Masques IV: All-New Works of Horror and the Supernatural [Hardcover]

J. N. Williamson (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The veteran horror editor and novelist ( Shadows of Death ) here assembles two poems and 24 short stories, 23 written specifically for this volume. The exception is Steve Allen's 1956 classic "The Secret," in which a man chronicles his out-of-body experience during his first death. (He is not so lucky the second time around.) The dead--human and animal--wreak havoc on the living throughout the collection. "The Pack" by Chet Williamson allows a group of dogs to narrate the tale of their return to life to feed on the humans who killed them. In Graham Masterson's "The Heart of Helen Day," a salesman stranded in a hotel room discovers that an apparently live radio show is broadcasting a 50-year-old murder. Humor adds to the horror of such offerings as "Animal Husbandry," Bruce Boston's tale of a woman eager to have children who wreaks revenge when her husband has a vasectomy and tells her to get a pet instead. These polished stories elicit shivers and give pause for reflection. Among the contributors are F. Paul Wilson, Kristin Kathryn Rusch, Ed Gorman and James Kisner.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Ordinary and extraordinary themes acquire horrific twists in this collection of 23 stories and two poems which includes works by veterans of horror like Graham Masterton ("The Heart of Helen Day") and John Coyne ("Obscene Phone Calls") and newcomers like David T. Connolly ("Julia's Touch") and Cameron Nolan ("The Children Never Lie"). Explicit sex and gore seem to be the rule rather than the exception, however, so libraries will want to carefully consider their patrons' tastes before purchasing this otherwise top-notch volume of dark fiction.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 246 pages
• Publisher: Maclay & Assoc; First Edition edition (November 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 094077626X
• ISBN-13: 978-0940776265
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,477,899 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars John T. Connolly: savior or fluke?, June 12, 2000

By 

Robert P. Beveridge "xterminal" (Lakewood, OH) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Masques IV: All-New Works of Horror and the Supernatural (Hardcover)

There's something about horror stories. Everyone has one good one in them, but with the exception of a handful of writers (Ellison, Kathe Koja, a few others) whose work is consistently well above the bar, you're more likely to come up with a writer whose work is usually medicore, but who every once in a while lets fly with something so wonderful that the whole world needs to know about it. And thus the continuing popularity of the horror story anthology; the quest to try and find all these truly great stories from any given time period and collect them all into one large volume.

I'm sure you all have short lists of the truly great stories from otherwise mediocre short story writers, at least as long as you've read enough horror to know them. King's "Survivor Type." Barker's "In the Hills, the Cities." Morrell's "Orange for Anguish, Blue for Insanity." The king of all horror stories, Richard Christian Matheson's stunning "Red." Masques IV, while full of stories that are average or slightly above average at best, manages to add a new story, and a new author, to the hallowed canon. His name is David T. Connolly, "Julia's Touch" is his first published short story, and if he's got a drawer full of this kind of stuff at home he's destined for the kind of greatness that Stephen King and John Grisham can only dream about. Interestingly, while trying to write this review last week (this mailing has been held up by my inability to find this info on the web), I went looking for every review of Masques IV I could, and the vast majority focus on the medicority of the stories by the more established authors. Go figure.

Yes, certainly, there's some other good stuff here, most of it from the usual above-the-bar suspects (Chet Williamson, Lois Tilton, Dan Simmons), but it's the Connolly story that makes this worth the price of admission, no matter what that price is. Beg, borrow, or steal a copy of this anthology to get at that story, for you will walk away from its few, sparse, painful words a changed person. As for the rest, well, like any other anthology, you win some, you lose some. ***