From Publishers Weekly
Enhancing their credibility, many of the 20 horror stories in this annual collection are shaped by a hard-edged realism. The forces of evil come in several guises. The young German teenager in Cherry Wilder's "The House on Cemetery Street" confronts the unspeakable after learning that her aunt, who hid their Jewish neighbors from the Nazis, later callously caused their deaths. In Ramsay Campbell's futuristic "It Helps If You Sing," the protagonist awaits emasculation by the agents of a fanatic evangelist who wants to rid the world of demon lust. In another story set in the future, "At First Just Ghostly" by Karl Edward Wagner, an alcoholic writer sees that he must remain sober in order to combat Satan and prevent nuclear annihilation. "Snow Cancellations" by Donald R. Burlesson features a young boy who watches the town disappear as a mysteriously malevolent blizzard advances toward his home. A snowstorm also figures in "The Horn," a tense story by Stephen Gallagher. In others of these tales corpses make love to former lovers and long-dead rapists disinter themselves in order to attack new victims. Ian Watson, Kim Newman and Chet Williamson also contribute chilling tales.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
Another year, another horror annual from tireless editor Jones. The thirteenth in this Mammoth series features stories by Chico Kidd, Ramsey Campbell, Poppy Z. Brite, and many others. It opens with a thorough review of horror in several different media, including graphic novels, movies, television, and even action figures. Highlights among the stories include Douglas Smith's delightfully creepy "By Her Hand, She Draws You Down," about a young woman who is driven by a mysterious hunger to sketch people and steal their life force as her horrified lover looks on. Brite's story, "O Death, Where Is Thy Spatula?" features her alter ego, New Orleans coroner Dr. Brite, who, unable to eat after the owner of her favorite restaurant is murdered, turns to voodoo to resurrect him. The book ends with a necrology of genre hands who died in 2001 and an annotated address list of publishers, magazines, book dealers, and other horror writers' markets. As always, a delight for horror aficionados.
Kristine HuntleyCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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