This colossal collection of truly original horror and nonsupernatural suspense proves that the contemporary horror genre is alive and kicking--with enough talented heirs to keep it breathing for many years to come. Here the well-known masters of the macabre--Stephen King, Bentley Little, Ramsey Campbell--join up with those who deserve to be: P.D. Cacek, who chills us to the bone with her disturbing story, "The Grave"; and Michael Marshall Smith, author of a one-of-a-kind mathematical horror story, "The Book of Irrational Numbers." <p>Exceptionally different in style, the common denominator of these 29 never-before-published short stories is their ability to haunt and terrify. As editor Al Sarrantonio states in his introduction, "if it scares you, that's it." Worthy stand-outs in this massive fear factory are Joyce Carol Oates's quasi-gothic tale, "The Ruins of Contracoeur," the sorrowful tale of a family forced into exile because of the patriarch's fall from grace. "Not ten days following the upheaval of our lives, ... Father, disgraced and defeated, uprooted his family from the state capital to live in the ruin of Cross Hill, his grandfather's estate in the foothills of the Chautauqua Mountains." Despite its classic horror style, Oates's contribution is very much set in the contemporary world of computers and high technology, and for 13-year-old Graeme Matheson, losing access to the Internet is almost as disturbing as the faceless man who haunts him at night. </p><p>F. Paul Wilson (<i>The Barrens and Others</i>, <i>The Tomb</i>) contributes the book's most traditional vampire story, "Good Friday." Vampires have taken over Europe, and America seems about to suffer the same fate. The nuns of a New Jersey Catholic school quickly realize that no amount of holy water can save them from the undead.</p><p> Over 650 pages, a quarter of a million words, and enough adrenaline rushes to keep the average horror reader up for nights, <i>999</i> is dark decadence indeed . <i>--Naomi Gesinger</i><br /><br />CONTENTS<br />Amerikanski Dead At The Moscow Morgue by Kim Newman<br />The Ruins of Contracoeur by Joyce Carol Oates<br />The Owl and the Pussycat by Thomas M. Disch<br />The Road Virus Heads North by Stephen King<br />Keepsakes And Treasures: A Love Story by Neil Gaiman<br />Growing Things by T.E.D. Klein<br />Good Friday by F. Paul Wilson<br />Excerpts from the Records of The New Zodiac and the Diaries of Henry Watson Fairfax by Chet Williamson<br />An Exaltation of Termagants by Eric Van Lustbader<br />Itinerary by Tim Powers<br />Catfish Gal Blues by Nancy A. Collins<br />The Entertainment by Ramsey Campbell<br />ICU by Edward Lee<br />The Grave by P.D. Cacek<br />The Shadow, The Darkness by Thomas Ligotti<br />Knocking by Rick Hautala<br />Rio Grande Gothic by David Morrell<br />Des Saucisses, Sans Doute by Peter Schneider<br />Angie by Ed Gorman<br />The Ropy Thing by Al Sarrantonio<br />The Tree Is My Hat by Gene Wolf<br />Styx And Bones by Edward Bryant<br />Hemophage by Steven Spruill<br />The Book OF Irrational Numbers by Michael Marshall Smith<br />Mad Dog Summer by Joe R. Lansdale<br />The Theater by Bentley Little<br />Rehearsals by Thomas F. Monteleone<br />Darkness by Dennis L. McKiernan<br />Elsewhere by Willam Peter Blatty</p>