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The special Ramsey Campbell issue of Weird Tales presents 4 short stories by this modern master, plus stories by Stephen King, Robert Bloch, and many more. ... Read more

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The second four issues of Weird Tales as published by DNA Publications present new work by Brian Stableford, Darrell Schweitzer, Ian Watson, William F. Nolan, Ramsey Campbell, Tanith Lee, Hugh B. Cave, and many more. ... Read more

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Weird Tales #304 is a special John Brunner issue, with 3 stories by Brunner and an interview. Also includes short fiction by Tanith Lee, Ramsey Campbell, S.P. Somtow, and many more. All artwork in this issue is by Featured Artist Jill Bauman. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Stories from a master of mood
This stellar collection contains twenty-three stories written over thirty-five years, beginning right after Demons by Daylight and ending with the publication in 2002 of "The Retrospective" in Dark Terrors 6.In his afterward, Campbell confesses that he's losing his perspective on these stories; readers, however, will experience a writer who continues to evolve, a talented professional whose current output remains as vital and enthralling as his estimable earlier efforts.

Campbell remains a master of mood, of creating an underlying sense of menace in everyday settings.Witness this bit of stage setting from "Twice by Fire":

"A department store occupies most of the next block.Legs wearing shoes stand in a window, torsos without limbs expose their underwear beside an arrangement of half a dozen heads whose lidless eyes turn inwards, fixed on their nightmares.Light as pale as a mortuary, and rendered meaningless by the desertion of the street, freezes all these objects as though preserving evidence."

Perfect.And there's more where that came from.

Despair is a key element in these tales, on vivid display in such tales as "Agatha's Ghost" and "The Entertainment."So is disorientation, used to good effect in "Accident Zone" or "All for Sale."Campbell ranges far and wide for his effects, effortlessly shifting from the big city to rural settings to create his intimate hells.Campbell even addresses the literary milieu, capping the collection with three very effective pieces, "Worse Than Bones," a tale about readers' relationships with their books, "No Story In It," about a horror writer slowly fading into obscurity, and 'The Word," a tale of a global bestseller that conveys a personal message to each of its readers.Each has telling points to make about readers, writers, and the literary world in general.

As Poppy Z. Brite concludes in her introduction, "Because he is able to...horrify us in a way that touches not just our brains and viscera, but our souls--Ramsey Campbell truly is the best of us all, and his own best is well represented in this collection."Kudos to Ms. Brite for saying it so well.
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Don and Suzanne Travis and their adolescent son, Marshall, become involved in an escalating web of brutality, murder, and kidnapping after Don testifies against a man who attacked him after a minor traffic violation. Reprint. K. LJ. PW. "Amazon.com Review
An American family in Manchester meets up with seriousmisfortune at the hands of a British family they accidentally runafoul of. Campbell is a versatile master of psychological horror: Heis best known for his evocations of vague dread in protagonists whomyou're never sure are completely sane, but in this novel he goesinstead for clearly delineated, likable characters and intenseencounters packed with emotional anguish.Campbell hits hard, andkeeps on hitting.He actually scared this seasoned reviewer. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

UNFORGETTABLE!
This book is deep and hard-hitting. It's like a trip to another world; an experience you won't soon forget.

Excellent tale of urban horror.
This is a brilliant tale of modern horror that totally eschews any of the usual trappings of things that go bump in the night and instead focuses on the cruelty and nasty possibilties of everyday life. The death of one ofthe lead characters halfway through the book is pretty hard hitting mainlydue to Campbells excellent descriptive technique, you almost feel as if youknow the family. As with all Campbells novels you finish this book with thesatisfaction of knowing you have just read a well written novel by animportant novellist.

The book was horrible!
I absolutely HATED this book.I figured that since Dean Koontz recommended it it might be good.Where did Dean go wrong?This book was poorly written, made no sense, and was B-O-R-I-N-G.In fact, at about the halfway mark I went ahead and put the book back on my shelf.I didn't want to waste any more time when I could be reading a GOOD book.

