Horror Books

In South Boston, defense attorney Marie Blackburn and her police officer spouse Taylor rescue their kidnapped seven year old niece Shaney. Taylor kills the abductor. A few days later, Taylor informs Marie they must hide as the kidnapper's cronies are coming to execute Shaney and her twin Sarah because they can identify them as the robbers of an armored truck containing millions. He also insists that he cannot trust his peers in blue as some mole inside tipped the bad guys.

The extended family flees to isolated Birch Lake, Maine, but on the way two thugs try to kill Marie, her nieces, and their mom. They make it to the family home, but the thieves are coming because they need to silence the siblings whose special gifts of seeing have turned into a nightmare.

This is an exciting thriller with a twist of an ending that will astonish most readers, but thinking back over the plot, Richard Wymes left clues for the reader to see what is coming (this reviewer failed at the obvious). Though one of the crazies to assault Marie and company seems too unstable for the pros coming after the women, the rest of the cast is solid especially the fears that the four females exude. Fans of terse action-packed thrillers with females in trouble story line will appreciate SILVER EYES, a fabulous thriller.

Harriet Klausner

The gist of this thriller is well-presented elsewhere in this book site, so I won't repeat it. Crime thriller story-telling at its best! This story captivates you......... be prepared to live with this one till you finish it!

John Mansour
Rochester, NY

Marie Blackburn is a defense attorney and her husband Taylor is a police officer. This book starts with Marie and her husband chasing the kidnapper who has her sister, Angela and her niece. Taylor kills the kidnapper and rescues her sister and niece.

Now you would think this was the ending instead of the beginning, but it isn't. This is a fast paced thriller that has more twists and turns than a mountain highway. Marie's twin nieces have second sight and have been helping the police in a crime of hijacking, which lead to the kidnapping of one of them and her mother. The perpetrators have discovered this talent of the twins and are after them.

Marie takes her sister, Angela and the twins to a remote cabin in northern Maine, hoping they will be safe there. Marie doesn't know who to trust, Taylor has informed her there is a leak in the police department. In trying to keep her sister and nieces safe, Marie has put her own life in danger.

Also, a million dollars is missing. The bad guys are desperate to keep its hiding place a secret from the police and they have to get to the twins to shut them up. Toss in increasing tension between Marie and her husband and a very twisted plot, you have a mystery that will keep you turning the pages. This is a must read for the mystery reader that likes a fast pace and many twists and turns.

Little Shaney and Sarah were special twins. They could see whatever the other was seeing. Their talent made some bad guys edgy though. So someone was coming to kill the little girls. No one knew WHO was coming or WHEN, only that someone was coming!

Marie Blackburn needed someplace safe to hide her sister, Angela, and her little nieces from the killer. They head to the wilderness of northern Maine. The entire trip would be spent looking over their shoulders and outwitting their pursuer.

***** An astounding thriller with a surprise ending! I HAD to see what was going to happen next, so I was up far into the night turning pages. Not many readers will figure this story's twist out. Recommended! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch.

Little Shaney and Sarah were special twins. They could see whatever the other was seeing. Their talent made some bad guys edgy though. So someone was coming to kill the little girls. No one knew WHO was coming or WHEN, only that someone was coming!

Marie Blackburn needed someplace safe to hide her sister, Angela, and her little nieces from the killer. They head to the wilderness of northern Maine. The entire trip would be spent looking over their shoulders and outwitting their pursuer.

An astounding thriller with a surprise ending! I HAD to see what was going to happen next, so I was up far into the night turning pages. Not many readers will figure this story's twist out. Recommended!

Mr Bellush certainly has a gift to lure you into " his world " and then make sure you don't leave !!!!

I would recomend setting aside plenty of time when you start to read this work. The writers method of combining multiple characters and lines certainly will not allow you to put the book away until you have finished.

Wonderful work .... and I very much look forward to more of his work.

I especially enjoyed the complex interplay of the many vivid characters and the scenes and conflict the author set them in. In addition to being a great story, Slog affected me in a sensory way, i.e., the characters were so well developed and the scenery so intense, that I could almost see and smell them. I found the scene where the main characters are escaping in a paisley-painted balloon with the stowaboard babies hysterically funny.

