Graham Masterton - Feelings of Fear

[nightreader]

'Feelings Of Fear' - Graham Masterton (Severn House 2000)

Out of Her Depth
Road Kill
Lolicia
Friend In Need
Heroine
Saving Grace
Jack Be Quick
Anais
Cold Turkey
Picnic At Lac du Sang
The Ballyhooly Boy
The Sympathy Society

'Road Kill' - although it's not spelled out this is clearly a story about Dracula himself. He recalls Lucy and once had a portrait of Mina hanging in his house, before it was stolen while he slept in his coffin in the cellar of his old house in England. In his casket he dreams of blood and battles, and men hoisted high on stakes and watching their slow agonizing deaths. The ending is a little weak perhaps but still enjoyable.

'Heroine' - an intruiging wartime (WW2) story of a romance between an American pilot and an English girl. Needless to say it gets quite strange. A story of sacrifice, loss and heroism...

'Saving Grace' - in some ways this is another wartime story, this time the First World War. A present day schoolboy becomes fascinated with the story of his great-Uncle Bartram - pilloried for cowardice while in the trenches and shot. Much like himself in a school football match (though not shot, obviously). Only great-Uncle Bartram wasn't what history claimed him to be, really he was a hero. A gentle ghost story, not much fear here but a nice story all the same.

'Jack Be Quick' - a fresh spin on the death of US President John F. Kennedy. In this tale he actually died having sex (using poppers) in a hotel room (not with Marilyn this time). The shocker is that when JFK was shot in Dallas he'd been revived from the dead by a Caribbean doctor - the President was a zombie! But you don't get anything for nothing, there is always a price to be paid...and Baron Samedi charges interest. Hows that for a conspiracy theory?

'Cold Turkey' - a Christmas tale this one, which seems to be Masterton's homage to Agatha Christie: there's a family gathering where all the members seem to dislike each other, they all have money problems, there's an inheritance up for grabs, and murder - poor Tarquin the cat gets nobbled after nibbling at the cold turkey of the title. He's been poisoned, but it's clear that the intended victim was really miserly old Uncle Philip who is worth millions... I really enjoyed this story, I'm fond of Agatha Christie anyway and this was a bit of silly Christmas malarky. Though not horror I'd have said, and few feelings of fear here...

'Ballyhooly Boy' - An effective and creepy ghost story. Jerry Flynn inherits a run down terraced house in Ballyhooly from a woman he can't remember ever knowing. Inside the house he sees a white faced boy, who then disappears. And the neighbours talk of the screaming in the night, mostly around the anniversary of the time when the boy killed the whole of his family and then himself...

'The Sympathy Society' - When Martin's girlfriend dies suddenly on holiday in a freak jet-ski accident, he is devastated. Unable to cope with life without her he attempts suicide but fails, and his misery increases. The he sees an ad in the paper for 'The Sympathy Society'. These are not the Samaritans... A weird and disturbing story, quite thought-provoking.

[andydecker]

Graham Masterton - Feelings of Fear (Severn House, 2000. 211 pages)

Cover found on the net. Thanks to the original scanner.

One of several collections of Masterton's short stories by Severn House over the years. These got no secondary release as mass market editions or in different countries. All feature the bland covers which have become kind of a trademark of the publisher. A few of those collections are still in print. This one is indeed among the better ones, so to speak.