An understated yet hard-hitting look at real-life horror.
Ramsey Campbell has distinguished himself as one of the top award winners among all active horror writers and his latest, _One Safe Place_, only provides further evidence of his prodigious talent.In moving from the unexplained horror of the supernatural to a more realistic milieu, Campbell sacrifices none of the unsettling quality of his previous work.The book revolves around an American family, newly arrived in Manchester to open up a used and antiquarian bookshop.When the father unwittingly runs afoul of a local thug and his family, the resulting violence has long-lasting effects on both families.This is a haunting and sad novel with a very convincing look at what it must be like for expatriates attempting to start a new life in a foreign country.Anyone who has ever daydreamed of moving to England (a dream I must admit I've had) should read this cautionary tale.Campbell, unlike other horror writers on the bestseller lists, continues to grow and challenge himself as a writer, tackling new subjects and themes with continually superlative results.This reviewer can hardly wait to get ahold of a copy of his next book, _The House on Nazareth Hill_ ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An excellent collection of the works of Robert E. Howard
This is a collection of paperbacks published by Baen Books in the mid-1990s.Included here are a variety of works by Howard, including stories from the adventure, horror and fantasy genres.The titles speak for themselves.This series provides a nice survey of Howard's non-Conan work. Each book has an introduction written by a horror or fantasy author such as Ramsey Campbell or David Drake. Fans of Howard might like to procure it just to add to their collection.It's a great collection of some of Howard's best work.You can probably find these stories elsewhere, but this is a great way to get them all in one place. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

For Completists Only
It took me a full 3/4 of the way through this book before I found a decent story. Most of the stories suffered from one or more of the following: 1) could have been set anywhere remote. The particulars of the Severn Valley locale played no role in the story. Have these authors even read anything by Ramsey Campbell? 2) bizarre or disjointed writing styles that only detracted from the plot 3) non-endings or endings that did not follow from the story. In several of the stories it seemed as though the author decided it was time to go to the pub and just wrote anything to end the story (or came back from the pub and finished drunk).

I liked Szymanski's "Random Access" as a nice expansion of "The Insects from Shaggai" with a computer program saving the day. Robert Price has a decent piece, if you can ignore a gaping hole or 2 in the story line. Campbell's own contribution is fine, and is perhaps the only story to actually USE the Severn Vally mythos and expand upon it in any significant way. C.J. Henderson's piece is also good and happily can be found in the fine anthology "The Occult Detectives of C.J. Henderson" so you don't need to buy this book to read it.

I'd recommend this book only to folks like me who just have to buy all of the "Call of Cthulhu" books for their collection. Feel free to buy it and put it on your shelf unread, you will be missing very little. Then go read some Campbell and Henderson elsewhere.

A mixed bag
Like most Chaosium books, this collection seems intended more as background material for Chaosium's line of fantasy role-playing games than as a stand-alone collection of short fiction. The quality of the contents varies from accomplished journeyman to fan fiction. The exception would be Kevin A. Ross' "The Music of the Spheres". Enschewing the usual compendium of obscure references and self-consciously purple prose employed by other would-be mythos authors, this story evokes truly Lovecraftian cosmic horror. For me this story is one of the best examples of modern mythos fiction and deserving of a place in one of the canonical Arkham House collections.

Not what I hoped for
The principal problem with MADE IN GOATSWOOD is poor writing. The author does not get his point across, or the characters are formulaic or the stories have no internal consistency, etc. I can forgive a lot in writing; I just want an interesting twist on a borrowed idea or a common story with a different perspective. Throughout most of this collection, I felt as if I were reading rough drafts of stories.

The highlights:

"Cross my heart, hope to die": The story of a young boy's attempt to escape from a cult. This was well written and motivated empathy with the characters. The real horror in this story is what people do to their own.

"The Queen": The narrative device and perspective alone make this story interesting.

