terrible creatures ripped from Japanese mythology. His only hope is to discover the secret of the key and master its power--to learn the art of arrow cutting--before he comes to the inevitable confrontation with the dark forces pursuing him.

    Ghostly narratives of the Edwardian era, lurid classics from the pulp heyday, and modern-day masterpieces are included in these collections.

    Cassie's death was no accident, and Isabel will find the killer, no matter what she has to do. And no matter who stands in her way. The one thing former pararescue soldier Logan Price wants is to avoid the kind of trouble Isabel brings. Yet he can't deny his attraction to her. In this desolate, treacherous land, Isabel needs all the protection she can get--and all the love that Logan can give.

    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 Fusco

    They do not speak--and are all the more terrifying for their silence.Merridale's dead have returned. All hell is about to break loose.

    But those who seek instead a true widening of the horizons of meaning, coupled with a sure-handed mastery of the craft of poetry, will find this latest collection satisfying indeed.Here is a man who matches superb gifts with a truly subtle imagination, into whose depths he is courageously traveling--pioneering--in exploratory penetrations into areas of life that are too often evaded or denied. "The Firebombing," "Slave Quarters," "The Fiend"--these poems, with the others that comprise the present volume, show a mature and original poet at his finest.