Richard Bellush's superbly written science fiction novel Slog is set in the context of a post-cataclysmic Earth where increased solar activity has changed the face of planet, made Antarctica a lush and fertile place, sparked wars, spread hideous diseases and famines, and dramatically endangered the survival of the human race. America no longer exists as a cohesive nation, and soon Quebec will colonize its once-sovereign lands. A welcome addition to any personal or community library science fiction collection, Slog is a gripping and very highly recommended saga of the human struggle to endure the mounting tides of planetary change.

Since this is my first book review, I'll make it sweet and short,

I LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Couldn't put it down.

Thank-You Mr Bellush, When can we expect the next book!?????????

Hey, this almost makes up for them inflicting Bon Jovi on us.

Slog is a very entertaining story. Mr Belush creates a believable post appocalypse world, populated with real, three dimensional characters, good solid environmental science, and plenty of fun.

Slog features love, betrayal, drugs, automatic weapons, dirigibles, politics, courtroom drama and angry Komodo dragons.

Richard Belush fleshes out his characters well, exploring the many facets of each, their strengths, weaknesses, neuroses and motivations. Anything that happens is a direct result of the characters decisions, not the whim of fate. This is very refreshing in a new author.

The book is really three short stories, each of which is brilliant, bound together by a few common characters. The opnly fault I had with the work at all was that the stories are a little disconnected. They seem more like three novellas than a single book. Individually, each is a five star story.

I urge you to read this book. I am looking forward to his next book with great anticipation.

There is something strangely comforting about reading the bad review posted above, from Publisher's Weekly, and knowing that it refers to one of the greatest anthologies of horror literature published in the last fifty years. Just goes to show you that even the best writers in this genre are inevitably misunderstood: Here we have a man in the same league as Blackwood, M. R. James, Lovecraft or Poe--and he's still being dismissed in his own lifetime by TOTAL DUMMIES.

But Ligotti is certainly appreciated, at least by some. There is a published THOMAS LIGOTTI READER...despite the fact that almost all his books are out of print. His signed first editions are already priced like horror artifacts, and increasingly hard to come by.

Personally, if I had any signed first edition of Ligotti's, it would be SONGS. There is a tangible loneliness to the horror, an emotional dimension. The ending of ALICE'S LAST ADVENTURE, for instance, is simultaneously terrifying AND enormously sad. And a wry sense of humor is also present in this particular collection, though it's not remotely comforting--quite the opposite in fact. Something about the world of Ligotti's stories being so unforgivingly funny just makes it MORE threatening. Like his characters are caught up in a particularly cruel 'cosmic joke'.

Now it's also true that something about this first collection is more traditional than Ligotti's later work, and that turns off some of the die-hard Ligottians (who understandably prefer the lyric otherworldiness of his recent collections). But that also means SONGS is the best place to get introduced to this remarkable author.

Linguistically complex, structurally virtuosic and just plain brilliant. If you're thinking of reading SONGS, do it right now. You'll become a fan overnight, I promise.

This unarguable classic collection of stories appeared at the end of the 1980s. Horror fiction, or what publishers chose to market as horror fiction, was big business. However, there is a large variety of styles under this arbitrary umbrella ("Horror isn't a genre, it's an emotion", editor/author David Hartwell). Authors such as Stephen King and Dean Koontz had become best sellers with novels often using pulp-orientated elements (vampires, ghouls, werewolves, or assorted permutations) that invade our modern society. Others wrote popular horror novels with the villain(s) being psychotic or sociopathic, but an explainable (and real) element in our society. One of my favorite styles of horror, however, could best be described as "hallucinatory nightmare", which is rarer and probably more difficult to pull off. Ligotti succeeds time and time again with a rich lyrical style that is varied, multi-leveled, and often witty as well. There are the former mentioned types of tales here. There's a great vampire story, and you'll meet a few psychos, one for instance who loves flowers, but it's the stories of reality rotting away or perhaps take place entirely in an askew dream fantasy where Ligotti makes his mark. Stories like "Dr. Voke and Mr. Veech", or "the Greater Festival of Masks" take place in the landscape of a surreal nightmare. In one of his best stories, "Alice's Last Adventure", a twisted ode to Lewis Carroll, the narrator's reality may have literally turned inside out. Amongst all the vacuous abstract blather about literature and art, good fiction's ultimate goal, along with telling a good story, is to create the mental state in the reader of a "waking dream", as the late John Gardner accurately described it. A world is created in the reader's imagination and he or she, while reading, forgets it's merely words on paper. For myself, good horror fiction, for perhaps a number of reasons, has always produced the most vivid "waking dream" state, and the hallucinatory nightmare style best of all. Probably since the logic is often skewed or hidden as in actual dreams. "Notes On Horror: A Story", which unfortunately does not appear in his later comprehensive collection, "The Nightmare Factory" makes a great litmus test for whether you're a lover of "weird fiction". If you finish it and question what is this Ligotti guy's problem, this type of horror probably isn't for you. On the other hand, it may thrill, delight, and amuse you and you may after all, as Ligotti says, "find it all so easy".

