999: New Stories of Horror and Suspense - Hardcover

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.

F. Paul Wilson (The Barrens and Others, The Tomb) 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.

Over 650 pages, a quarter of a million words, and enough adrenaline rushes to keep the average horror reader up for nights, 999 is dark decadence indeed . --Naomi Gesinger

Al Sarrantonio is an acclaimed author, and the editor of anthologies such as 999: New Stories of Horror and Suspense and Flights: Extreme Visions of Fantasy. He lives in Newburgh, New York.