"Free the Old Ones": a fascinating protrayal of the descent into madness. This was well fleshed out and believable; usually, the insanity part of a story is where I have to suspend disbelief, but in "Free the Old Ones" it is the story itself. Also, the cult collaborators are hilarious as parodies of student activists (even if you are a student activist, surely you know some people who actually would demonstrate for Cthulhu rights?).

Many of the other stories fell flat and seemed incomplete or amateurish. If you really want stories on Goatswood or the Severn Valley, try COLD PRINT by Ramsey Campbell.

Still seeking stories which will make Goatswood come alive
I wasn't impressed with this collection, though I had looked forward to reading it.I think the Goatswood mythos has possibilities, but these stories didn't light me up and slap my emotions and imagination around the way most of the Chaosium fiction series collections do.Chick says you can miss it.

uninspirational celebration
scymanski has an ok story here. price has a good one about the gorgon. that one was very enjoyable, and had some lovely details. otherwise, this was dreary read. so many of these stories were not only badly invented, but seemed so uninspired to. i almost felt sorry for the writers, for making so bad stories. i think this is chaosium's worst. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Exellent new addition to the mythos library
Eldritch Blue is a publication of Lindisfarne press.It is a POD book.My overall impression is quite favorable.The production qualities are very high.It is a good quality trade paperback, that should be very durable and provide many years of rereading pleasure.It is somewhat pricier than a comparable Chaosium anthology, currenty at $21.00, but then it has more good stories than the typical Chaosium offering.

In some respects, it is a better concept than the Chaosium series, as there is no attempt made to offer a comprehensive picture of the development of a particular aspect of the Cthulhu mythos.This leads to the inclusion of really poorly written stories in the Chaosium anthologies, just because they may be hypothetically important in getting a picture of the larger concept.(The dreadful goat leg stories in the Shub Niggurath Cycle spring to mind).Eldritch Blue is more concerned with gathering together a selection of stories exploring the issues of love and sex in Lovecraftian fiction.I can't recall the page number in Eldritch Blue but for the money it was a generous sampling of stories.The other thing to note, is the overall quality of the stories was better than a typical Chaosium anthology, if not as high as Dead But Dreaming or Cthulhu 2000.

The artwork was by Susan McAdam.The cover was a very striking work, and I think very mch emphasized the theme of sex and horror quite well.The interior artwork was enjoyable, although not all as successful.I particularly liked the illustrations for Mail Order Bride, Seduced and The Obsession of Percival Carstairs.Overall the art matched the mood of the story and enhanced the experience, adding to the enjoyability of the book.

For the most part the editing was good, with only a few annoying typos. One was partcularly glaring to the rheumatologist in me, in Stacked Actors, but I don't know if it was the editor or the author responsible for misspelling Raynaud's disease.And mislabeling it, when what was meant was Raynaud's phenomenon.Oh, well, no one else would notice.

Do I have several gripes?You bet!First of all, Bob Price always finds a way to drive me crazy!The silly title of his introduction did not sit well with me.

I also found the editor's notes after each story to be near excruciating.They show what I think is a basic wrong-headed view of what Lovecraftian fiction is all about.I'll give an example later, as best as my memory allows.On the other hand, they appear after each work so they are not spoilers, and you can easily skip them.The biographical notes at the end were good.

And as usual, some of these stories are in other anthologies in my collection and some I have read online, leading to duplication.This will always be an issue for the dedicated HPL mythos fan.

Moving on to individual stories (****spoilers may follow****):

Promethes:Where Walks Istasha, by James Ambuehl - well, I'm not a big fan of mythos poetry....

The Tale of Toad Loop, by Stanley C. Sargent - An OK mythos fiction work.Nothing special but not out of place and worth the read, if not a reread.