Here's the biggest compliment I can pay Thomas Ligotti: he writes as though he were completely unaware of any other horror fiction written in his lifetime. There is not a major horror writer today whose work even vaguely resembles Ligotti's. I've heard him compared to Poe and Lovecraft but even these comparisons are misleading. His prose and imagery are far more akin to those of Bruno Schulz, the great Polish fantasist who wrote "Street of Crocodiles." These stories spill over with chilling images, irrational "plots," and a sense of dread that feels less like fiction than it does the kinds of horrible dreams we have while suffering a high fever. If you don't recognize that as high praise, you probably shouldn't read this book. But I love it.

"Songs of a Dead Dreamer" is his earliest collection, and perhaps because of this, I feel it still packs the biggest wallop. But if you like these stories, I recommend "Grimscribe" and "Noctuary."

A personal note: Years ago I had the chance to illustrate Ligotti's story "The Night School" for a small press publication. The editor sent me a copy of the manuscript, full of Ligotti's own notes and corrections. Reading the story in that form, feeling that much closer to the original process that brought the story into being, was an awesome experience. I felt compelled to examine the manuscript, as though somewhere amid its wandering margins and sloppy typing I might detect a sign, however cryptic, a clue as to how to tap into the same chilling dreamworld that Ligotti described so beautifully. It didn't work, of course. But "Night School" did inspire a pretty good illustration and reading Ligotti did provide one of the high points during my own dubious ventures into the realm of horror fiction.

Urban solitude, houses that are suggested to appear and disappear, empty voids laying hidden behind dark crumbled brick facades, streets with a mysterious accumulation of names seemingly coming from nowhere, doors hanging in their hinges but do not open that easily, pieces of clothing laying abandoned in the street, shadows rise and fall, voices in the distance calling your name, or do they?
These are the settings for the superb short story "The greater festival of masks" and believe me, this is just the beginning. From here on, from the moment lead character Noss walks in a shop that solely sells costumes and masks and falls asleep, it only gets worse, and more eerie, and untouchable. And at the end, you're not realy sure what you've just witnessed.
What happens exactly behind the deceitfull brick walls of the old houses and behind the wooden fence at the back of the shop? Why de some masks perfectly fit the customer's face while other hurt and slide of with every step you take. What cries out underneath the blank faces of the inhabitant who have no facial features or expressions what so ever?

Like the best poetry there is so much more than meets the eye. It's between the lines that the real things happen, but what is reallity and when do dreams and nightmares take over?
A lot has been said about "Songs of a dead dreamer", Thomas Ligotti's debut collection of short stories. The comparisons with Poe and Lovecraft seems endless, Kafka and Bruno Schulz are mentioned as well because of their nightmarishness and plotless compositions.
You could add the cinema of David Lynch and Roman Polanski if you like, even throw in the animated shorts of the twin brothers Timothy and Stephen Quay, especially their master creation "Streets of crocodiles" (and, why not, their solo feature film "Institute Benjamenta" as well.) And how about some hints at Jan Svankmajer's surreal work like "Faust", "Alice", and surely the suggested perversities of the absurd "Conspirators of pleasure".

And yet, with all these big names in a long line, if one author can be called original and being capable of standing completely on his own, it is Mr. Ligotti. One of the reasons why this is a justified statement is because Ligotti has a gift not many writers of the horror genre have: style. Ligotti's prose sings, cries, wanders, but never realy lingers off. Sentences can be long at time, but never tedious, their is a meaning in every word and an underlying motivation for each syllable. It's the horrifying stuff of heavey metal perfectly blend with the otherworldlyness of a choir chant and the bravoura of an opera.

You could call Ligotti's prose even autistic because it describes a world of its own in a language that stands on its own and seems to be introverted, no matter how many word-explosions and super nova's of illuminations and imagery it may contain. Its locked in itself, it is both lock and key, and the reader has but one choise, go along with the lyrical flow and enter the forbidden zone of Ligotti's unique language or stay out and leave.

