Ed Gorman & Martin Greenberg - Night Screams (ROC 1996)

[pbsplatter]

9 • The Dripping • (1972) • short story by David Morrell

18 • The Wringer • [Repairman Jack] • (1995) • novella by F. Paul Wilson

68 • A Season of Change • non-genre • (1996) • short story by Richard Chizmar [as by Richard T. Chizmar]

86 • Good Vibrations • (1996) • short story by Richard Laymon

104 • The Tulsa Experience • (1993) • short story by Lawrence Block

117 • Trolls • (1996) • novelette by Christopher Fahy

141 • Small Deaths • [Newford] • (1993) • novelette by Charles de Lint

164 • White Lightning • (1996) • short story by Al Sarrantonio

176 • Hitman • (1996) • short story by Rick Hautala

192 • Vympyre • (1995) • short fiction by William F. Nolan

195 • ... And Eight Rabid Pigs • (1994) • short story by David Gerrold (variant of Satan Claus)

210 • Bringing It Along • (1996) • short story by A. R. Morlan

219 • Redemption • (1996) • short story by Jack Ketchum

232 • The Graveyard Ghoul • (1996) • short story by Edward D. Hoch

249 • The Rings of Cocytus • (1996) • short story by Katherine Ramsland

255 • Late Last Night • (1996) • short story by John Maclay

264 • Beasts in Buildings, Turning 'Round • (1996) • novelette by J. N. Williamson

287 • Dark Side of the Moon • (1996) • short story by Barbara Collins

303 • Honor Bound • (1996) • short story by Jill M. Morgan [as by J. M. Morgan]

318 • The Instrumentalist • (1996) • short fiction by William Relling, Jr.

321 • Corpse Carnival • (1945) • short story by Ray Bradbury

338 • The Book of Blood • (1984) • short story by Clive Barker

A pretty generic looking horror anthology with no particular rhyme or reason to it that I can tell; I've only read the Morrell, Barker, and Laymon stories (all elsewhere). The Morrell and Laymon stories are both quite good; the Barker one seems like a ploy just to get his name on the cover since it doesn't really work as a stand-alone story that well. 

[dem bones]

Ed Gorman & Martin H. Greenberg [eds.] - Night Screams (Roc, Jan. 1996)

David Morrell - The Dripping
F. Paul Wilson - The Wringer
Richard T. Chizmar - A Season of Change
Richard Laymon - Good Vibrations
Lawrence Block - The Tulsa Experience
Christopher Fahy - Trolls
Charles de Lint - Small Deaths
Al Sarrantonio - White Lightning
Rick Hautala - Hitman
William F. Nolan - Vympyre
David Gerrold - ...And Eight Rabid Pigs
A. R. Morlan - Bringing It Along
Jack Ketchum - Redemption
Edward D. Hoch - The Graveyard Ghoul
Katherine Ramsland - The Rings of Cocytus
John Maclay - Late Last Night
J. N. Williamson - Beasts in Buildings, Turning ’Round
Barbara Collins - Dark Side of the Moon
J. M. Morgan - Honor Bound
William Relling, Jr. - The Instrumentalist
D. R. Banat [Ray Bradbury] - Corpse Carnival
Clive Barker - The Book of Blood

Blurb:
It's a jungle out there, where killers lurk in the shadows and no safety can be found even in the coziest confines of hearth and home. It's even more savage inside the twisted minds of murderers who conceal their malevolence behind smiling masks and strike without warning or pity. Now let 22 of today's greatest terror writers take you on a guided tour into the realms of horror...where sex and slaying make strange bedfellows ... and where there is nowhere to run and no place to hide from an imagination that leaps at you from the darkest depths and will not let go.

David Gerrold - ...And Eight Rabid Pigs: (Mike Resnick [ed.], Alternate Outlaws, 1994). "We've turned it into a Capitalist feeding frenzy — so much so that some retailers depend on Christmas for fifty percent of their annual business. I think we should all 'Just Say no to Christmas.' Or at least — for God's sake — remember whose birthday it is and celebrate it appropriately by doing things to feed the poor and heal the sick." Fantasy author Stephen Dhor's disgust at the cynical commercialism of Christmas inspires his most successful work to date: a festive horror depicting an anti-Santa spreading death, disease and dismay throughout the world every December 24.

David Morrell - The Dripping: (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Aug 1972). Narrator, wife Meg and little Sarah move in with his widowed 65-year-old-mum who is struggling to meet the demands of operating a dairy farm. One day he returns to find the house empty and the basement awash with milk ....

A. R. Morlan - Bringing It Along: Gary arranges a camping trip in Hawaii just so he can play the same spiteful prank on wife Carey and mercilessly mock her "pussy" reaction. This time the hilarious "joke" is on him.

Jack Ketchum - Redemption: Dora denies husband Howard a sex life, knowing he'll seek pleasure elsewhere — whereupon she'll butcher those who provide it. His latest fancy woman, Madame Querida, proves a more formidable adversary than her predecessors, neither of whom owned their own home S&M dungeon.

William F. Nolan - Vympyre: (Jean Stine & Forrest J Ackerman [eds.], Vampire, 1995). As death finally claims the undead, his multiple lives flash before him.

[dem bones]

Lawrence Block - The Tulsa Experience: (Some Days You Get the Bear, 1993). Brothers shun glamorous European locations to enjoy a short "take no snapshots, leave no footprints" vacation in Philadelphia.