Goat-Mother, by Pierre Comtois - I found this story to be one of the jewels of the anthology.It was well written, tightly plotted, refreshingly different and had excellent horror elements.I look forward to more stories by Mr. Comtois!Now this is where I had some heartburn with the editor's notes.First of all, I would rate this story as one of the 3 best centering around the Tcho Tcho people I have ever read.The other 2 were Black Man With A Horn by TED Klein, and a novella by Arinn Dembo in the Delta Green: Dark Theaters anthology.All 3 are marveous stories.All 3 works have completely different takes on the Tcho Tcho.And that's OK!Nothing about Yog-Sothothery has to be internally consistent.I guess I use the term Mythos out of convenience because it is shorter to type, but it is not really a unified mythos cycle, where there are rigid rules of interpretation.Vagueness, lack of precision, whatever you call it, allows enormous room for creative authors to develop new ideas on familiar themes for us fans.And for pity's sake, Lovecraftian fiction has no need whatever to correspond with the scientific strictures of our natural world.Who cares about the details of reproduction of these noxious creatures that Pierre Comtois created, and where they fit in with earth biology phylogenetically?The scenes were delightfully creepy and allowed the reader's imagination to run wild.My only word of caution to Mr. Comtois is that there was no need for an italicized ending.The horror was self evident and did not need the emphasis.Bravo!

Beast of Love, by Tracy and James Ambuehl - Now if anyone knows how to dispose of a mythos protagonist it is James Ambuehl!This was a typically fun Ambuehl read, and I look forward to his upcoming new stories in the Lindisfarne series.

The Spawn of Y'lagh, by Randall Larson - This didn't do much for me.It was a very conventional mythos tale, not particularly well written.On the other hand it wasn't dreadfully bad, and it did not detract from the anthology.

Mail Order Bride, by Ann K. Schwader - This is a brilliant story, about intermarriage with the Deep Ones from an entirely original angle.The prose and characterizations were acute.Any gripe?Well this story is already in Strange Stars and Alien Shadows, so it commits the sin of duplication, but in a tale this fine, we'll consider it venial instead of mortal.I wish Ms. Schwader would hurry up and write some more new mythos stories

Family Recipe, by Charles Garofalo - A tightly written story, again about the Deep Ones intermingling with humans, with another original twist.It was a very fun read, although I like other stories here better.I would like to read more by Mr. Garofalo.

Cat's-Paw, by E. P. Berglund - An excellent Shub Niggurath story, with well-drawn characters and enjoyable prose.It held up the high standards of the anthology.

The Faces at Pine Dunes, by Ramsey Campbell - Ramsay Campbell - what can I say- it was a wonderful story.I just wish Mr. Campbell would write some new mythos stuff.Also, it is reprinted from other anthologies.

Dagon's Mistress, by Neil Riebe - This story was only fair, with a conventional mythos plot that had an unusually upbeat turn.Mainly the prose didn't grab me, and the ending didn't ring true for a mythos collection.

The Thing on the Doorstep, by H. P. Lovecraft - Of course, one of HPL's best, so marvelous.However, I counted and I have 6.23 zillion other copies in collections I already own.Reduplicate duplication doubled.

The Prodigies of Monkfield Cabot, by Michael Minnis - An interesting take on The Thing on the Doorstep, being a prequel rather than a sequel.It was good, although the plot twists and prose did not sparkle as much as the best stories in here.Nonetheless, not out of place, and better than many stories in Chaosium anthologies.I will certainly get all the collections Lindisfarne publishes of Mr. Minnis' work.

Seduced, by Ronald Shiflet - Brilliant.Just brilliant.Plot, prose, characterization, all superb.One of the very best Shub Niggurath stories I have ever read.Bravo, Mr. Shiflet.I will run, not walk, to buy his collections on this label.

Stacked Actors, by Peter A. Worthy - Now this story gave me a bit of heartburn.I am a fan of Stross and of Delta Green, so I like the subgenre, but this just didn't do it for me.Per the author summaries I know Mr. Worthy is living in Scotland, but I don't know where he is originally from.However, there was no reason to believe this as a story occurring in England.None of the idiom rang true for me; it all seemed very American.Furthermore, the story was way too in medias res.It seemed over half the story was filling us in on background, instead of giving us exposition of the current plot.It also had a very lifted-from-an RPG-scenario feel in a way the best Delta Green does not.Maybe there was too much risk of DG overlap if set in the US?At any rate, if we visit these characters again I hope the emphasis is on the current story, with more attention to plotting and characterization than to setting the stage.