Having said this, I would like to mention one more film to illustrate these last statements about this unique kind of literary autism, namely Andrei Tarkovski's "Stalker": a highly unique and eerie film, created by one of the worlds best cinematic stylists, and standing completely on his own, no other movie can be compared with it, and to make things even more interesting: "Stalker" is about a guide who takes two men, a writer and a scientist, into a mysterious "forbidden zone"; a dark, desolate place which dangers and clues consist mostly in the minds of the audience.
To me, it could have been made from the perfect Ligotti script.

In a way, this book could easily have been called "Movies of a dead dreamer" or "Dreams of a dead poet" or "In the twilight of dead films" or "A panorama of dead songs" and that just shows in how many ways you can look at Ligotti's craft. And that should tell you enough.

I could go on for much longer, there is so much to discover in this one volume. "Dr. Locrian's asylum" for instance, about the creepy, unimaginable history of an insane asylum where patients were kept for something other than a straight forward cure... Repelled citizens who have no other choise than to create a revolution against the building and the restless ghosts it keeps behind its windows. And the eventual downfall of the entire town as result.

I will say no more. You stop listening. Turn the pages before they crumble between your fingers. Be a blessed audience to these rare little songs. They will haunt you long after nightfall.... and thank all the Gods in the netherworlds for that.

I have to state right off the bat that most of the reason for giving this book 4 stars instead of 5 is that it suffers in comparison to some of Ligotti's other work, such as "Noctuary." "Songs of a Dead Dreamer" drags and wanders a little more. However, that should in no way discourage you from reading this book!

Ligotti writes horror. Not horror with lots of blood and gore; not the stereotypical fare of serial killers, vampires, werewolves, and witches. Even when he does touch on "standard" topics, they come to life in unusual and fundamentally odd ways. Ligotti writes a sort of text-poetry, a magic of words and images, shadows and light, madness and clarity, puppets and people. Ligotti's work mystifies and terrifies. He doesn't spell everything out. He leaves questions unanswered and oddities unexplained. But he does it well--I never feel as though I've been left missing anything.

Some of the pieces in this book are not entirely fiction. You'll find essays on the art of writing horror, but they'll send no less of a shiver down your spine than the stories themselves. There's even one piece that's an essay on writing horror and a story, both in one ("Notes on the Writing of Horror: A Story"). In this piece we follow the character of Nathan and the various versions of his life as might befit a horror story.

"By means of supernatural horror we may evade, momentarily, the horrific reprisals of affirmation."

Sometimes it can be difficult to tell what is essay and what is story, as Ligotti blurs the line beyond recognition. Ligotti speaks in analogy and metaphor, image and verse. Some may find this book slow, or too wordy. Ligotti is certainly not for everyone. But if you enjoy unusual, thrilling, subtle, lyrical, dark stories, then please give him a try. His is a voice worth hearing.

"And in darkness we open our eyes, briefly, and in darkness we close them."

I purchased this book because I read the Green Knowe stories to my children when they were small. This book combines history, magic and mystery all in one book.

Although I do believe this book to be essential to the entire Green Knowe collection I can't give it a full five stars. The story has great "bones" but not the same creativity as the other five books. There is also a bit too much lamenting about how things of progress, such as cars ("They droned like cockchafers as they approached, screaming as they went past him as a swift passes, and followed by roars and stinking fumes."), ruined the land and the forest. I kept feeling like more "knowing" conversations were going to take place between Roger and his grandmother and I found myself disappointed. So much potential, but a bit of a let down for me.

I'm a little concerned that the previous five books in the "Green Knowe" series all seem to be back in print whilst "The Stones of Green Knowe", the sixth and final book (an essential part of the collection) has apparently been neglected. If you are tracking down Lucy Boston's fantastic series of books, then don't stop at "A Stranger at Green Knowe" - there is one more book to be read, though it is obviously not as well-known as the others.

"The Stones of Green Knowe" completes Boston's series, and aptly takes us right back to the beginning of Green Knowe: to its original construction in 1120 A.D. The very first of the Green Knowe children is Roger, the grandson of a Norman Earl, who is excited beyond words at the building of a two-storied stone house, complete with windows. Roger's days are spent watching the flocks and exploring the construction site, with as much attention given to historical accuracy and detail as one would expect from Rosemary Sutcliffe. Like all the previous young protagonists, he is surrounded both by semi-mysterious characters sympathetic to his situation (such as the Viking Olaf Olafson, who gifts him with a magical knife, and another kindly grandmother reminiscent of the not-yet-born Grandmother Oldknow), and characters that make his life a little bit more difficult - such as a snobbish mother, not the first one to appear in Boston's books, leading me to believe that the author knew one personally.

