Masterpieces of Terror and the Unknown (Guild America Books) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 031211026X ISBN 13: 9780312110260

Publisher: St Martins Pr, 1994

Synopsis

This new treasury of terror will propel you through fifty-eight stories and poems of fear and nightmare. Like its companion volume, Masterpieces of Terror and the Supernatural, this collection intends to terrify the reader with the cosmic fear of the unknown, not merely horrify with blood and gore.
The modern and classic authors represented are some of the most distinguished and popular of our time. Joyce Carol Oates writes about a man who starts to see long-dead acquaintances - alive. John Jakes recounts the unnatural desire of "The Man Who Wanted to Be in Movies" and Winston Churchill tells of the natural fear of a man lost at sea. Of special interest is the poem by W. S. Gilbert (of Gilbert & Sullivan) and the story by Gaston Leroux (author of The Phantom of the Opera).
Other authors include Ray Bradbury, H. P. Lovecraft, Algernon Blackwood, Arthur Machen, Richard Matheson, Joanna Russ, Theodore Sturgeon, Guy de Maupassant, Michael Moorcock, Parke Godwin, Willa Cather, A. Merritt, Isaac Asimov, Frederick Pohl, and Jack Vance.
Masterpieces of Terror and the Unknown is expertly compiled by Marvin Kaye, who provides fascinating notes with each selection and an Introduction that provides further insights into the genres of terror and horror.

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

Kaye's companion volume to his Masterpieces of Terror and the Supernatural pulls together nearly 60 works by some of the finest writers of the past century, including Bram Stoker, H. G. Wells, H. P. Lovecraft, Ray Bradbury and Richard Matheson. There are some pleasant surprises, too: stories by Joyce Carol Oates, Willa Cather, Stephen Crane and Winston Churchill. Although few of the tales are truly terrifying, many of them do indeed qualify as "unknown." Kaye's eclectic gathering, organized under categories such as "Ghosts and Miscellaneous Nightmares," "The Beast Within," "Acts of God" and "Fiends and Creatures," includes Darrell Schweitzer's and Jason Van Hollander's "The Throwing Suit," a disturbing portrait of gnosticism, artistic impression and damage to the immortal soul; Theodore Sturgeon's "Bianca's Hands," a surreal tale of one man's obsession with a disturbed girl's hands; Emilia Pardo-Bazan's "The Pardon," a suspenseful rendering of a husband's feared revenge, and Jack Snow's "Midnight," a nightmarish account of the eternal hell on earth that an occultist visits upon himself. While readers may question the choice of certain works, bristle at Kaye's self-promotional references in several of the introductions and dismiss some of the older tales as dated, most horror fans will find ample enjoyment here. Science Fiction and Doubleday Book clubs selections.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: St Martins Pr
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 031211026X
• ISBN 13: 9780312110260
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 573
• Editor: Kaye Marvin