Reading these stories over, I feel a
little of both. Some of the simple energies that made these words flow
through my pen--that made the phrases felicitous and the ideas
sing--have gone. I lost their maker a long time ago.

These enthusiastic tales are not ashamed of visceral horror, of blood
splashing freely across the page: "The Midnight Meat Train," a grisly
subway tale that surprises you with one twist after another; "The
Yattering and Jack," about a hilarious demon who possesses a Christmas
turkey; "In the Hills, the Cities," an unusual example of an original
horror premise; "Dread," a harrowing non-supernatural tale about being
forced to realize your worst nightmare; "Jacqueline Ess: Her Will and
Testament," about a woman who kills men with her mind. Some of the tales
are more successful than others, but all are distinguished by
strikingly beautiful images of evil and destruction. No horror library
is complete without them. --Fiona Webster