The Mammoth Book of Terror (Mammoth Books)
Terror fans surely will devour this ample collection from masters of the genre. Beginning with Clive Barker's novella "The Last Illusion," the tale of a magician's deal with the devil and its consequences, and ending with the unspeakably gory "Pig's Dinner" by Graham Masterton, the volume will surprise and horrify hardcore devotees and newcomers alike. The one exception may be Stephen Laws's "Junk," the story of a junk dealer who refuses to deliver the goods to an ungodly stet cap/pk Stranger. Alert readers will predict the conclusion almost from the start. Lisa Tuttle's "The Horse Lord" is a wonderful, traditional, spooky story with a supernatural theme that will keep readers guessing until the last paragraph. But terror's always better when the bad guys get what they deserve, as in "Out of Copyright," a piece by Ramsey Campbell that should scare writers into keeping their copyrights current. The science fiction field also is well represented by "The Late Shift," by Dennis Etchison, a tale that compels us to give cashiers a second glance. Jones is a British horror writer.Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.