Search Worlds Without End

The first annual collection of the world's best horror stories and short novels showcases fiction from every part of the field--from terror to supernatural chills--and features the talents of Ian Watson, Stephen Gallagher, Ramsey Campbell, and others.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction: Horror in 1989 - essay by Stephen Jones and Ramsey Campbell
• Pin - (1989) - short story by Robert R. McCammon
• The House on Cemetery Street - (1988) - novelette by Cherry Wilder
• The Horn - (1989) - novelette by Stephen Gallagher
• Breaking Up - (1989) - short story by Alex Quiroba
• It Helps If You Sing - (1989) - short story by Ramsey Campbell
• Closed Circuit - (1989) - novelette by Laurence Staig
• Carnal House - (1989) - short story by Steve Rasnic Tem
• Twitch Technicolor - (1989) - short story by Kim Newman
• Lizaveta - (1988) - novelette by Gregory Frost
• Snow Cancellations - (1989) - short story by Donald R. Burleson
• Archway - (1989) - novelette by Nicholas Royle
• The Strange Design of Master Rignolo - (1989) - short story by Thomas Ligotti
• ...To Feel Another's Woe - (1989) - short story by Chet Williamson
• The Last Day of Miss Dorinda Molyneaux - (1989) - novelette by Robert Westall
• No Sharks in the Med - (1989) - novelette by Brian Lumley
• Mort au Monde - (1989) - short story by D. F. Lewis
• Blanca - (1989) - novelette by Thomas Tessier
• The Eye of the Ayatollah - (1990) - short story by Ian Watson
• At First Just Ghostly - (1989) - novella by Karl Edward Wagner
• Bad News - (1989) - short story by Richard Laymon
• Necrology: 1989 - essay by Stephen Jones and Kim Newman

Twenty-eight spine-tinglers are showcased by the editors, both veteran horror writers,in this fine anthology, which runs the horror gamut from occult shocker to psychological thriller. Though it opens with a rather tasteless entry, K. W. Jeter's grisly "The First Time" (told with au courant splatterpunk brio), the collection redeems itself many times over with a score of tales that make the prerequisite suspension of disbelief a hair-raising pleasure. In Michael Marshall Smith's imaginative "The Man Who Drew Cats," a mysterious street-artist stretches his creativity to alarmingly grim lengths when an abused child wins his heart. Thomas Ligotti's fluently written novella, "The Last Feast of Harlequin," reveals the dark nature lurking just beneath the whiteface. The searing final image in "Cedar Lane," by Karl Edward Wagner, will invoke for many genre fans Ray Bradbury's classic "There Will Come Soft Rains." J. L. Comeau's riveting "Firebird" pits supernatural forces against a feisty ballerina who also happens to be a cop. In one of the collection's strongest entries, "Mister Ice Cold," cartoonist Gahan Wilson proves that a few thousand well-chosen words just might be worth more than a picture, after all.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction: Horror in 1990 - essay by Stephen Jones and Ramsey Campbell
• The First Time - (1990) - shortstory by K. W. Jeter
• A Short Guide to the City - (1990) - shortstory by Peter Straub
• Stephen - (1990) - novelette by Elizabeth Massie
• The Dead Love You - (1989) - shortstory by Jonathan Carroll
• Jane Doe #112 - (1990) - shortstory by Harlan Ellison
• Shock Radio - (1990) - shortstory by Ray Garton
• The Man Who Drew Cats - (1990) - shortstory by Michael Marshall Smith
• The Co-Op - (1990) - shortstory by Melanie Tem
• Negatives - (1990) - shortstory by Nicholas Royle
• The Last Feast of Harlequin - (1990) - novelette by Thomas Ligotti
• 1/72nd Scale - (1990) - novelette by Ian R. MacLeod
• Cedar Lane - (1990) - shortstory by Karl Edward Wagner
• At a Window Facing West - (1990) - shortstory by Kim Antieau
• Inside the Walled City - (1990) - novelette by Garry Kilworth
• On the Wing - (1990) - shortstory by Jean-Daniel Brèque
• Firebird - (1990) - novelette by J. L. Comeau
• Incident on a Rainy Night in Beverly Hills - (1990) - novelette by David J. Schow
• His Mouth Will Taste of Wormwood - (1990) - shortstory by Poppy Z. Brite
• The Original Dr Shade - (1990) - novelette by Kim Newman
• Madge - (1990) - shortstory by D. F. Lewis
• Alive in Venice - (1990) - shortstory by Cherry Wilder
• Divertimento - (1989) - shortstory by Gregory Frost
• Pelts - (1989) - novelette by F. Paul Wilson
• Those of Rhenea - (1990) - shortstory by David Sutton
• Lord of the Land - (1990) - novelette by Gene Wolfe
• Aquarium - (1990) - shortstory by Steve Rasnic Tem
• Mister Ice Cold - (1990) - shortstory by Gahan Wilson
• On the Town Route - (1989) - novelette by Elizabeth Hand
• Necrology: 1990 - essay by Stephen Jones and Kim Newman