Yet despite being surrounded by all this excitement, Roger becomes captivated by the talk of the workers, who mention among themselves two mysterious stones out on the hills: "Surely you've heard of them? Very old, they were. Two of them standing out alone on a grassy hill at twilight, it gave you the jumps to see them." Roger, along with his horse Viking and his dog Watchet, seek them out, and by clearing away some brush, discovers the King and Queen Stones: the source of the magic of Green Knowe.

From there the real adventures begin, as Roger discovers what later generations have yet to do: time travel back and forth to discover the other children of Green Knowe, and the fate of his beloved home. In true Lucy Boston style, there is added in little notes of Roger's discomfort at the environmental destruction of the forest, but it never overshadows what we are really interested in: his meetings with Toby, Alexander and Linnet, with Susan and Jacob, and with Tolly, all living in the same house at different times. Marvelling at the differences they all face, the reader is eventually rewarded with a beautiful scene of all the children gathered together under the beech tree...joined by yet another unexpected child, who gives Roger a special keepsake.

After six books in the series, I was very sad to see its end, as with all great literature, I had grown quite attacted to Green Knowe and its inhabitants. It was a touch of genius to have the final book take place at 'the beginning' as it were, as we finally can understand where St Christopher came from, how Green Knowe got its name, and how the time travelling was made possible in the first place: through the Stones, whose origins remain an eternal mystery. If there was one fault, it was that Ping, Ida and Oskar were completely absent - in the final book, surely it would have been the right time to bring ALL the children together, but it seems Boston wanted to keep only the children of Roger's bloodline in for simplicity's sake.

"The Stones of Green Knowe" is the perfect ending to a stunning series of somewhat unknown books, leaving us with the major theme of the books: the ongoing battle to protect that which is natural and beautiful. I found it extremely fitting that the book ended with one last enigma concerning the fate of the Stones, and what appears to be the end of the time-travelling, for the last sentence of this last book took my breath away in its sadness and potency.

Years after reading the other Green Knowe books, I found this in a school library. I think it ranks with the best earlier volumes (Children and Treasure, in my opinion) and deserves to be available for the general reader, not just the collector. The images of loss from medieval times to the present are almost too much to bear ...

Odd that some of these are out of print and some aren't, but any public library with a collection dating back to the sixties should have a copy.

Stones is indeed about Roger, son of the Norman lord who built Green Knowe, and the building of Green Knowe. Like all of the series, mysterious and imaginative and full of historical detail.

Like the best books of this type, the series creates a world of which the books merely touch the surface.

Highly recommended.

Pretty weird stuff, kinda like the Friday the 13th series on tv. The stories are creepy. It's got vampires, zombies, and evil spirits that posses kids. The art was pretty damn cool. I'm hoping there's a sequel or a tv show vesion. These two guys work really well together.

Excellent horror stories. I really got into the book. Felt like I could vist the city and meet the characters. I hope there's a volume two and a movie. Loved Abel Ramirez's artwork and comics. Everybody should be hearing about Cornelius Fortune soon.

Stories from Arlington is a great book. I read this book and thought it was excellent. The stories are wierd and scary. The pictures are great too. I really liked the comic book story about the zombie girl. I hope they make a movie from this book.

Stories from Arlington is just a great read. Cornelius Fortune's storytelling is clever and weird. It has sort of a Twilight Zone feel to it.This is the type of horror that keeps you begging for more. The illustrations are fantastic. Abel Ramirez did a wonderful job with the art. I just loved the stories that were drawn out like comic books. I sure hope there is a volume two coming out. I would just love to see a movie version of this book as well. This book should be read by horror and non-horror fans a like.

I never heard of this guy Cornelius Fortune but when I started reading it I couldnt put it down. It would be cool if they made a movie version out of this book. Fortune is a very talanted writer.

Robert MC

This book was almost the best of the series. nI mean you wouldn't expect a normal kid like Joel Cook to be the only one with the ability to talk to the chipekwe through the mask. You would expect either Rilo of one of the kids with powers to be the one to talk to the mystical creatures. I guess it is good that Joel came on the trip. I don't think the kids would have been able to survive without him.

I've read this book and I think that it is great.It's not as good as #4 but it's still good.

