The 2nd spectral book of horror stories
19 TWISTED NEW NIGHTMARES, OOZING WITH THE SAP OF FEAR, COME BLINKING AND SQUEALING INTO THE WAKING WORLD!
“One of Ghedi’s friends had been hit by a dropped stanchion on an earlier raid, bursting his head open so that his brains had spattered out and ended up looking like worms on the deck, pink and crawling…”
LITTLE TRAVELLER by Simon Kurt Unsworth
“It was reaching out toward the glass door, toward Buck, with a hand or a paw that seemed to be tipped with thick, black claws like the talons of an eagle…”
WHERE THE FOREST ENDS by Sean Logan
“One of the big horses bounded in, a black silhouette against the pale sky, the rider rearing on its back, lugged spear held aloft. With a whoop, he flung it down. It struck with a thick squelching crunch, and the screaming stopped…”
HORN OF THE HUNTER by Simon Bestwick
The Spectral Book of Horror Stories
19 brand new tales to chill your blood and haunt your dreams!
“The figure crouched over his mother was… taking something from her, sliding some spidery thing that struggled and screamed soundlessly out of her side and into his leathery dark bag…”
THE NIGHT DOCTOR by Steve Rasnic Tem
“I saw her skin turn black and erupt in blisters and pustules as in one last mute appeal she stretched her hand towards me over the flames…”
THE BOOK AND THE RING by Reggie Oliver
“There wasn’t much of a struggle even when Tomas lashed him, limb by limb, to the stakes, although he had plenty to say to Tomas’s back as he walked away.
It was when Tomas reappeared, leading the shaggy, horned thing from the barn, that Mr Sunshine really started to squeal…”
CURES FOR A SICKENED WORLD by Brian Hodge
Cinema Futura
This time featuring a line-up of sixty genre luminaries, Cinema Futura is even bigger than its predecessor. And what a stellar line-up it is! We have the inimitable Joe Lansdale extolling the virtues of Invaders of Mars, top crime writer John Connolly waxing lyrical about The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, and author of The Prestige, Christopher Priest telling us why he loves La Jetée. With further contributions from such top genre names as Lucius Shepard, David J. Schow, Alastair Reynolds, Stephen Volk, Sarah Pinborough, Robert Shearman, Peter F. Hamilton, Steven Erikson and many more, Cinema Futura is set to become an essential addition to the bookshelves of every movie buff and science-fiction fan worldwide.
Cinema Macabre
Horror movies are big business. Ever since the first flickering images started appearing on that magical silver screen, people have enjoyed being scared. What is it that compels us to seek the kinds of experiences we wouldn't dream of wishing for in real life? Is it the visceral thrill, the physical kick to our system that we crave? Or are the reasons more deep-rooted? Are horror movies like waking dreams, sluicing out the clutter of our unconscious minds, purging our anxieties and fears by confronting us with them in a safe environment? Travel back along the memory-paths of any current practitioner of strange fiction, of any professional creator of bizarre imagery - be they artist, writer, movie-maker, perhaps a combination of two, or even all three - and you will find, embedded in those paths, glinting like gold, seminal moments from countless horror movies, nightmare images that shaped that particular individual's mind, influenced his or her life in positive, creative ways. In Cinema Macabre the editor, Mark Morris, asked fifty genre practitioners to elect their favourite horror movie and to wax lyrical about it. The choices are eclectic, enlightening, occasionally startling. Come with us as we delve into some of the most fertile, imaginative minds working in the genre today, as we examine what frightens those who in turn frighten us. Contributors include Neil Gaiman, China Mieville, Simon Pegg, Michael Marshall Smith, Brian Aldiss, Christopher Fowler, Kim Newman, Thomas Tessier, Tim Lebbon, Mark Chadbourn and Ramsey Campbell.