Dark Screams: Volume Two
by Robert R. McCammon; Richard Christian Matheson; Graham Masterton; Norman Prentiss; Shawntelle Madison
ed. Richard Chizmar, Brian James Freeman
Random House Publishing Group - Hydra
General Fiction (Adult)The Deep End • Robert R. McCammon
Glenn Calder lost his son Neil two weeks ago in the town's Olympic swimming pool. It didn't strike him immediately, but there was a strange mark on his neck, and the fact that someone has died in the pool several years running. And then fortuities and insights occur to him such that he plans to go after the creature himself.
Good story. It won the Stoker award.
Interval • by Norman Prentiss
The airline Michelle works for is undergoing bankruptcy. Meanwhile, flight 1137 is delayed. People keep inquiring, but t he status is blank. It merely says "announcement forthcoming." No one knows what it means, but they expect the worst. The delay lengthens... unnecessarily it seems between when something goes wrong and when they tell people about it. Something is lapping this all up.
Good if coy for a tad too long.
If These Walls Could Talk • by Shawntelle Madison
Eleanor has arrived at a three-story Victorian house to set up a shoot for America's Mysterious Hotspots. The plaster is crumbling in places, and in trying to clean it up they find a body that had been missing for years. They rush to call the cops. But people keep disappearing.
Nice title. Horrifying ending image worthy of something Poe might do. It could have better telegraphed, with more background. The reasoning does not yet resonate.
The Night Hider • Graham Masterton
Dawn wakes from a dream of sleigh bells to a burned man standing in her room. She manages to escape the first time, but will she again when he appears the next night?
This was my favorite. Some good stories here, but this one was really creepy.
Whatever • Richard Christian Matheson
A band named Whatever hit the music scene with a splash, hitting the world with lyrics with serious intent.
Matheson is one of my favorites--the voice and usually creepy stuff. Interesting but maybe I was looking for a certain kind of horror that this didn't strike me. Or maybe the horror that was here should have shown up earlier and traced what that might have meant.
A good collection, worthy of your delectation, assuming your delectation follows horror. Perhaps this bodes well for the rest of the series.
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