THIS BOOK IS JUST AS GOOD AS THE FIRST ONE!IT IS VERY SUSPENCEFUL AND EXCITING.I WAS SO INTO IT I READ IT IN 3 DAYS!I HAVE ALL FOUR BOOKS AND I HIGHLY RECOMEND THIS BOOK OR ANY OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES TO ANYBODY WHO LIKES ADVENTUROUS FICTION AND LIKES TO READ.I GARINTEE YOU WILL LIKE THIS BOOK!

This book in the series (Strange Forces) is one of the absolute best, so I reccomend it

This is the kind of book you can't put down.It has many charecters.Well its basicly a group of kids who can turn into monsters\myths\ legends.Anyone,no everyone should read this book.It's a suspence\thriller\ action\adventure put togethether in one.I've read it about 4 times.If only it had made it or got more publicity it'd be a top seller.You just have to read it.If you have the chance to buy it BUY IT!.You wont regret it.

This book is a real thriller. It's like a horror movie that fits in your hand. It keeps you on the edge of your seat. You can't seem to put it down. It's about a handsom murderer who is after the twins blood and won't stop until he gets it. He already got close to one of them but was delayed, but not stopped. He's not gonna rest until both of the twins are dead. Why is he after the twins? Does he get the twins? What does the twins do? Read the book and find out. You won't be disappointed!

This is the first Sweet Valley book that I have read and I thought it was just great! I read the 15 chapter book in 3 days. I really COULDN'T put it down. It always left me wanting to read more. I never really expected it to be as half as good as it really was. In the back of the book after the very last chapter I read that there's going to be a part 2 and I can't wait. "A Stranger in the House" was a really exciting book. I'm really looking forward to getting part 2 of the book. The name of part 2 is "Killer on Board", and I garantee I will be the first one to grab it as soon as it hits stores.

This book was a pretty good book. It kept me wanting to read more most of the time. But at times, it seemed to ramble on. But it was good book for readers who love being scared.

It was bound to happen-- one of Ned's cases coming back to haunt him. Made my skin crawl how close Marin was able to get to Jessica and Liz and how he worked a little psychological terror into his game. This book sets you on edge; I read it cover to cover without stopping.

What was the name of that movie in which a killer is out for revenge on ..ive got it ..hang on..Cape Fear!This is SUCH a copy and it is very scary!John Marin is out for blood,since Ned Wakefield,lawyer,put him away so many years ago. Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield are not safe,and youll be glued to the pages when Marin starnds them on a houseboat.

who would have thought that a nondescript little black book could hold so much? i picked this up at my local library and couldn't put it down. they are truly haunting stories that linger with you long after you close the book. it is obvious from reading many of the other reviews that this feeling is mutual. where have you been elizabeth? and why haven't i read any of your works before? please keep writing more while i catch up and read the others!!

A great summertime read!!
This combination of shorts is exactly what the beach requires, a little darkness in the sun for your mind to ponder. I've been reading Elizabeth's work for years and I'm always enthralled. Her writing is very accessible and her stories are only the beginning of her writing, the rest is what she leaves with you.

I have learned a lot about what drives me from Engstrom's stories, and I predict that should you choose to read this collection of uncommon fiction, you will be surprised at what you learn about yourself. Everyone gets what they deserve in Liz's fantasy world, centering around suspicions about everything from death to the unknown. I am amazed at how well Ms. Engstrom has defined the needs of a man verses the needs of a woman in her often arousing, and just as often humorous erotic tales surrounding suspicions about sex. In general, her stories will overstimulate your psyche and probe your intellect with their pushing the limits scenerios and psychological suspense. And you may be surprised by what suspiciously drives you in the end. This is a great read, not for the faint of heart.

I have been reading Elizabeth's work since coming across a story which affected me very much in the early 1990's, and have continued to be impressed by it. She writes a lot of different types of stories - horror, fantasy, erotica, sci-fi - you name it! The one thing that is consistant is the strong characterization and the emotional content in everything she writes. This collection is a great example of that. There were stories that disturbed, aroused, and most of all made me think. I am a somewhat questioning, sometimes cynical person and some of the issues she brings up in this book forced me to look at myself. I would recommend this to every fan of strong, intelligent fiction.

I came across this book purely by chance and, am I ever glad that I did, because I would have no idea where to look for such a book in a bookstore. The collection of stories encompasses every type of tale you can think of: horror, humor, science fiction, mystery, romance, and the list goes on.