Through intelligent selection and commentary, Jones (ed. Fantasy Tales) and Campbell (The Count of Eleven, p. 479, etc.) again prove that horror literature, widely considered an oxymoron not so very long ago, is a field of fiction worthy of serious cultivation. As in their first two annuals, the authors have combed through sources both high-profile (A Whisper of Blood, 1991, etc.) and desperately obscure (Tekeli-li! Journal of Terror) to dig out "a varied selection... that illustrates the themes and ideas currently being explored in the genre." The emphasis on ideas can be seen in the authors' roster, which includes big names (Robert McCammon, Dennis Etchison, Thomas Tessier, et al.), fast-rising young stars (Nancy Collins, Thomas Ligotti, Kathe Koja, et al.), and several newcomers--but only a couple of splatterpunks and absolutely no hacks, with most of the 29 entries distinguished by deft style and ambitious subjects. The triangle of love, suffering, and death surfaces as the dominant theme--from K.W. Jeter's opening "True Love" (a vampire's daughter cares for her senile but immortal father) through Douglas Clegg's gothic "Where Flies are Born" (a woman reanimates her dead child through grotesque means), Alan Brennert's "Ma Qui" and S.P. Somtow's "Chui Chai" (two wrenching Vietnam-set tales), and the collection's strongest story, Grant Morrison's "The Braille Encyclopedia" (a sly shocker about the pursuit of sensual pleasure), and others. A few stories fail, mostly through straining (e.g., those by David J. Schow and Charles Grant) but the vast majority succeed, and equally of interest is the editors' opinionated rundown of the year's (1991) horror fiction, criticism, film and comics, and their invaluable necrology. For the third year running, horror's annual of record, as well as its premier showcase. Not to be missed by any serious fan.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction: Horror in 1991 - (1992) - essay by Stephen Jones and Ramsey Campbell
• True Love - (1991) - shortstory by K. W. Jeter
• The Same in Any Language - (1991) - shortstory by Ramsey Campbell
• Impermanent Mercies - (1991) - shortstory by Kathe Koja
• Ma Qui - (1991) - shortstory by Alan Brennert
• The Miracle Mile - (1991) - novelette by Robert R. McCammon
• Taking Down the Tree - (1991) - shortstory by Steve Rasnic Tem
• Where Flies Are Born - (1991) - shortstory by Douglas Clegg
• Love, Death and the Maiden - (1991) - shortstory by Roger Johnson
• Chui Chai - (1991) - shortstory by S. P. Somtow
• The Snow Sculptures of Xanadu - (1991) - shortstory by Kim Newman
• Colder Than Hell - (1991) - shortstory by Edward Bryant
• Raymond - (1991) - shortstory by Nancy A. Collins
• One Life, in an Hourglass - (1991) - shortstory by Charles L. Grant
• The Braille Encyclopedia - (1991) - shortstory by Grant Morrison
• The Bacchae - (1991) - shortstory by Elizabeth Hand
• Busted in Buttown - (1991) - shortstory by David J. Schow
• Subway Story - (1990) - shortstory by Russell Flinn
• The Medusa - (1991) - novelette by Thomas Ligotti
• Power Cut - (1991) - shortstory by Joel Lane
• Moving Out - (1991) - shortstory by Nicholas Royle
• Guignoir - (1991) - shortstory by Norman Partridge
• Blood Sky - (1991) - shortstory by William F. Nolan
• Ready - (1991) - shortstory by David Starkey
• The Slug - (1991) - novelette by Karl Edward Wagner
• The Dark Land - (1991) - shortstory by Michael Marshall Smith
• When They Gave Us Memory - (1991) - shortstory by Dennis Etchison
• Taking Care of Michael - (1991) - shortstory by J. L. Comeau
• The Dreams of Dr. Ladybank - (1991) - novella by Thomas Tessier
• Zits - (1991) - shortfiction by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
• Necrology: 1991 - (1992) - essay by Kim Newman and Stephen Jones

