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The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, Sixth Annual Collection
by Ellen Datlow Terri WindlingMore than four dozen stories and poems, featuring writings by Joyce Carol Oates, Jane Yolen, Harlan Ellison, and many others, investigate the outermost perimeters of the human imagination.
The Devil's Day
by James BlishThe millennia-old war between good and evil leaps its unearthly bounds... The Devil's Day Black Easter and The Day After Judgment in one volume by James Blish 7776 room stank of demons. And it was not just the room-which would have been unusual, but not unprecedented. Demons were not welcome visitors on Monte Albano, where the magic practiced was aimed at a more perfect mystic union with God and His two revelations, the Scriptures and the World.... No, the stench was something in the general air. It was, in fact, something that was abroad in the world...the secular world, God's world, the world at large. And it would have to be something extraordinarily powerful, extraordinarily malign, for Father Domenico to have detected it without prayer, without ritual, without divination, without instruments or instrumentalities of any kind....None of the White Monks had invoked any infernal power for more than a twelvemonth past....Even the records, which kept themselves without possibility of human intervention, confirmed it. That exhalation from Hell-mouth was drifting up from the world below. Baines is a bored businessman with a taste for the macabre-a munitions dealer accustomed to fomenting war wherever and whenever he can. But nuclear proliferation has, ironically, been bad for business, and Baines needs something, anything to reverse that trend. His restless mind conceives a notion that satisfies his desire for profit and amusement both-a scheme for letting loose all the demons of Hell for one night of unfettered destruction-and he commissions Theron Ware, the great Black Magician, to carry out the plan. Ware alone has the ability-and the power-to call up those chained to the darkness. Crimes of violence, chiefly murder, are his specialty. He will arrange for demons to kill almost anyone...for a price. As his scruples are invoked, the fee rises. But for Baines' commission, the payment can't be high enough. For Theron Ware has never before attempted to work his evil skill on such a monstrous scale. And if he cannot call the demons home again, their liberation will be permanent-a catastrophe for the entire human race.
Winter Tides
by James P. BlaylockJames P. Blaylock writes a book about twins who were drowning. Our hero could only save one and, fifteen years later, she is drawn back to the scene of her near-death and she and our hero begin a relationship that her dead twin is determined to wreck. Blaylock has won two World Fantasy Awards and his writing manages to evoke the fantastic from the mundane in a way that only such writers as Tijm Powers and Stephen King can emulate.
The Gilda Stories: A Novel
by Jewelle GomezImportant and compelling book with lesbian vampires as main characters; explores diverse cultures.
The Gothic World of Anne Rice
by Ray B. Browne Gary HoppenstandDirectly and in considerable detail this anthology argues for the serious study of the literary oeuvre of Anne Rice, a major figure in popular literature today. This writer of gothic fiction attracts not only great general interest among readers but also much serious scholarly attention among those who recognize in her work evidence of sophisticated characterization and intricate plotting. Such readers find allusions in Rice's work to that of Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto, to Ann Radcliffe's gothic romances, such as The Mysteries of Udolpho, and to Bram Stoker's Dracula, as do such present-day authors as Clive Barker, Robert R. McCammon, and Stephen King. The essays in this volume assert that Rice goes far beyond the conventions of the formula to examine important contemporary social issues. Like a handful of authors working in the horror genre, Rice perceives in its otherwise predictable narrative structures a way by which a larger, more interesting cultural mythology can be developed, as the editors of this volume point out. In short, Rice may be said to search for philosophical truth, examining themes of good and evil, the influence on people and society of both nature and nurture, "the conflict and dependence of humanism and science," as one essayist states.
Skeletons
by Kate WilhelmLee Donne's family is gifted. Her mother has three doctorates, her father is an economics genius, and her grandfather is a world-renowned Shakespearean scholar. Lee's own gift, if you could call it that, is an eidetic memory that seems to maintain a visual representation of everything she's ever seen. For the most part, this gift is useless; it certainly hasn't helped Lee in college, where she's just spent four years drifting from major to major, with no degree in sight. Without a job or prospects, Lee is relieved to be house-sitting her grandfather's isolated Oregon home. But her stay soon becomes a nightmare when she is tormented by strange and menacing noises at night. Emboldened by a visit from her friend Casey, Lee finds that the source of these haunting sounds is an all-too human force--a young and well-respected man. He knew that Lee's grandfather would be away, but what could he have been looking for? The search for answers takes Lee from the Pacific Northwest to the streets of New Orleans. Using her strange gift as she probes into her family's past, Lee uncovers secrets more far-reaching and sinister than she ever could imagine.
I Was A Second Grade Werewolf
by Daniel PinkwaterThough he has turned into a werewolf, his parents, teacher, and classmates still see him as Lawrence Talbot, second grader.