Each story explores one of the author's suspicions about the way the universe really works and what motivates the people in it. It has been several days since I finished reading the book and I amazed by the number of different stories I can clearly remember from the book. So many of them brought up 'suspicions' that come back to me at unexpected times throughout the day.

I may not know exactly how to classify the subject of this book, but I do know that it well worth reading. The variety and superb writing talents of Ms. Engstrom guarantees that the suspicious raised by the stories will stick with you long after you finish.

Bernard Taylor is one of the horror genre's greatest authors and has never received the accolades for his talent that he should have, especially outside of England. His second novel, Sweetheart, Sweetheart, first published way back in 1977 capitalised on the momentum from his debut novel The Godsend and proved he was no one hit wonder. Although he hasn't published as large a volume of work as say Stephen King you can rest assured that when you pick up one of his novels it will always be good. His most terrifying novels in my opinion are the ones that don't involve the supernatural at all and instead show the world the true evil of humans and I recommend you don't leave the library, bookstore, Amazon or wherever you get your books from without reading his masterpiece Mother's Boys! If you want something that will make it hard to sleep at night, then that's the novel for you.

In the classic and ageless Sweetheart, Sweetheart, David returns to England after living in the USA to visit his twin brother and wife and check out their countryside cottage they've been raving about. To his shock and heartbreak he learns from his estranged father that his brother actually died in a car crash, his funeral's been and gone and that he has actually inherited his brother's cottage. Puzzled as to why his brother didn't leave the cottage to his wife Helen instead of him, David decides to visit the cottage and find out why. At the cottage he meets Jean Timmins who reluctantly tells him where he can find Helen, which is the cemetery. His brother and his brother's wife both died violent deaths outside the cottage within a week of each other and Jean and others in the nearby village seem reluctant to give him any details. David decides to stay on until he finds out exactly what happened. It seems someone who regularly visits the cottage will kill to have him around permanently anyway.

I'm well-read in the horror genre. This book and Peter Straub's Ghost Story are the only two that genuinely scared me. That is, made me hesitant to go to sleep so that I would not be visited by evil dreams. Sweetheart, Sweetheart is a splendid mystery and can be read on that level as well. The ending yet lingers in my mind. I need to read a comic novel. Perhaps this will ease my state of mind.

I first read this book in the summer of 1978. From the start I found it intriguing, and was so hooked by the story I read it in one afternoon! I've read it several times since then, and always smile when I see the 'clues' I outlined throughout the book.
I enjoyed the story so much that I wrote a letter to Mr. Taylor, sharing my enthusiasm for his book. He was kind enough to reply! Cool!

The BEST ghost story I've ever read!

I first became interested in this writer because of this book. "Sweetheart, Sweetheart" is on several Best Horror Novel lists-and rightfully so. This author excels at building suspense slowly; he's not a thrill-a-minute writer. But you'll still be unable to put his books down. He's also very good at characterization, which modern horror writers (except for Steven King)tend to ignore; he really makes you care for his protagonists, which makes his books poignant as well as scary. This book has several interesting twists that I didn't see coming. His "Godsend" is also excellent and a must read if you're a fan (like me) of the "evil child" trope.

'Tales of Pain & Wonder' is a collection of Caitlin Kiernan's earlier work (if one is allowed to speak of the late 1990's as 'late'). As such, it presents many of Kiernan's important themes as they appear for the first time. Characters surface for the first time as well, in particular Deacon Silvey who will show up again in two novels, 'Threshold' and 'Low Red Moon.' This makes the collection 'important' if you are a Kiernan aficionado, but all that aside, what really makes this collection important is that it is very, very good.

I have lately come to refer to Kiernan as the 'last of the great horror writers.' Partially as a lament for a genre that currently spends far too much time specializing in hot, romantic vampire novels, but also because she really is good enough that writers of her caliber are far and few between. Hers is a horror that leaks out of the spaces between things and pervades the atmosphere surrounding her characters, clinging to them like a faint scent of doubt and rot. Yet when its time finally comes, it is sure and brutal, sparing no unkindness.

Kiernan's characters exist on the fine edge of self-destructiveness, whether they come from wealth like the sisters Salammbo and Salmagundi, hypnotized by the beauty of death like Lark and Crispin, or, like Jimmy de Sade, have both feet firmly planted in terror so real it is an aesthetic experience. The confront things they cannot understand, or know far too well, living the kind of homeless or disconnected lives that make them lightning rods for real horror, not the candy-coated-sip-your-blood kind.

