Synopses & Reviews
A ward-winning writer and editor Al Sarrantonio gathers together twenty-nine original stories from masters of the macabre. From dark fantasy and pure suspense to classic horror tales of vampires and zombies, 999 showcases the extraordinary scope of fantastical fright fiction. The stories in this anthology are a relentless tour de force of fear, which will haunt you, terrify you, and keep the adrenaline rushing all through the night.
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"A new benchmark of excellence." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
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"Proof positive that the horror genre is alive and well." Denver Post
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"Easily in the running for all-time best." San Antonio Express-News
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"Dazzling...a devilishly good deal." Boston Herald
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"Spine-tingling." People
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"A sure-fire, no-holds-barred, rock 'em-sock 'em shock to the system guaranteed to give the reader more than one sleepless night." Charleston Post & Courier
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"For horror fans, 999 is a romp in paradise." Associated Press
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"One of the best anthologies of horror and suspense of all time." Rocky Mountain News
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"Perhaps not quite the literary benchmark editor Sarrantonio hopes nor is its excellence as consistent as some annuals by female editors of erotic suspense and vampire tales but it will certainly be around for decades." Kirkus Reviews
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"Anyone unable to find something to raise the hair on the nape of their neck in 999 is likely in need of resuscitation paddles." SF Site
Synopsis
Winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Best Anthology
"One of the best anthologies of horror and suspense of all time."--Rocky Mountain News
From award-winning author and "master anthologist"* Al Sarrantonio, 999: Twenty-Nine Original Tales of Horror and Suspense is a specially curated collection of evocative fiction that probes the depth of human fears and frailties. From otherworldly entities stalking prey to psychological terrors borne of trauma, these stories exemplify the limitless possibilities inherent in the genre, revealing that darkness can be found anywhere the imagination dares to look for it.
Young siblings uncover a disturbing history of their scandalized family--and encounter a creature of twisted malevolence--when they find themselves in "The Ruins of Contracocur" by Joyce Carol Oates.A man regrets his impulse purchase of a yard sale painting when the image continually shapeshifts into more and more violent depictions of its subject in pursuit of its new owner in Stephen King's "The Road Virus Heads North."In Neil Gaiman's "Keepsakes and Treasures: A Love Story", an ancient people's legend haunts a wealthy and powerful man who pays the ultimate price to possess a happiness never meant to endure.Thomas Ligotti unleashes "The Shadow, The Darkness" on an unsuspecting commune of struggling artists who come to accept a damning realization of their misperceived identities and their true existence in the cosmos.And twenty-five more excursions over the course of 666 pages into horror's unrelenting shadows by:
William Peter Blatty * Edward Bryant * P. D. Cacek * Ramsey Campbell * Nancy A. Collins * Thomas M. Disch * Ed Gorman * Rick Hautala * T. E. D. Klein * Joe R. Lansdale * Edward Lee * Bentley Little * Eric Van Lustbader * Dennis L. McKiernan * Thomas F. Monteleone * David Morrell * Kim Newman * Tim Powers * Al Sarrantonio * Peter Schneider * Michael Marshall Smith * Steven Spruill * Chet Williamson * F. Paul Wilson * Gene Wolfe
*Booklist
About the Author
Al Sarrantonio's twenty-five books includes the horror novels Moonbane, House Haunted, Skeletons, and Totentanz, as well as the critically acclaimed science fiction trilogy Five Worlds. He has been an editor, reviewer, and columnist, and has been nominated for the Horror Writers Association's Bram Stoker Award and the Private Eye Writers of America's Shamus Award. His short stories have appeared in magazines such as Heavy Metal, Twilight Zone, and Realms of Fantasy, as well as in anthologies including The Year's Best Horror Stories, Great Ghost Stories, and The Best of Shadows. A collection of his best horror tales, Head Stories, has just been published.