Ta, sev. Thought some of the titles sounded familiar. Here's the gist of Nightie's review of
Darker Masques from
Vault Mk. I. it was the disappearing credits and, toward the end, entire threads that caused us to move.
nightreader wrote:
Darker Masques Ed. by J. N. Williamson (2002 - Pinnacle Books)
This was previously published as 'Masques 3' (1989) and 'Masques 4' (1991)
Huge contents list. Here goes:
'Drifter' - Ed Gorman
'Reflections' - Ray Russell
'The Happy Family'- Melissa Mia Hall and Douglas F. Winter
'Dew Drop Inn' - D.W. Taylor
'Refractions' - Thomas Millstead
'The Spelling Bee' - Adobe James
'Better Than One' - Paul Dale Anderson
Ever, Ever, After' - Graham Masterton
'Prometheus' Declaration Of Love For The Vulture' (Poem) - Alan Rodgers
'Long Lips' - R. Patrick Gates
'Sinners' - Ralph Rainwater Jr.
'Sunday Breakfast' - Jeanette M. Hopper
'Third Rail' - Wayne Allen Sallee
'Coochie-Coo' - Mark McNease
'The Wulgaroo' - Bill Ryan
'The Luckiest Man In The World' - Rex Miller
'The Boneless Doll' (Poem) - Joey Froehlich
'The Skull' - Diane Taylor
'On 42nd Street' - William F. Nolan
'Safe' - John Maclay
'All But The Ties Eternal' - Gary A. Braunbeck
'Pop Is Real Smart' - Mort Castle
'When The Wall Cries' - Stanley Wiater
'Return To The Mutant Rain Forest' (Poem) - Bruce Boston & Robert Frazier
''The Willies' - James Kisner
'The Drinking Party' - K. Marie Ramsland
'Chosen One' - G. wayne Miller
'Them Bald-Headed Snays' - Joseph A. Citro
'Motherson' - Steve Rasnic Tem
'Kill For Me' - John Keefauver
'Shave And A Haircut, Two Bites' - Dan Simmons
'The Orchid Nursery' (Poem) - Amanda Russell
'Of Absence, Darkness, Death: Things Which Are Not' Ray Bradbury
'The Pack' - Chet Williamson
'Children' - Kristine Kathryn Rusch
'Sea Gulls' - Gahan Wilson
'The Coming Of Night, The Passing Of Day' - Ed Gorman
'Please Don't Hurt Me' - F. Paul Wilson
'Splatter Me An Angel' - James Kisner
'Untitled Still Life With Infinity Perspective' - Rex Miller
'Pratfall' - John Maclay
'The Heart Of Helen Day' - Graham Masterton
'Nothing But The Best' - Brian McNaughton
'Somewhere' (Poem) - Denise Dumars
'Milestone's Face' - Gary Brandner
'Julia's Touch' - David T. Connolly
'Savages' - Darrell Schweitzer
'The Collapse Of Civilisation' - Ray Russell
'Animal Husbandry' - Bruce Boston
'Sounds' - Kathryn Ptacek
'Whispers Of The Unrepentant' (Poem) - t. Winter-Damon
'Obscene Phone Calls' - John Coyne
'The Children Never Lie' - Cameron Nolan
'The Other Woman' - Lois Tilton
'Love, Hate, And The Beautiful Junkyard Sea' - Mort Castle
'Sources Of The Nile' - Rick Hautala
'Collaborationists' - J.N. Williamson
'My Private Memoirs Of The Hoff553 Stigmaya Pandemic' - Dan Simmons
'The Secret' - Steve Allen
Phew. Some very familiar names here, some not (to me at least). Since these stories are late 80's and early 90's they may have cropped up elsewhere.... ? .... this is a bit of a monster - comes in at 574 pages which isn't bad considering the contents. I notice that some of the stories are very short though, and there's a few pomes stuck in as well...
Reflections by Ray Russell.
A very short but effective vampire story. The reflection is in a shop window by the way, not in a mirror of course...
