The Museum of Horrors

by Robert Devereaux, William F. Nolan, Lisa Morton, et al.

Book Overview

good reading copy, but there is a noticeable cover crease This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0843949287
• ISBN13: 9780843949285
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: Leisure Books
• Length: 374 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Star-studded collection of great authors!

Straight from HWA comes such horror-writing masters as Richard Laymon, Peter Straub, Joyce Carol Oates, Tom Piccirilli, Conrad Williams, and Lisa Morton. Eighteen masterful tales of horror by the very best. Plus, there's a brief introduction and afterward by editor Dennis Etchison, and the stories are followed by the contributing author's biographies and a description of what HWA is and what they do. Table Of Contents: · The Museum Of Dr. Moses by Joyce Carol Oates · Worse Than Bones by Ramsey Campbell · King Of Outer Space by Peter Atkins · Piano Bar Blues by Melanie Tem · Those Vanished I Recognize by Tom Piccirilli · Inland, Shoreline by Darren O. Godfrey · The Window by Joel Lane · Author, Author by Gordon Linzner · Hammerhead by Richard Laymon · Imbroglio by Conrad Williams · Transorbital Love Probe by Th. Metzger · The Impressionists In Winter by Susan Fry · Whose Ghosts Are These by Charles L. Grant · Perdido: A Fragment From A Work In Progress by Peter Straub · In Real Life by William F. Nolan · Pound Rots In Fragrant Harbour by Lisa Morton · Apologia by Robert Devereaux · The Bird Catcher by S.P. Somtow My favorites would be 'The Museum Of Dr. Moses', a tale of an eccentric and gruesome elderly coroner and his vision of fame; kitty-cat tale 'Author, Author' by Gordon Linzner; the psychotic and horrific meltdown of 'Hammerhead' by Richard Laymon; Conrad Williams ethereal prose in 'Imbroglio'; and the languid, ghostly horror of 'The Impressionists In Winter' by Susan Fry. If you're a fan of the horror anthology like I am, you won't want to miss out on this tasty treat. There's enough shivers inside 'The Museum Of Horrors' to keep you up at night, quivering in your armchair with the three-way lamp on high. Enjoy!

The best anthology of dark stories I've read in years!

I was pleased to see that this book has recently won a World Fantasy Award for best anthology. In addition, one of my favorite stories in the volume, S.P. Somtow's weirdly atmospheric "The Bird Catcher," won a World Fantasy Award for best short story. All I can say is, The Museum of Horrors deserves these kudos and more. This anthology is nothing short of fabulous. I couldn't put it down. Every story in the book is a spine-tingling marvel. I've been reading horror most of my life, and it's been a long, long time since I've picked up an anthology that's a match for this one. Whatever you do, don't read it with the lights off!

Treasures from the Masters of Darkness

The Museum of Horrors contains a treasure trove of great offerings from some of the best horror writers today. Eighteen original stories from writers like Peter Straub, Joyce Carol Oates, Ramsey Campbell, Tom Piccirilli and others make this a superb collection."Hammerhead" by the late Richard Layman, who was President of the Horror Writer's Association, is a dark comedy that gets inside the head of a serial killer, a very disturbing place to be.Tom Piccirilli's "Those Vanished I Recognize" is about a man on a journey to nowhere, and Hammond, in Ramsey Campbell's "Worse than Bones," has a thing about old books -- or is it the other way around?Perhaps my favorite of these dark gems, is "Whose Ghosts These Are" by veteran author Charles L. Grant, which captures the mood of the collection perfectly. We are led down a dark street in search of a mysterous murderer who is little more than a ghost. Who is he and what are his motives? At last we find a clue -- in a room marked by a single door in a narrow run down building, unremarkable in appearance, but oh, the dark treasures it contains. And the ghost? Yes, he is here -- in a dusty case that fits us so well, and we feel -- well, almost as if this is where we belong. And if you love great horror fiction, this is indeed a treasure. Edited by Dennis Etchison and with information about the history, purpose and membership qualifications of the Horror Writers Association, a national organization for professionals in the horror genre and writers aspiring to become professionals, this anthology is one of the best the HWA has published. Highly recommended.

Well-Rounded Collection

"Museum of Horrors" is a very well-rounded collection of new horror stories. The tone ranges from quiet horror of Melanie Tem's "Piano Bar Blues" to the blunt force trauma (literally) of Richard Laymon's "Hammerhead". Old masters are well represented with a ghost story from Ramsey Campbell, a compelling sneak peak at a new novel by Peter Straub, and an enigmatic piece by Charles L. Grant. My favorite story must be "Transorbital Love Probe" by Th. Metzger, which is very David Lynch-esque and quite horrifying when you discover the meaning of the title.