Charles L. Grant - Shadows 3

Charles L. Grant - Shadows 3 (Berkley 1985: originally Doubleday, 1980)



Charles L. Grant - Introduction

Davis Grubb - The Brown Recluse
Bruce Frances - To See You With, My Dear
Ray Russell - Avenging Angel
R. Chetwynd-Hayes - The Ghost Who Limped
Juleen Brantingham - Janey's Smile
Barry N. Malzberg & Bill Pronzini - Opening A Vein
William F. Nolan - The Partnership
Pat Murphey - Wish Hound
Peter D. Pautz - Ant
Alan Ryan - Tell Mommy What Happened
Steve Rasnic Tem - At The Bureau
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro - Cabin 33

Not-so-'Quiet Horror' collection, includes:

Davis Grubb - The Brown Recluse: Every year the six-strong West Virginia Chapter of the Baker Street Irregulars award a beautiful Persian Slipper to the member who solves a crime for which the wrong person has been prosecuted. Much to one-legged spinster Ms. Ellen Lathrop's consternation, Charles Gribble, the town banker, local pillar of society and the only lover she ever had, has retained the award since it's inception - he must be in cahoots with Sheriff Voitle or something. Ms. Lathrop detests Gribble, or the "brown recluse" as she thinks of him after the area's most venomous spider, not least because he called her a "cripple" during their final row all those years ago. That slipper is rightfully hers and she must win it to grace her shapely right foot, and not just for a year but in perpetuary! But the only way to do that is to solve a murder - and Glory is such a trouble-free community. Then Gribble's employee Jim Smitherman is battered to death with a brick in the fog ...

R. Chetwynd-Hayes - The Ghost Who Limped: Mother and father dote on seven year old Brian at the expense of his sensitive, sixteen year old sister, Julia, who can never do anything right. Their garden is haunted by a benign spook, 'Mr. Miss-One' (as in 'miss one step' on account of his limp) who is entirely oblivious to their presence as he goes about weeding his invisible flowerbeds and washing his ghost car. Unfortunately, being a Goth has yet to be invented (even the punk explosion is further away than at first appears) so Julia wills herself to fall in love with him and, after another blazing row in which she finally lets slip that she hates her mother, the family send her to Coventry. Julia decides that if Mr Miss-One can't come to her, she will go to him, and sets off to the garage to hang herself ....

To say any more would be to ruin it, but Mike Ashley has described The Ghost Who Limped as "possibly his best" and it's certainly as good as anything of R. C-H's I've read up until now.

Ray Russell - Avenging Angel: "Silone stressed the ugly, specialising in vomit-encrusted wino's sleeping it off in doorways, bloated prostitutes with grotesque, leering masks for faces, and several gratuitously nauseating crucifixions scenes ... Silone equated this ugliness with Truth, 'telling it like it is'. To be blunt, he had ego but no talent.

A clever variation on The Picture Of Dorian Gray as Orlando 'No Baloney!' Silone, self-reverential, hypocritical artist, receives his just desserts after making a disgusting exhibition of himself and his lousy work at the Challenge Gallery where his deluded young fans have amassed to be fleeced by 'The Master' yet again. When a shy young girl with one arm presents her hero with the portrait she's poured her heart into, he dismisses it as trash, lobs a half-eaten burger at it and tells her to get lost if she's not gonna pay for a nice signed photocopy of his latest masterpiece. As ketchup runs down the face, something nasty begins to happen to the original ....

Barry N. Malzberg & Bill Pronzini - Opening A Vein: Short whimsical piece. The last living creature on earth is a vampire who duly summons the Devil and begs for blood. The Devil points out that, being one of the undead, he no longer has a soul to barter but then relents. The vampire gorges himself on Satan's blood, becomes the new Devil, begins the cycle of creation all over again.

Bruce Frances - To See You With, My Dear: "If you don't do what you've been told, you're not going to get to sleep tonight. And if you do fall asleep, you'll be sorry. That could be bad, hmm? It will, I promise."

Lisa Gleason loves husband David as he does her but, of late, his tiresome little games have taken on a cruel twist. Just when Lisa's snugly settled in bed, he's insistent she's left the light on downstairs and must go switch it off. When she turns over, he attacks her, tearing the nightdress from her back, a lunatic red blaze in his eyes. The guy needs psychiatric help before it's too late ... but for which of them?