Have You Found Him, by Jean Ann Donnel - A well-written fragment, but too short to really grab me.

The Violet Princess, by Stephen Mark Rainey - A wonderful story by Mr. Rainey, as we all expect.The prose just captured the isolation and frustrated longing of the protagonist beautifully.And I loved the ending.

What Sort of Man, by Walter C. DeBill, Jr. - Another excellent story in an excellent collection, about a man whose family trades with aliens from Carcosa to acquire unusual antiques for their business.Anything I write might give away the plot, so I'll just say I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The Obsession of Percival Cairstairs, by Charles Black - OK conventional mythos story, predictable but not unenjoyable.Commits the sin of the italicized ending trying to add punch where better prose would have helped more. Not a bad story, certainly would have found a place in a Chaosium anthology.

A Mate For the Mutilator, by Robert M. Price - Price's fiction doesn't really grab me.I liked the plot idea, but the characters were not well developed, and the prose didn't match the best in the anthology. OK, not bad, just not the best I have ever read.

To Cast Out Fear, C. J. Henderson - An OK Anton Zardak story - not my favorite subgenre, but written about the level of Lin Carter, so a plus for fans.

The Surrogate, by Kevin L. O'Brien - Well, I wished I liked it better.Mr. O'Brien knows how to compile an anthology but his writing does not move me.First of all the prose wasn't that great.For example, would any prostitute, even in the Mile High City, ever refer to herself as a doxy?The characters were bland and undeveloped, so it was hard to care what happened to them.I also could not for the life of me figure out why the mother or the prostitute liked her son at all.There was no patina of horror to shade the whole story as is usually required for good mythos fiction, and there was nothing stated or implied that would show if the creature was controlling their minds to make them do its bidding.The prostitute at least should have been utterly numb with fear.And, frankly, Jim Ambuehl would have had her get eaten in a respectable mythos story ending creepfest.

So, I had a highly favorable impression of Eldritch Blue.A handsome production packed with new stories, for the most part extremely well written, with the best soaring to the highest heights of mythos fiction.Any fan would be well advised to spend their hard earned Cthulhu bucks on it.

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Product Description
"Wes Craven presents 'Wishmaster,' written by Peter Atkins."The poster campaign for this Hollywood film credited the writer alonside the producer."Wishmaster" became America's most successful independent theatrical feature of 1997.So here is your chance to read the original screenplay and to let your own directorial imagination work on the script.

And alongside his imaginings for Hollywood, Peter Atkins writes short stories where genres overlap, and he sidesteps our expectations with a smile.In this collection he shows us: the strategies of a man for dealing with his fear of flying; how dangerous it may be to challenge the power of old fairy tales; the saturnine Doctor Arcadia at his work; and how a man may react to the shock of a new possession. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (7)

Good true stories of supernatural experiences
This book is such a great idea...ask well known authors of horror/supernatural fiction to share their own personal experiences with ghosts, precognition, EVP, and so on.All are interesting and worth reading, some are downright creepy and scary.I really enjoyed this book a lot, and would definitely recommend it.

Totally engrossing and entertaining! I
It's great to hear from Authors on REAL supernatural experiences they've had. I thougt this was an awesome book, a great find if you come across it!

The perfect gift
My nephew is an aspiring horror writer. This book, including segments by his favorite authors, was the perfect gift at this early stage of his writing career.

Thank you Stephen Jones!
I discovered a few authors in this wonderful collection and enjoyed these stories tremendously.I really enjoyed this collection o stories and I didn't expect to as much as I did.The book is worth its weight at least in sterling silver with about sixty tales - TRUE tales of the macabre and paranormal.

good book
this was a excelant book, but some of the stories were pretty unbelivable. ... Read more