Doubleday & Company -- hcNew York -- ©1977 -- 226pp
ISBN: 0-385-12568-2
illustrations by: Stephen Fabian, Lee Brown Coye, Mike Garcia, Tim Kirk, Frank Utpatel, George Barr
A collection of short stories, most of which appeared in the magazine, Whispers.
"Sticks" - Karl Edward Wagner
"The Barrow Troll" - David Drake
"The Glove" - Fritz Leiber
"The Closer of the Way" - Robert Bloch
"Dark Winner" - William F. Nolan
"Ladies in Waiting" - Hugh B. Cave
"White Moon Rising" - Dennis Etchison
"Graduation" - Richard Christian Matheson
"Mirror, Mirror" - Ray Russell
"The House of Cthulhu" - Brian Lumley
"Antiquities" - John Crowley
"A Weather Report From the Top of the Stairs" - James Sallis and David Lunde
"The Scallion Stone" - Basil A. Smith
"The Inglorious Rise of the Catsmeat Man" - Robin Smyth
"The Pawnshop" - Charles E. Fritch
"Le Miroir" - Robert Aickman
"The Willow Platform" - Joseph Payne Brennan
"The Dakwa" - Manly Wade Wellman
"Goat" - David Campton
"The Chimney" - Ramsey Campbell
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It's been a while since I read a collection of horror tales, and this was a nice sampling. Standouts, for me, were David Campton's "Goat," and Fritch's "The Pawnshop" and Wagner's "Sticks." Each of them seemed the most compelling, realistic, and horrific in their own way. Robin Smyth's "...Catsmeat Man" was also quite intriquing. Seemed like it could have been the impetus for "Sweeny Todd" but I suppose the idea of a butcher cutting up people has been around for a long time.
None of the stories were horrible, which shows that Schiff has done a good job of putting together this collection.
"Weather Report from the Top of The Stairs" was my least favorite in this collection. The story, written, based on a cartoon by Gahan Wilson, included two endings...the original by the authors and a rewrite (change of maybe two words?) at the request of the editor and cartoonist. Even with the variation, it lacked the meat that Wilson's fabulous cartoons manage to have.
A fun trip into the speculative/horror world.
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