"What are you doing? And what's that picture doing?"It was one of the Museum's guards."I was going to ask somebody that same question," I told him as austerely as I could manage. "What about this picture? I thought there was a Bocklin hanging here."The guard relaxed. "Oh, I beg your pardon, sir. I thought you were somebody else--the man who brought that thing." He nodded at the picture. "Personally, I think it's plain beastly.""And the Museum has accepted it at last?" I asked.He shook his head. "Oh, no, sir."I, too, came close. There was no plate beneath the painting. But in the lower left-hand corner of the canvas were sprawling capitals, pale paint on the dark, spelling out the word "GOLGOTHA." Beneath these, in small, barely readable script:"I sold my soul that I might paint a living picture.""

    Hall of Mirrors appeared in the December 1953 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction.It is a tough decision to make—whether to give up your life so you can live it over again!

    These were her very own planets, with such fascinating features as the Sea of Morning Opals, the Mountains of White Cloud, wicked Canal cities, and lost lands full of magic and mystery.That girl's name is Leigh Brackett. And today, more than 35 years after selling her first science fiction story, she continues to thrill and excite all lovers of imaginative writing. Her haunting tales of ancient Mars, wind-swept Venus, and remote worlds beyond human technology have become almost instant classics in the genre; and now Edmond Hamilton, Leigh's husband and a great SF writer in his own right, has personally collected ten of her best stories into a beautiful hardcover anthology. Here's a preview of the amazing tales:THE JEWEL OF BAS. There's an ancient legend passed down among the people of the outermost planet. It tells of Bas the Immortal, possessor of the Stone of Destiny—a jewel of such power that owning it gives a man rule over the whole world. Ciaran and Mouse, two unscrupulous gypsies, only half-believed the story until they found themselves at the mercy of Bas's fierce android army ... pawns in a sinister plan to enslave the human race.THE VANISHING VENUSIANS. For years the space colonists had wandered the hellish eternal seas of Venus, seeking the home that was their birthright, death constantly stalking in their wake. And now they were making their final bid—three of their bravest fighting toward a promised land guarded by nightmare creatures. Who would emerge victorious? Close to 4000 desperate people waited anxiously for the answer...THE VEIL OF ASTELLAR. Tough, hardbitten Steve Vance ... once he was human! But three hundred years ago he betrayed his homeland for a race of alien vampires who fulfilled his every desire in return for a small "favor." All he had to do was lure innocent Earth spaceships to their doom on the vampires' world. He knew his soul was forever damned. But there was one way in which he might atone...THE QUEER ONES. Hank Temple was at the editor's desk when the hospital called him in to see the X-rays. They were of a hill girl's illegitimate baby, and they showed insides like no child ever had. That was the beginning ... and the end came on an enshrouded Ozark mountain, with deadly green lightning flickering and a sound in the sky that was not wind or thunder...

    

    Saberhagen's style is noteworthy for its detail, the depth and humor of his characterizations, and his ability to imbue even villains with wicked charm.--School Library Journal.

    Quag Keep was the first novel based on the world of Dungeons & Dragons by the legendary grand mistress of SF/Fantasy, Andre Norton.Once, they were role-playing gamers in our world.They came from different places and different backgrounds.Now they're summoned together by some magical force...to a land that mirrors the games they used to play.Quag KeepCan they band together to unlock the secret of their summoning--and rescue from the legendary Quag Keep the person who may be able to return them home?

    Tolkien--from which almost all fantasylands have devolved--also took shape and flower from Dunsany's example." --The Encyclopedia of Fantasy Most fantasy enthusiasts consider Lord Dunsany one of the most significant forces in modern fantasy; his influences have been observed in the works of H.P. Lovecraft, L. Sprague de Camp, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, and many other modern writers. The Book of Wonder is Dunsany at his peak of his talent. The stories here are a lush tapestry of language, conjuring images of people, places, and things which cannot possibly exist, yet somehow ring true. They are, in short, full of wonder. Together with Dunsany's other major collections, A Dreamer's Tales and Tales of Three Hemispheres, they are a necessary part of any fantasy collection.

    . .Leif Langdon was suddenly ripped from the 20th century and plunged into the ancient world of The Mirage. But his entrance into this awesome land awakened the slumbering Dwayanu, who in this strange incarnation was also Leif. Thus, two-men-in-one battle with the beautiful witch-woman Lur and the ethereal beauty Evalie for the glory of The Mirage.

