A chilling new collection of pure terror! Some of the world's most popular and successful authors of horror and dark fantasy have been brought together by multiple award-winning editor Stephen Jones in this never-before-published volume showcasing the very best in modern macabre fiction. Within these pages you will meet vampires, zombies, witches, ghosts, serial killers, diabolical doctors, homicidal dwarves, ancient creatures from beneath the earth, and a child's terrifying incarnation of Santa Claus. From such contemporary classics of unease as 'The Fourth Seal' by Karl Edward Wagner and David Case's masterful novella 'Among the Wolves', through Brian Lumley's British Fantasy Award-winning 'Fruiting Bodies' and the World Fantasy Award-winning 'Under the Crust' by Terry Lamsley, to brand-new stories from Christopher Fowler, Graham Masterton, David J. Schow, Tanith Lee and others, this is a bumper crop of creepy tales that is certain to set pulses pounding and spines tingling as you step beyond the borders of sanity and enter a twilight realm where new terrors await . . .
| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS |
|
| INTRODUCTION: RECREATING THE TERROR |
Stephen Jones |
| FRUITING BODIES |
Brian Lumley |
| NEEDLE SONG |
Charles L. Grant |
| TURBO-SATAN |
Christopher Fowler |
| TALKING IN THE DARK |
Dennis Etchison |
| THE CIRCUS |
Sydney J. Bounds |
| FOET |
F. Paul Wilson |
| THE CANDLE IN THE SKULL |
Basil Copper |
| THE CHIMNEY |
Ramsey Campbell |
| DARK WINGS |
Phyllis Eisenstein |
| REFLECTION OF EVIL |
Graham Masterton |
| MIRROR OF THE NIGHT |
E.C. Tubb |
| MAYPOLE |
Brian Mooney |
| UNDER THE CRUST |
Terry Lamsley |
| TIR NAN OG |
Lisa Tuttle |
| A LIVING LEGEND |
R. Chetwynd-Hayes |
| WAKE-UP CALL |
David J. Schow |
| THE FOURTH SEAL |
Karl Edward Wagner |
| UNLOCKED |
Tanith Lee & John Kaiine |
| CLOSING TIME |
Neil Gaiman |
| IT WAS THE HEAT |
Pat Cadigan |
| FODDER |
Tim Lebbon & Brian Keene |
| OPEN DOORS |
Michael Marshall Smith |
| ANDROMEDA AMONG THE STONES |
Caitlín R. Kiernan |
| FLOWERS ON THEIR BRIDLES, HOOVES IN THE AIR |
Glen Hirshberg |
| AMERIKANSKI DEAD AT THE MOSCOW MORGUE OR: CHILDREN OF MARX AND COCA–COLA |
Kim Newman |
| AMONG THE WOLVES |
David Case |
Reviews
"Luckily for us horror lovers we have a guy called Stephen Jones around, to sniff out the very best stuff on our behalf, and compile collections that the terror lovers amongst us are gagging for—and ones that ooze in quality as well as quantity . . . Jones has won plenty of awards and accolades for his won work, and really knows how to choose the cream from other top writers. A great collection."
—James Whittington
THE DARK SIDE #113, February-March, 2005
"The bringing together of so many of the old masters within the same covers as recently established writers."
—Pauline Morgan
SF CROWSNEST, February 2005
