Paul Wilson's fiction from the FREAK SHOW anthology. The events here take place a year after the Oddity Emporium's encounter with Repairman Jack in ALL THE RAGE, with an extra ten-thousand words of new characters and new subplots that weave the story into the Adversary Cycle.Description:"It will be a long trip, brothers and sisters," Oz said as he walked among the members of his troupe. "Long in distance and in days."And perhaps it is good that we make a full circuit of this country - better yet if we could make a circuit of the globe - for it will allow us a chance to see it and remember it as it was - if we care to."He let his gaze range over them as he allowed the words to sink in.All the important ones were here. The special ones, the ones like him. Three-eyed Carmella sat with melon-headed Leshane Burns, flashing sidelong glances at George Swenson who sat alone; the bovine Clementine also sat alone, but not necessarily by choice; woody-skinned Bramble sat near green-skinned Haman who appeared to be staring at the closed tent flap while the eyeless Gerald Gaines stared at nothing yet saw everything; Delta Reid coiled around her chair as Janusch waved his stalked eyes. Others sat scattered about. The troupe had no unity yet. They were not yet a team. But by the end of this tour they would be. They'd be family. The troupe. The freak show. People with green skin, white skin, furry skin, reptile hide, no eyes, extra eyes, no digits, extra digits, people with visions, with no vision, with one face, with two faces. A gathering to give many a towner nightmares for life. But to Oz they were beautiful. Because they were kin. Brother and sister were not forms of address he took lightly. Truly kin. For they shared a common parent, a third parent that had left an indelible imprint on their genes.The Otherness. Each had been touched by the Otherness.And so begins a hunt . . . for the pieces of a Device, a Contraption, a Thing-a-ma-jig. Call it what you will, it has power . . . it straddles the worlds - the one we know and another we cannot see.

    Thirty-two good stories--some previously anthologized, some hot off the press ("Beauty and the Opera" by Suzy McKee Charnas appeared in July 1996), and a few once considered classic, but now nearly forgotten (Thomas Burnett Swann is rapidly falling out of sight)--offer entertainment for every taste. Many of the stories ("The Overworld" by Jack Vance, and "The Changeling" by Michael Swanwick) also offer continuation elsewhere as part of a longer work.Gardner Dozois's emphasis is on magazine fiction. As such, it's an interesting view of the evolution and increasing sophistication of the "pulps"--and their readers. For this reason this would be an excellent text for a course on modern fantasy writing. Stories from Asimov Science Fiction Magazine, which Dozois edits, are prominent among the recent pieces. Providing a brief history of 20th-century fantasy, the introduction seems written with the new reader in mind.ContentsWalk Like a Mountain • [John the Balladeer] • (1955) • shortstory by Manly Wade WellmanScylla's Daughter • [Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser] • (1961) • novella by Fritz LeiberPaper Dragons • (1985) • novelette by James P. BlaylockThe Golem • (1955) • shortstory by Avram DavidsonFlowers of Edo • (1987) • novelette by Bruce SterlingBears Discover Fire • (1990) • shortstory by Terry BissonThe Changeling's Tale • (1994) • shortstory by Michael SwanwickMissolonghi 1824 • (1990) • shortstory by John CrowleyBlunderbore • (1990) • shortstory by Esther M. FriesnerInto Gold • (1986) • novelette by Tanith LeeSpace-Time for Springers • [Gummitch the Cat] • (1958) • shortstory by Fritz LeiberBeauty and the Opéra or the Phantom Beast • (1996) • novelette by Suzy McKee CharnasThe Man Who Painted the Dragon Griaule • [Griaule] • (1984) • novelette by Lucius ShepardA Cabin on the Coast • (1984) • shortstory by Gene WolfeThe Sleep of Trees • (1980) • shortstory by Jane YolenTrouble with Water • (1939) • shortstory by H. L. GoldThe Gnarly Man • (1939) • novelette by L. Sprague de CampDeath and the Executioner • [Lord of Light] • (1967) • novelette by Roger ZelaznyThe Manor of Roses • [John & Stephen] • (1966) • novella by Thomas Burnett SwannThe Overworld • [Dying Earth] • (1965) • novelette by Jack VanceExtempore • (1956) • shortstory by Damon KnightGod's Hooks! • (1982) • shortstory by Howard WaldropBuffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight • (1987) • novelette by Ursula K. Le GuinThe Tale of Hauk • (1977) • novelette by Poul AndersonA Gift of the People • (1988) • shortstory by Robert SampsonConfiguration of the North Shore • (1969) • shortstory by R. A. LaffertyTwo Sadnesses • (1973) • shortstory by George Alec EffingerManatee Gal, Won't You Come Out Tonight • [Jack Limekiller] • (1977) • novelette by Avram Davidson (aka Manatee Gal Ain't You Coming Out Tonight)The Signaller • [Pavane] • (1966) • novelette by Keith RobertsThe Troll • (1935) • shortstory by T. H. WhiteDeath and the Lady • (1992) • novelette by Judith TarrProfessor Gottesman and the Indian Rhinoceros • (1995) • novelette by Peter S. BeaglePreface (Modern Classics of Fantasy) • (1997) • essay by Gardner DozoisRecommended Reading (Modern Classics of Fantasy) • essay by Gardner Dozois