Al Sarrantonio - White Lightning: "I hear you, fat boy!" Eleven-year-old Jimmy Connel downs a jar of Pisser Johnson's moonshines, embarks on a cross-country killing spree with gun stolen from pal Billy's abusive father. Personal favourite to date.

Richard Laymon - Good Vibrations: Kim gets it on with Sandy, the human lugworm, on a beach where 'eighties slasher movie rules are strictly enforced (i.e., no premarital sex, no exhibitionism, no nothing ....). A fun, pervy, ridiculous read, later included in Dreadful Tales.

Katherine Ramsland - The Rings of Cocytus: The problem being, the more you read about serial killers, the more you realise anyone who calls at your home might be one. Best you get them before they get you.

John Maclay - Late Last Night: A folk singer and a runaway girl are stalked across the city by murder junkies. Author wallows in the pointlessness and misery of it all.

William Relling, Jr. - The Instrumentalist: The reasoning of a tongue-collector. I'm guessing this anthology was conceived as a Psycho-themed companion volume to Stalkers?

[dem bones]

F. Paul Wilson - The Wringer: Munir Habib's wife and infant son have been abducted, the gloating kidnapper threatening to mail Barbara and Ronny home a piece at a time unless he publicly performs increasingly degrading, criminal and blasphemous acts. Why target a random Moslem? His tormentor insists he is avenging the death of a fabricated 'brother' in the Gulf War, but amoral fix-it mercenary Repairman Jack knows it has to be personal. Can he locate this sicko before he dismembers the captives? An accomplished Men of Violence pulp torture-horror crossover.

Edward D. Hoch - The Graveyard Ghoul: A nocturnal prowler on author George Mitchner's estate, breaking open coffins in the family graveyard and vault, spraying 'satanic' symbols in the grounds. Bizarrely, the graveyard ghoul neither robs nor molests the dead. Mitchner suspects his son, Andrew, twenty, who has not been the same since his mother's death - and father's subsequent, hasty second marriage to a younger model - five years ago. Simon Ark, the 2000+ year old psychic detective, psychic detects — a murder!

Barbara Collins - Dark Side of the Moon: In times of crisis, Harriet Gipple has been Lieutenant Jack Larson's go-to psychic, but now, with her insistence that Rita Cato, battered wife, missing-presumed-murdered, is living the high life on the moon, it seems even her 'gift' has limitations.

Meanwhile, Jane Yeoman, founder and of the Women's Resource Center, organises another demo outside police HQ .... A blackly hilarious psycho-feminist romp. I also enjoyed her contribution to Celebrity Vampires

Clive Barker - The Book of Blood: (Books of Blood: vol 1, 1984). An attention-seeking youth leads Dr. Florescu's team a merry dance during an investigation of alleged supernatural activity at 65 Tollington Place. The dead punish our phoney psychic by inscribing their stories on his flesh, making of him a book of blood. Presumably included so publisher can stick author's name on cover.

[dem bones]

D. R. Banat [Ray Bradbury] - Corpse Carnival: (Dime Mystery Magazine, July 1945). Conjoined twins are finally separated aged 27 when the universally unpopular Roger is fatally stabbed and the Carnival Doc cuts loose his brother. Recovered from surgery, Raoul rejoins Father Don's circus, this time to muck out the elephants (he's no longer 'freak' material). Life at last holds promise, but before he can marry Deirdre the trapeze artist, Raoul is sworn to nail whichever of the circus folk murdered his brother. You already guessed the killer but a splendid horror story regardless.

Charles de Lint - Small Deaths: (Dreams Underfoot, 1993). The eclectic mix of music styles Zoe Brill airs on her WKPN late night 'Nightnoise' show shouldn't work, yet it draws a huge audience. Her best pal reckons it's down to Zoe's X-factor, an unlooked-for appeal to misfits and loners. Unlucky for her that one of these should be Gordon Wolfe, "the bringer of small deaths," a Typhoid Mary of catalyst and misfortune.

Rick Hautala - Hitman: Hired assassin Angello Martelli's rented car packs in as he drives from the scene of his latest hit. A Good Samaritan offers him a lift ....

Richard T. Chizmar - A Season of Change: A Baltimore cop can't rest until he's killed the drug lord who shot dead his partner.

J. N. Williamson - Beasts in Buildings, Turning ’Round: As the city comes under attack from enemy missiles, criminologist-psychologist Sister Bethany, the lip-reading nun, must identify a sociopathic killer among the hotel guests holed up in the makeshift bomb shelter.

[dem bones]

Final pair, both "good."

J. M. Morgan - Honor Bound: Played dead straight, very horrible. Gershom Hillel, a gardener at the city park, is specific who he targets — single mothers with two children. The women are offered the same choice presented his mom by the man who killed her.

Christopher Fahy - Trolls: Fresh from college, Beth Lewis lands her first teaching post at Radhall, a specialschool catering for "Downs syndrome people" and the mentally handicapped. Beth soon warms to her students, with the difficult exceptions of Adrian and Garth, malevolent "trolls" who pick on the weaker classmates. A demanding job, which perhaps explains why Radhall gets through teachers at a rate of one a week, despite the lavish free meals served them morning, noon and night ....

More hits than misses, a couple I didn't get on with at all. Personal favourites; Al Sarrantonio, Ray Bradbury, Barbara Collins, FPW, David Gerrold and A. R. Morlan.