Kiernan admits in her forward that the book has two narratives, one is the accident of the order of writing, and the other is a natural order where the interconnections among the tales is more obvious. I chose to read in the latter order, which reveals the most about how the story arcs develop, rather than the former, which says more about Kiernan than her tales. Both, though, are legitimate approaches, and produce equally valid if different experiences.

The writer has a knack for creating symbols and only half filling them in. Eerie twins, cold presences, wounds that never heal, and barren landscapes come and go, but the reader is expected to do part of the work - to construct a narrative at least partially his own. Part of the horror is that it is my terror that lurks about, as well as Caitlin Kiernan's. Each of these stories is a opportunity to look in a place you desperately don't want to go, and to succumb to a nightmarish glamour. And above everything stands Jimmy de Sade, judge and jury in a gothic world.

This is top grade stuff. Kiernan's writing style is excellent - each word is carefully selected for its purpose, nothing is extra. Characters quickly step out of the shadows and assume an unexpected reality. This is what contemporary horror should be.

Caitlin R. Kiernan's magnificent first short fiction collection, TALES OF PAIN AND WONDER, is a dazzling triumph for dark fantasy. The author blends elements of horror and terror (the Gothic), noir, and hints of Lovecraftian sci-fi, for stories that are utterly unique in their scope and tone. Kiernan has established herself as the premiere stylist of dark fiction and nowhere does her talent and skill with words shine more brightly than in this accomplished collection. An informed and conscientious reader doesn't need the introduction by Douglas Winter or the afterword by Peter Straub to tell him that this book is something special. each page - indeed, each sentence - declares that fact. Many of the stories are linked by recurring characters and related events, and even the unconnected stories are related to the others in theme, so that TALES OF PAIN AND WONDER becomes almost a sort of pseudo-novel. With these stories, Kiernan explores the disintegration of society, faith, humanity, and, indeed, the fabric of the world itself, offering a lonely and disturbing view of the survivors. These stories frighten, strike awe, sadden, inspire wonder, and even offer slim bits of hope, but they never merely entertain. Scholars of fantastic fiction should take note: Caitlin R. Kiernan is one of the few important voices in genre today.

That said, the Meisha Merlin edition is a disappointment, a shoddy, unprofessional effort with one of the most garish and inappropriate covers I've seen in ages. The interior layout is slipshod, Richard Kirk's gorgeous interior illustrations are reproduced a bit to darkly, and the book is marred by errors that would have been eliminated from a more skillful printing. I encourage readers who can't afford the pricey Gauntlet hardback to pick up this edition - it's far better than nothing - but I regret that Kiernan's masterwork has been done such a disservice.

Truly, Caitlin Kiernan's hypnotic writing is at it's best in this collection of short stories. I have to say, I have enjoyed everything she's written, but this particular book is perhaps the best of the bunch. Her unusual take on plots works best in the short story format, at least in my opinion. And her prose is so tasty you'll practically want to eat it. She creates stunning, stark imagery, and Richard Kirk's illustrations are a wonderful complement. (More books should be illustrated!) The paperback sadly fell apart though, the cover peeled apart almost immediately.

If you've read this book, there's not much i can tell you that you don't already know. If you haven't then you damn well better be ordering everyone of her books. Caitlin Kiernan is an amazing author, with a large body of work that includes many editions of 'The Dreaming', three novels, two published, and a growing number of short stories. In this book, you'll be introduced to a Lovecraftian beast that also takes part in her second novel. As does Deacon, the troubled alchoholic psychic. You will also see Salmagundi and Salammbo, sisters born of a strange estate. Jimmy DeSade, who peddals dark wares to Kiernan's motley collection of amazing characters. You will witness Voodoo magic. You will be beaten bloody, and raised to the absolute heights of ecstasy. You will feel grief, reexperience childhood, and break free of all that's been binding you. Yes, it's that good. And after you read this one you can read Threshhold, and Silk, and In the Garden of Poisonous Flowers, and so much more. Then, of course you'll want to reread all of them. So you'd better get busy. Artistry of this caliber is rarely seen and needs to be coveted as a precious thing.

Caitlin R. Kiernan's Tales of Pain and Wonder is a superb volume, and is requisite reading for all afficianados of dark fiction. However, I was very disappointed in the quality of this edition and prefer the hardback. From the garish cover to a text fraught with printer's errors, the paperback does a disservice to Kiernan's exquisite prose.