    How many times in your life have you wanted to slap someone? Really, literally strike them? You can’t even begin to count the times. Hundreds. Thousands. You’re not exaggerating. You’re not engaging in… whatchamacallit? Hyperbole? You’re not engaging in hyperbole. Maybe the impulse flashed through your brain for only a moment, like lightning, when someone tried to skip ahead of you in line at the cafeteria. Hell, at more than one point in your life you’ve wanted to kill someone; really, literally kill someone. That’s not just an expression. Not hyperbole. Then it was gone and replaced by the civilized thought: You can’t do that. Not out in public. But you’ve had the thought… From Shirley Jackson Award-nominated author Nicole Cushing comes Mr. Suicide, a novel of the Great Dark Mouth.

    She wasn't satisfied with a lavish lifestyle, and her rich husband stood in her way. She knew her middlle-aged lesbian lover would do anything to set her free, even if it meant premeditated murder.A few years after the millionaire's death, a bottle of arsenic and mail to the millionaire was found in a storage locker rented by a woman under an assumed name. Nobody could have predicted the murder or the aftermath with its strange twists and unexpected results as the millionaire's ex-wife becomes a sleuth to help solve the murder.

    Filmed as a CBS television movie starring Johnny Cash and Andy Griffith in 1983, the story gained even more acclaim and is still available on video and DVD.

    But the haunted city, divided by warring religious groups, offers him no refuge from guilt and grief.As he wanders through the streets and the archaeological sites, a mysterious old woman appears to him, delivering messages that seem beyond comprehension. Then a fragment of the Dead Sea Scrolls, kept hidden by an elderly innkeeper, appears to offer the key to understanding the woman's pronouncements.Perhaps the spirit of Mary Magdelene is trying to reveal to Tom the hidden history of the Resurrection. And perhaps the truth is even stranger…

    When a series of strange intuitions leads him to a crime in progress, Joe jumps headlong into danger without hesitation. In the aftermath, he wonders about the uncanny impulse that suddenly swept over him. Until new friend Portia Montclair, the strangely wise daughter of the local police chief, explains to him what sent him ricocheting around town like a crazy pinball. Portia tells of another reality, a reality more thrilling—and terrifying—than Joe ever imagined. Timeless, elemental forces of good and evil have come to the quiet town of Little City: a cosmic entity capable of infecting human beings, and the seeker who has chosen Joe to find it. To stop the malevolent invader, this average Joe must be braver than he ever thought possible…and face the hardest decisions of his life.

    Being assassinated twice is enemy action. Aeneas Tell of the House of Tell is one of the youngest Lords of Creation. His family rules the Nine Worlds through its control of the ultra-advanced technology that has permitted the colonization of the entire solar System. More gods than men, the Lords of Creation have cheated Death itself. But even a quasi-immortal god will take exception to being assassinated. Twice. Especially when the assassin turns out to be a someone he thought was a friend.

    Milking the Moon, already a Washington Post bestseller in hardcover, is destined to become a Southern classic.

    They're spoken of in stories and superstitions, relics of an unenlightened age, old wives' tales, passed down through generations. And yet, no matter how wary and jaded we have become, as individuals or as a society, a part of us remains vulnerable to them. Werewolves and wendigos, poltergeists and vampires, angry elves and vengeful spirits.In this beautifully illustrated volume, the host of the hit podcast Lore serves as a guide on a fascinating journey through the history of these terrifying creatures, and explores not only the legends but what they tell us about ourselves. Aaron Mahnke invites us to the desolate Pine Barrens of New Jersey, where the notorious winged, red-eyed Jersey Devil dwells. Mahnke delves into harrowing accounts of cannibalism-some officially documented, others the stuff of speculation . . . perhaps. He visits the dimly lit rooms where séances take place, the European villages where gremlins make mischief, and Key West, Florida, home of a haunted doll named Robert.The monsters of folklore have become not only a part of our language but a part of our collective psyche. Whether these beasts and bogeymen are real or just a reflection of our primal fears, we know, on some level, that not every mystery has been explained, and that the unknown still holds the power to strike fear deep in our hearts and souls. As Aaron Mahnke reminds us, sometimes the truth is even scarier than the lore...