Haunted House
by Peggy ParishLiza, Bill and Jed realize that something weird is happening in and around their new home. Nearly every morning they find mysterious messages. Strange footprints appear, lights flash and secret compartments pop open. Is John Blake's ghost responsible? If not, who is?
Weekend
by Christopher PikeThe weekend in Mexico sounded like a dream vacation. It should have been perfect, but someone was getting revenge and the terror wouldn't stop till the weekend was over.
The Jekyll Legacy
by Andre Norton Robert BlochHester Lane, recently arrived in Victorian London, eagerly accepts a potentially dangerous assignment for a fashionable ladies' magazine.
The Phantom and Barnabas Collins
by Marilyn RossThe tenth in a series of thrilling novels based on ABC-TV's popular suspense drama, DARK SHADOWS. DOES BARNABAS HAVE THE POWER TO SAVE MAGGIE'S LIFE? Dr. Giles Collins must have Maggie Evans's blood if he is to proceed with his mysterious experiments which have thus far resulted in many, many deaths. Maggie, fearing for her life, turns to Barnabas Collins for help although she has been warned that he is a vampire and may also be after her life's blood. But though Maggie's fate rests in his hands, Barnabas can do little for her, because his life is also endangered by Giles Collins!
Barnabas, Quentin and the Mummy's Curse
by Marilyn RossSixteenth in the Dark Shadows series. When Professor Anthony Collins decides to catalog his Egyptian relics at Collinwood, he brings with him the mummy of King Rehotip, who "died" over 2000 years ago. Only the professor knows that Rehotip is really in a state of suspended animation. One night, the professor brings the mummy to life. Suddenly a young girl is killed. The police suspect Quentin Collins. Maggie Evans, certain the killer is the mummy, wants to warn the police. Professor Collins threatens to accuse Barnabas if she does. Frightened into silence, Maggie lives in terror, wondering if she will be the next victim.
The Spell of the Sorcerer's Skull (Johnny Dixon #3)
by John BellairsWhen Johnny and the Professor discover an old heirloom clock, the terror begins. The professor vanishes and Johnny is left to solve the mystery alone.
The Ghosts of Cougar Island
by Peggy ParishLiza, Bill, and Jed spend their summer on Pirate Island and are dying to solve the mystery of Cougar Island--a haunted private property.
The Trolley to Yesterday (Johnny Dixon #6)
by John BellairsJohnny and Fergie track down their strange professor to a secret trolley that sends them back to 1453.
Who's There?
by Stephanie S. TolanWhen 14-year-old Drew and her mute brother come to live with their father's estranged relatives, they discover that the house is haunted by ghosts and a deadly family secret.
Haunted Schools: True Ghost Stories
by Allan ZulloNine stories about ghosts and phantoms found haunting schools.
The Eyes of the Killer Robot (Johnny Dixon #4)
by John Bellairs13-year-old Johnny Dixon is put in jeopardy when he and Professor Childermass try to find a robot made many years ago by an evil wizard.
The Ghost of Spirit Lake (Black Cat Club, #4)
by Susan SaundersThe Black Cat Club finds strange mysterious occurances at Spirit Lake. Could it be caused by Alice, the ghostly club member or is Alice in danger from another ghost?
Werewolf!
by Bill PronziniThis is a collection of stories about werewolves. There is also a brief history of the origins of the werewolf.
Quietus
by Vivian SchillingMoments before her small chartered plane crashes into the treacherous White Mountains of New Hampshire, Kylie O'Rourke notices a raven standing placidly on the wing looking at her through distinctly human eyes. Regaining consciousness in a Boston hospital, Kylie finds that the peculiar raven was a herald of things to come and that her world has been irrevocably altered. She is haunted by improbable memories of the crash: though trapped within the wreckage, she recalls wandering the icy mountainside and speaking with one of the other passengers only to find that he'd died on impact. As the bizarre aftermath grows clearer it appears more ominous, and Kylie must fight for her life despite increasing evidence that she is living on borrowed time.
The Unloved
by John SaulLush and deceptively tranquil, the secluded island basks in splendid isolation off the South Carolina coast-as does the Devereaux mansion, a once-great plantation house now crumbling amid the ancient oaks. Now, for the first time in two decades, Kevin Devereaux has returned here with his wife and children to visit Kevin's hated, frightening mother. She said she was ill-but is that really why the old woman has summoned the son she has not seen in so many years? Suddenly, horribly, one of the Devereauxs is going to die. And now, all the dark secrets of this once-proud Southern family will emerge to wrap their evil around the unsuspecting children. Until, in the shadowed corridors and dust-covered rooms of the decaying old house, they learn the true terror of..