Martin & Rosalind Greenberg - Phantoms

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Martin H. Greenberg & Rosalind M. Greenberg (eds.) - Phantoms (DAW, April 1989)

J. K. Potter

Isaac Asimov - Introduction: Why The Phantom?

Edward Wellen - The Opera Of The Phantom
Henry Slesar - The Phantom Of The Soap Opera
Edward D. Hoch - The Other Phantom
Daniel Ransom - Dark Muse
J. N. Williamson - Too Hideous To Be Played
K. Marie Ramsland - The Final Threshold
James Kisner - Marian's Song
Karen Haber - The Light Of Her Smile
Barry N. Malzberg - Time Tracker
Gary Alan Rose - Dark Angel
Steve Rasnic Tem - The Unmasking
Thomas Millstead - The Grotto
Gary A. Braunbeck - Comfort The Lonely Night

THE GHOSTLY PRESENCE OF TERROR UNMASKED

In the dark shadows of dim-lit theaters just after the final curtains have gone down ... along secretly winding underground passageways that lead from our world of life and light to frigid and deadly depths... behind the tightly sealed doors of posh Manhattan penthouses... or in a massive, echo filled cavern a world away from our own—you will face frightmare encounters with terrors beyond imagining.

Here are the kind of unforgettable chillers which will have the original Phantom of the Opera singing scary new melodies. Set in locations ranging from the Paris Opera to New York's Broadway to a place completely outside of time, these are powerful tales of obsessions fulfilled or thwarted, and of haunting outcasts who seek to make a place for themselves in our world or drag us, desperately screaming, into theirs ....

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I remember buying a copy in Forbidden Planet when it was situated on New Oxford Street, so obviously, that must have been a good few years back! Not sure if I ever read the collection through; the only thing I'm certain of is that then-me was dead dismissive of Phantoms to the point of detesting it! What better excuse for a rematch?

Henry Slesar - Phantom Of The Soap Opera: "I will never be caught. It isn't in the script."
Narrator has only recently began writing for hit TV soap Before The Dawn when the cast and crew celebrate the show's thirtieth anniversary with a glitzy party. The evening is ruined when a specially commissioned enormous birthday cake goes missing, later to be deposited over the assembled from a great height. Recently widowed Nina Kemper, who plays Felicia (the resident villainess of the piece), flees screaming. She later confides in our man that, in recent months, there have been several such pranks and "accidents", including a number of studio fires, and she believes Jules, her late husband, is the culprit. Jules died during rehearsals from a heart-attack after somebody tampered with a stage prop. He played eccentric Randolph Moore (trademark; a mangy fur-trimmed robe), the third person to do so after the initial actor was retired and the second died. At first the new boy dismisses Nina's "phantom" theory out of hand, but when she suddenly vanishes mid-rehearsal and several persons connected to the show die in mysterious circumstances, even he comes to believe that studio 43 is haunted by a spectre bent on revenge!

Pop culture references include Ghostbusters, Caspar, the friendly ghost, and Diana Ross (apparently Nina's singing voice is similar when she's under stress, being held captive by a maniac ghost, etc).

Steve Rasnic Tem - The Unmasking: Andrew's a Lon Chaney fan, an Erik in search of his very own Christine Daaé. His obsessive tendencies towards attractive young women have led to several police complaints. Chelsea is pregnant by a guy she hardly knew. She's been ostracised by her parents as a result. So Andrew invites Chelsea to move in with him at his late parents' place, no strings attached. Which is very kind of him, and the arrangement works out fine - until Chelsea tries to leave. It's not like Andrew's a bad guy, just that he has an urge to peel off his face so that some lucky girl will get to see the real him underneath ...

So far, so good. Don't know whether to feel happy or disappointed about that!

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Five stories in and I still haven't found what I'm not looking for. This pair, particularly The Braunbeck black magic mini-epic, are very entertaining. K. Marie Ramsland is surely Anne Rice biographer Kathleen?

Gary A. Braunbeck - Comfort The Lonely Night: The Paris Opera ghost is long dead, but his restless, murderous spirit lives on in the gold ring he gifted Christine Daaé on their final meeting. 'Chris,' now 128 years old and living in America, is a bag lady, singing in the street for small change, doomed to live forever unless she can find some poor sap willing to remove the ring from her finger and wear it themselves for a week. Andy, a young night janitor, is that sap. Chris assures her Good Samaritan that the ring is magic, he'll have an "interesting" night, and so it proves. He returns home to woo his dishy neighbour Susan with his sudden gift for piano recital. But after dark four people are garrotted with piano wire. The following day, Andy seeks out Chris who confides the whole sad and bloody story. It's worth hearing.

K. Marie Ramsland - The Final Threshold: "You don't know the price ... The unending night, your darkest dreams ... I am only a mask .... for ... oh, horror!" Meg the chorus girl is insanely jealous of Christine and demands introduction to the mystery mentor who has guided her to the top of her profession. Christine refuses, not out of meanness but compassion, knowing the price will prove too high for this ambitious, thoroughly silly girl who is treating the Grand Opera as though it were an audition for The X-Factor. But Meg is not to be denied. She has watched Christine carefully and knows the secret of the revolving mirror in the dressing room. She flips the catch and descends into the caverns. The master is expecting her.

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Gary Alan Rose - Dark Angel: A terrorist attack on a record-breaking production of The Phantom Of The Opera at the Majestic in New York. The CIA mess up and co-stars Caroline and her husband Lawrence are ambushed by armed desperadoes. Enter the cloaked stranger who has been sending Caroline red roses and cryptic messages of encouragement since opening night. Erik - for it his he - has not reached his 158th birthday without learning a trick or two about survival - he's even constructed his own railway line beneath Manhattan. Having disposed of the baddies, the Phantom escorts the couple to his secret mansion where he introduces them to lovely young, blind wife, Lydia. Horror stories don't come much more feel-good than Dark Angel but don't let that put you off, it's really very charming.

Thomas Millstead - The Grotto: Archaeologists Clayton and Renfield are suitably orgasmic at their discovery of an Ice Age cavern beneath the Pyrenees, decorated as it is with fantastic primitive wall paintings. But, bless my soul, there's a woman down here! White gown, glamorous, prone to hystrionics - why, it can only be Giselle Marshant, the world famous soprano who vanished so mysteriously after a performance at the Paris Opera house! Some fiend has been keeping her prisoner! As Giselle leads the gents further and further into the treacherous dark grotto, she relates a tale of woe. Too late the gallant pair realise that much of her sob story doesn't ring true.

Six stories down and I've yet to discover what it was about Phantoms that made me dislike it so on first acquaintance.