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Post by dem bones on Mar 9, 2008 10:10:02 GMT
Karl E. Wagner (ed.) - Years Best Horror Stories #15 (Daw, 1987)  Michael Whelan
Joe R. Lansdale - Tight Little Stitches In A Dead Man's Back
Ramsey Campbell - Apples
William F. Wu - Dead White Women
Charles L. Grant - Crystal
Ron Leming - Retirement
Ron Wolfe - The Man Who Did Tricks With Glass
John Alfred Taylor - Bird In A Wrought Iron Cage
Dennis Echison - The Olympic Runner
Wayne Allen Sallee - Take The 'A' Train
Joel Lane - The Foggy, Foggy Dew
Tina Rath - The Godmother
W. H. Pugmire & Jessica Amanda Salmonson - 'Pale Trembling Youth'
David J. Schow - Red Light
Brad Strickland - In The Hour Before Dawn
Brian Lumley - Necros
Jack Dann - Tattoos
R. Chetwynd-Hayes - Acquiring A FamilyRobert Bloch - The Yugoslaves: A youthful gang pick the pocket of an old man in Paris (an old friend of ours, as it happens). He's not worried about losing cash and credit cards, but his wallet contained a ruby-studded key of much importance. He forces one of the rogues to take him to the Fagin wannabe's hideout - the sewers - where he witnesses the gang rape of a girl of six and finds himself on the wrong end of Mr. Big's revolver. He's starting to get annoyed now. And there sure are an awful lot of rats down there ... The story has been so grim and realistic up until now that it comes as a shock - and a disappointment - when Bloch let's on that the aged fellow is none other than .. an old friend of ours. Joe R. Lansdale - Tight Little Stitches In A Dead Man's Back: Post nuclear holocaust and the roses have mutated into man-eating beasts and they move like the zombies in the Dawn Of The Dead remake (i.e., very rapidly). Among the few survivors is our narrator, a scientist, and his artist wife Mary who despises him, blaming him for the annihilation of the human race and most of all, the death of their daughter Rae. Now they're holed up in a lighthouse and Mary busies herself tattooing an image of Rae on his back. The roses have them surrounded ... If you've not read any Lansdale, I'd recommend you do so. The man is an extraordinary talent. W. H. Pugmire & Jessica Amanda Salmonson - 'Pale Trembling Youth': A troubled young industrial musician hangs himself high up on the steel pipes of Gasworks Park following his girlfriend's suicide. His spectre continues to beat out all his rage and frustration in the night. David J. Schow - Red Light: Consumers as psychic vampires, feeding off a particularly stunning cover girl, Tasha Vode. The camera steals away her soul ... and everything else. Charles L. Grant - Crystal: An old woman, rejuvenated by every death she instigates. Psychic vampires were very big in '82. Brian Lumley - Necros: You grow old, Spook grows young ... what he wants is your youth. Except he uses it up very quick and needs more. All the time." Peter Collins, holidaying in Italy, is captivated by the beauty of Adrienne, youthful Armenian wife of an ancient-looking gent by the name of Nichos Karpethes. Collins can't believe his luck when Adrienne slips him the key to her room and informs him when she'll be alone, but the prospect of becoming her lover doesn't hold quite the same appeal when he realises what is to become of him ... Tina Rath - The Godmother: The Master made a deal with the Devil whereby he is to provide a child to the evil one every seven years. Little Sukey, the new ladies maid at the great house of Satterthwaite, is penciled in as the next victim. Brad Strickland - In The Hour Before Dawn: Charles Dayton meets a man in a dream who insists that it is he, Paul Dupont, lawyer, who is real and Charles is the guy who doesn't exist. They argue and fight about this for some considerable time before Charles wakes up .... screaming .... R. Chetwynd-Hayes - Acquiring A Family: On the death of an uncle, 53 year old Miss Celia Watson inherits his lovely home and enough money to ensure she can live out her life in comfort. Life would be perfect were it not for her loneliness: "She should have had children if only their production had not necessitated a rather revolting physical function." How delightful for her, then, that this house is haunted by five ghost infants who gradually reveal themselves to her until they're all gathered around her bed. But the Reverend Rodney knows something of the spectral brood's sinister history, and his well-meaning intervention sets in motion a dreadful chain of events ....
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Aug 4, 2012 17:10:45 GMT
Tina Rath - The Godmother: The Master made a deal with the Devil whereby he is to provide a child to the evil one every seven years. Little Sukey, the new ladies maid at the great house of Satterthwaite, is penciled in as the next victim. This wasn't one of my favorite volumes in the series, but Tina Rath's "The Godmother" was a great find (from the Ghosts & Scholars series) on KEW's part. |
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Post by dem bones on Aug 6, 2012 9:02:36 GMT
This wasn't one of my favorite volumes in the series, but Tina Rath's "The Godmother" was a great find (from the Ghosts & Scholars series) on KEW's part. Yeah, that's a stand-out. Her The Fetch in the 19th Fontana Book Of Great Ghost Stories (another one that needs writing up; groan) is a cracker. Aside from the short-fiction, Tina 'Rath was the (Velvet) Vampyre Society's house book critic, and, if memory serves, took over the running of the Velvets for a brief spell when Miss Bohanon finally hung up her fishnets, before the society was reborn as The Vampyre Connexion. Her lengthy stint in the reviewer's chair ensured plenty coverage of young adult horrors. It's also fair to say Mrs. Rath wasn't keen on Richard Laymon. The bride and me were big fans of one of her hats but we can't remember which one now. Technically, Tina would qualify for a 'Women of Weird Tales' collection as she's contributed at least one story to a latter-day incarnation. Here's the site. The Academic Vampire |
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