A collection of short horror stories features the work of Peter Atkins, Clive Barker, Ramsey Campbell, Kim Newman, Peter Straub, Karl Edward Wagner, and others.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction: Horror in 1992 (Best New Horror 4) - essay by Stephen Jones and Ramsey Campbell
• The Suicide Artist - (1992) - short story by Scott Edelman
• Dancing on a Blade of Dreams - (1992) - novelette by Roberta Lannes
• The Departed - (1992) - short story by Clive Barker
• How to Get Ahead in New York - (1992) - short story by Poppy Z. Brite
• They Take - (1992) - novelette by John Brunner
• Replacements - (1992) - novelette by Lisa Tuttle
• Under the Pylon - (1992) - short story by Graham Joyce
• The Glamour - (1991) - short story by Thomas Ligotti
• Under the Ice - (1992) - short story by John Gordon
• And Some Are Missing - (1992) - short story by Joel Lane
• The Little Green Ones - (1992) - short story by Les Daniels
• Mirror Man - (1992) - short story by Steve Rasnic Tem
• Mothmusic - (1992) - short story by Sarah Ash
• Did They Get You to Trade? - (1992) - novelette by Karl Edward Wagner
• Night Shift Sister - (1992) - short story by Nicholas Royle
• The Dead - (1992) - short story by M. John Harrison and Simon Ings
• Norman Wisdom and the Angel of Death - (1992) - novelette by Christopher Fowler
• Red Reign - (1992) - novella by Kim Newman
• Aviatrix - (1992) - short story by Peter Atkins
• Snodgrass - (1992) - novelette by Ian R. MacLeod
• The Day of the Sharks - (1992) - short story by Kate Wilhelm
• Anima - (1992) - short story by M. John Harrison
• Bright Lights, Big Zombie - (1992) - novelette by Douglas E. Winter
• The Ghost Village - (1992) - novelette by Peter Straub
• Necrology: 1992 - essay by Stephen Jones and Kim Newman

This new edition of the premiere collection of the year's finest horror stories continues its tradition of riveting tales of terror from some of the best-known contemporary writers. Contributors include Peter Straub, Clive Barker, Lisa Tuttle, Thomas Ligotti, Karl Edward Wagner, and Kim Newman.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Ramsey Campbell and Stephen Jones
• Later - (1993) - shortstory by Michael Marshall Smith
• When the Red Storm Comes - (1993) - shortstory by Sarah Smith
• The Exhibit - (1993) - shortstory by Martin Plumbridge
• Leavings - (1993) - shortstory by Kathe Koja
• Human Remains - (1992) - shortstory by Edward Bryant
• Flying Into Naples - (1993) - shortstory by Nicholas Royle
• The Sixth Sentinel - (1993) - shortstory by Poppy Z. Brite
• The Brothers - (1993) - shortstory by Rick Cadger
• The Owen Street Monster - (1993) - shortstory by J. L. Comeau
• One Size Eats All - (1993) - shortstory by T. E. D. Klein
• Mulligan's Fence - shortstory by Donald R. Burleson
• How She Dances - (1993) - shortstory by Daniel Fox
• Passages - shortstory by Karl Edward Wagner
• Easing the Spring - (1993) - shortstory by Sally Roberts Jones
• Safe at Home - (1993) - shortstory by Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem
• Mother of the City - (1993) - shortstory by Christopher Fowler
• Justice - (1993) - novelette by Elizabeth Hand
• The Big Fish - (1993) - novelette by Kim Newman
• In the Desert of Deserts - (1993) - shortstory by Thomas Tessier
• Two Returns - (1993) - shortstory by Terry Lamsley
• The Moment the Face Falls - (1993) - shortstory by Chet Williamson
• Darker Angels - (1993) - novelette by S. P. Somtow
• The Timbrel Sound of Darkness - (1993) - shortstory by Kathe Koja and Barry N. Malzberg
• The Tsalal - shortstory by Thomas Ligotti
• In the Still, Small Hours - (1993) - shortstory by Charles L. Grant
• Ice House Pond - (1993) - novella by Steve Rasnic Tem
• The Dog Park - (1993) - shortstory by Dennis Etchison
• The Marble Boy - (1993) - shortstory by Gahan Wilson
• Mefisto in Onyx - (1993) - novella by Harlan Ellison
• Necrology: 1993 - essay by Kim Newman and Stephen Jones