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Good. Shelf and handling wear to cover and binding, with general signs of previous use. Wear on the covers. Text is clear of markings and notations. Secure packaging for safe delivery.
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Cover and binding are worn but intact. A reading copy in fair condition. Wear commensurate with age and use. Clean unmarked copy. Stickers along back cover. Secure packaging for safe delivery.
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Seller's Description:
Good. Shelf and handling wear to cover and binding, with general signs of previous use. Wear commensurate with age and use. Clean unmarked copy. Creasing visible along full length of spine. Secure packaging for safe delivery.
One of the best collections of short horror stories ever!! If you like H.P. Lovecraft stories or other weird stories, you will love this. It's really like 4 novellas instead of short stories. The quality definitely makes up for the quantity. Very subtle and creepy stuff. Any respectable horror fan should have this in their collection. Events at Poroth Farm and Nadelman's God are two of the best short stories I've read in years.
klarkash
Jul 14, 2009
Landmark of mainstream 80s horror
T.E.D. Klein's only widely available collection of short fiction is a great read, justly included in many lists of great horror books because of the tight and thoughtful constructions which support his philosophical digressions and truly nasty scares. His approach is refreshingly polyphonic- rather than sequestering readers in a claustrophobic cocoon of dread, his tales weave strands of deft, telling characterization with fiendishly modulated details and occasional flashes of cosmic peril to conjure atmosphere around the solid, original horror plots.
The four long stories here are arranged in rough ascending order of effectiveness, from the cinematic, but fairly pat, urban horror of "Children of the Kingdom" to the sad, disturbing, but oddly exhilarating "Nadelman's God". Each novella packs its own varied punch, but they all share elements- New York settings and states of mind; recognizable, almost "mainstream" characterization and dialogue; and a satisfying weird-fictional depth of reference. Klein is a Lovecraft scholar and was editor of the fiction-heavy Twilight Zone Magazine of the early 80s, and this background lets him combine the dark heft of Lovecraft's uncompromising cosmic vision of doom with a readability and storytelling quality sadly rare in innumerable slavish imitators of The Old Gent.
"Petey", set in a Connecticut country house of dark provenance during the new owner's housewarming, shows off a mastery of suggestion, slowly building menace, and inevitability in a deeper but still darkly delightful EC-like yarn of just desserts served cold. "Black Man With a Horn" is an astounding performance melding hardcore Lovecraft referentiality with an effective and sometimes touching piece of scary horror fiction, which flags only slightly toward the conclusion.
Klein consistently gets to the point in a way that King, Straub, Ramsey Campbell and Clive Barker, great as they are, do only in patches. His small output is to be regretted but the high standard set should guarantee him a spot in the history of his beloved and misunderstood discipline.