    This work offers both readers and scholars a collection of short fiction and short novels by Clark Ashton Smith.Contains the stories The Return of the Sorcerer The City of the Singing Flame The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis The Double Shadow The Monster of the Prophecy The Hunters from Beyond The Isle of the Torturers A Night in Malnéant The Chain of Aforgomon The Dark Eidolon The Seven Geases The Holiness of Azédarac The Beast of Averoigne The Empire of the Necromancers The Disinterment of Venus The Devotee of Evil The Enchantress of Sylaire

    The girl detective must go to the underworld to solve the case of the tap-dancing bank robbers. A librarian falls in love with a girl whose father collects artificial noses. A dead man posts letters home to his estranged wife. Two women named Louise begin a series of consecutive love affairs with a string of cellists. A newly married couple become participants in an apocalyptic beauty pageant. Sexy blond aliens invade New York City. A young girl learns how to make herself disappear.These eleven extraordinary stories are quirky, spooky, and smart. They all have happy endings. Every story contains a secret prize. Each story was written especially for you.Stories from Stranger Things Happen have won the Nebula, Tiptree, and World Fantasy Award. Stranger Things Happen was a Salon Book of the Year, one of the Village Voice's 25 Favorite Books of 2001, and was nominated for the Firecracker Alternative Book Award.Contents:- Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose (1998)- Water Off a Black Dog's Back (1995)- The Specialist's Hat (1998)- Flying Lessons (1995)- Travels with the Snow Queen (1996/1997)- Vanishing Act (1996)- Survivor's Ball, or, The Donner Party (1998)- Shoe and Marriage (2000)- Most of My Friends Are Two-Thirds Water (2001)- Louise's Ghost (2001)- The Girl Detective (1999)Cover painting by Shelley Jackson

    In Amtor, cities of immortal beings flourish in giant trees reaching thousands of feet into the sky; ferocious beasts stalk the wilderness below; rare flashes of sunlight precipitate devastating storms; and the inhabitants believe their world is saucer-shaped with a fiery center and an icy rim. Stranded on Amtor after his spaceship crashes, astronaut Carson Napier is swept into a world where revolution is ripe, the love of a princess carries a dear price, and death can come as easily from the blade of a sword as from the ray of a futuristic gun.Illustrations by Thomas Floyd, the original frontispiece by J. Allen St. John, an afterword by Phillip Burger, a glossary of Amtor terms by Scott Tracy Griffin, a map of Amtor drawn by Edgar Rice Burroughs that appeared in the first edition, and an introduction by acclaimed science fiction and horror novelist F. Paul Wilson.

    To blow that horn would open up a door through space-time and permit entry to a cosmos whose dimensions and laws were not those our starry galaxy knows.For that other universe was a place of tiers, world upon world piled upon each other like the landings of a sky-piercing mountain. The one to blow that horn would ascend those steps, from creation to creation, until he would come face to face with the being whose brain-child it was.But what if that maker of universes was a madman? Or an imposter? Or a super-criminal hiding from the wrath of his own superiors?The Maker of Universes is unlike any science-fiction novel you have ever read, it is wonderfully unique.

    These stories feature cats, bees, wolves, dogs, and even that most capricious of animals, humans, and have been reprinted in The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror, Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, and The Secret History of Fantasy. Kij Johnson's stories have won the Sturgeon and World Fantasy awards. She has taught writing; worked at Tor, Dark Horse, and Microsoft; worked as a radio announcer; run bookstores; and waitressed in a strip bar.Contents:The Man Who Bridged the Mist (2011)Wolf Trapping (1989)The Empress Jingu Fishes (2004)The Bitey Cat (2012)Chenting, in the Land of the Dead (1999)My Wife Reincarnated as a Solitaire—Exposition on the Flaws in my Spouse's Character—The Nature of the Bird—The Possible Causes—Her Final Disposition (2007)Schrödinger's Cathouse (1993)Names for Water (2010)Fox Magic (1993)Spar (2009)The Horse Raiders (2000)26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss (2008)At the Mouth of the River of Bees (2003)The Evolution of Trickster Stories among the Dogs of North Park after the Change (2007)The Cat Who Walked a Thousand Miles (2009)Ponies (2010)

    Here are eleven of her finest stories, surprising tales in which the impossible becomes real, the real becomes impossible, and strangeness lurks at every turn.The end of the world comes not with a bang but a series of whimpers over many years in "The Last of the Winnebagos."The terror of pain and dying gives birth to a startling truth about the nature of the stars, a principle known as the "Schwarzschild Radius."In "Spice Pogrom," an outrageous colony in outer space becomes the setting for a screwball comedy of bizarre complications, mistaken identities, far-too-friendly aliens--and even true love.The last of the Winnebagos --Even the queen --Schwarzschild radius --Ado --Spice pogrom --Winter's tale --Chance --In the late Cretaceous --Time out --Jack --At the Rialto

    . .a nubile young witch who yearns to taste human love. . .an expedition that hunts dinosaurs across the fragile and dangerous chasm of time. . . These strange and wonderful tales of beauty and terror will transport you from the begininng of time to the outermost limits of the future. Selected from his best-selling collections "The Golden Apples Of The Sun" and "R Is For Rocket," here are thirty-two superb stories from one of the master fantastics of our age--the inimitable Ray Bradbury.