    Once Nifft and Barnar were hired by the ghost of a dead woman to kidnap the man who betrayed her and drag him down to hell to join her. A simple task — or so they thought at first....Another time, the pair lucked into an even more lucrative proposition, when they were shipwrecked on the way to work in Costard's sap mine — very dangerous and sometimes nauseating work far below ground and were hired by Bunt to bring back twenty gills of the ichor exuded only by the monstrous insectile queen. It seemed like easy money — they wouldn't have to go to hell Of course, the best laid plans sometimes do go astray, but this time they were sure they would...make a killing.Publisher's Note: Parts of this work were previously published as "Nifft the Lean" and "The Mines of Behemoth."

     “The Great White Bed” – A senile old man makes a deal with a strange being for a new lease on life. What happens when a book reads you? “The Cellar Gods” – In the 1940s, a young medical student protects a beautiful Asian woman from prejudiced townsfolk, only to discover she is connected to mysterious entities from an unholy dimension. “The Locked Door” – The visions of a psychic threatens the existence of a secret order. “In the Gyre” – A research vessel investigating a growing pollution problem in the ocean finds that something else has discovered a use for our waste material—something designed for building, and growing, and multiplying. “The Gate and the Way” – Poking around the local spook house for redeemable cans and bottles, two brothers stumble upon cosmic horrors from beyond space and time. “I Cannot Begin To Tell You” – A desperate father kidnaps his infant son and flees to a remote cabin to wait out an apocalypse only he can perceive. Is the man psychotic? Or is the boy a conduit for an ancient malevolence from the depths of Time? “Cutter” – A man and boy are trapped in an abandoned house by plague of bizarre monsters. “Graveyard Orbit” – In the future, the deep space exploration vessel Wellington encounters the unthinkable orbiting the uncharted planet Osiris II. Amid the debris of a trillion alien corpses, the Wellington’s Captain Walker will stumble upon an unlikely ally—and potentially, the secrets of the universe. “The Weaponized Puzzle” – A Russian spy steals an alien artifact from the Australian Government which soon transforms into a prison, and Australian spy Harrison Peel must solve its various puzzles and confront its captive horrors to escape again. Fiction by Don Webb, Jeffrey Thomas, Brian M, Sammons, Peter Rawlik, William Meikle, Kevin Lucia, David Kernot, Scott R. Jones, C.J. Henderson, Cody Goodfellow, David Dunwoody, Shane Jiraiya Cummings and David Conyers. Cover illustration by Paul Mudie. This sampler collection provides links to the various author’s works, personal interviews, and further information on their e-books. Step inside, and discover the newest horror releases lurking in the nightmare lands of Lovecraft…

    Sometimes we tell these stories to make people laugh. Sometimes we tell them to make people think. Sometimes we tell them so we can increase the chances we'll see the other person naked.Paul Shirley's stories are about an adulthood spent all over the world: living in Spain, playing in the NBA, and having his heart (and spleen) broken. But they're also stories about growing up in small-town Kansas: triumphant spelling bees, catastrophic middle school dances, and a Sex Ed. class taught by his mother.They're funny stories. They're vulnerable stories. Most of all, they're universal stories, just as the stories we tell on dates should be.

    Be Very Afraid.From ghosts, vampires, and zombies to serial killers, cannibalistic hillbillies, and haunted Japanese videocassettes, How to Survive a Horror Movie shows how to defeat every obstacle found in scary films. Readers will discover:- How to Perform an Exorcism - What to Do If You Did Something Last Summer - How to Persuade the Skeptical Local Sheriff - How to Vanquish a Murderous Doll - How to Survive an Alien Invasion - How to Tell If You've Been Dead Since the Beginning of the Movieand much, much more. Complete with useful instructions, insane illustrations, and a list of 100 important films to study, How to Survive a Horror Movie is essential reading for prom queens, jocks, teenage babysitters, and anyone employed by a summer camp.

    Winner of the Bram Stoker Award, the International Horror Guild Award, and a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year.