Better Than One by Paul Dale Anderson
Bob has just killed his wife. Involuntarily. It was the tumour in his brain that made him do it. The tumour that talks to him, teases him, controls him with pain and fear. Poor Bob, in the end he realises he has two tumours in his head, one malignant and one benign. But which is stronger? A clever and disturbing personification of cancer.
Third Rail by Wayne Allen Sallee
Night time on a train station platform. A man thinks he's struck lucky with an attractive young girl. she's riding the escalators, up and down... But they are not alone on the platform.
The Willies by James Kisner
Willie is a tramp, a dirty, smelly homeless wino existing on the streets of the big city. Ron and Bill live in a different world, going from their towering office block to the smart deli for luch in their sharp suits. The two vastly different worlds collide in a back alley, and it's not pretty...
The Heart Of Helen Day by Graham Masterton.
Martin is a salesman on the road. He runs into a terrible rain storm and pulls off the road for the night, into the Sweet Gum Motor Lodge. Stoopid. Hasn't he ever seen
Psycho? There's no TV in the room so he puts on the radio and hears a broadcast of an old mystery/soap called 'The Heart Of Helen Day'. Martin then listens in shock as the actress playing Helen Day is brutally murdered on air. After asking around it seems the show was cancelled in 1941, after the murder of the actress who played the lead. It turns out the show was recorded, but not the actual murder. So how did Martin hear it in his room at the Sweet Gum Motor Lodge? he goes back to find out...
Please Don't Hurt Me by F. Paul Wilson
Poor Tammy is a very damaged young lady, as the guy she meets in a bar is starting to find out. Back at her home, being very obliging to the new guy, she explains about how men have hurt her in the past, starting with her father. He ended up having a nasty accident on the farm, from which he never recovered. Then came her stepfather, and a boyfriend, they all hurt her too. Tammy's newest man soon starts to feel quite nervous...
This didn't really work for me, it all seemed a bit obvious and the ending was a disappointment.
Safe by John Maclay
This is a story about claustrophobia, specifically small windowless spaces. A patient and psychiatrist use behaviour modification therapy. It's hard to say any more without giving the whole thing away...but there's a touch of Stephen King's 'Geralds Game' in here I thought...
On 42nd St. by William F. Nolan
Ben Sutton had always felt a fascination with New York - I totally understand that, I have it too. Thankfully my experience of the Big Apple was different to his. Ben goes to the city for a convention and meets a couple of local guys in the hotel bar. They get him drunk and take him to a sleazy peep show on 42nd St. Needless to say all is not as it seems...
Kill For Me by John Keefauver
A good psycho-kid story. Young Billy is a monster from the moment he learns to speak. He makes demands of his distraught parents backed up with nasty threats - if he doesn't go to see whatever movie he likes he'll jump out of the tree, which he does and breaks his leg - he always follows through with his threats. At his seventh birthday party he demands an adult bike, if he doesn't get it he'll burn himself. His parents resist so he burns himself with the candles on his birthday cake. He gets the bike. His demands become more outrageous as he gets older, he wants a car, then a field in which to drive the car, then a better car. Then comes the ultimate demand. The twelve year old demands his parents kill someone for him, anyone - it doesn't matter who. If they don't he'll kill himself...
What would you do?
The Collapse of Civilisation by Ray Russell
The Collapse of Civilisation are a shock-rock group, famed for their realistic background sounds to their songs. In one track called 'Red Hot Needles' one of the band is tortured with said needles and her screams are used in the song. Joanie recovers but doesn't forget. The leader of the bad Trish Torquemada uses her own vocal talents on 'Ball' - an orgasmic track. Other big hits follow, 'Simply Shocking' and 'Crash'. Trish becomes noticeable by her absence, the media speculate, and Joanie pens another hit for the band...'Witch'.
I'm not sure if it's me becoming a bit jaded in my old age, but the majority of these stories seem quite average. They are OK, some even quite enjoyable but they lack that
something that makes them great and memorable. Not that I know what that is, I'd be writing 'em myself if I did...
Just my opinion of course...
