Post Mortem

A collection of ghost stories, featuring works by Dean Koontz, Ramsey Campbell, Charles Grant, William Nolan, Charles de Lint, Thomas Tessier, and Katherine Ptacek

The ghost story, as the afterword by Dean R. Koontz points out, has a long and honorable history and speaks to deep psychic needs. The 17 tales in this excellent collection, edited by two men who separately publish semi-professional magazines of horror fiction, are well-written and eerie. Among the best: "Blanca" by Thomas Tessier, a terrifying account of a traveler's sojourn in a brutal, unforgiving police state; Gary Brandner's "Mark of the Loser," a haunted house story in which the naive protagonist meets an undeserved but not totally unexpected fate; "The Brush of Soft Wings" by Melissa Mia Hall, reminiscent of Truman Capote's "Miriam," but gentler--death as a capricious but good-hearted little girl who comes to live with a lonely old woman; Robert McCammon's "Haunted World," which begins as a humorous anecdote and inexorably segues into a tale of horror; and Ramsey Campbell's loving, chilling tribute to the works of the great M. R. James, "The Guide."
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.