Shudder Again [Hardcover]

Various (Author), Michele Slung (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1993

Twenty-two tales of terror and the macabre include J. G. Ballard's story of a doctor with a most bizarre bedside manner, Harlan Ellison's fable about the dark side of beauty, and works by Ray Bradbury, Ramsey Campbell, and others.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As she did in her previous anthology, I Shudder at Your Touch , Slung assembles stories that come together at the nexus of sex and horror. She has selected works from a diverse group of authors who use different means to portray the nightmarish side of such ordinary human emotions as jealousy, envy and unrequited love. Three of the best tales have never before been published. "Aphra," by Nancy Collins, wittily follows the evolution of the narrator's boyhood fascination with X-Ray Specs into a spooky adult fetish. David Kuehls's morbidly humorous "The First Time" depicts an aging bachelor of the not-far-distant future who finds unwelcome his co-workers' gift of an android to re-enact his first sexual experience. In the sober, affecting "On the Lake of Last Wishes," Claudia O'Keefe writes of a young woman with AIDS who finds sexual fulfillment only in the dream world at the edge of death. Rarely seen classics by Robert Aickman, Arthur Conan Doyle and T.H. White, blend with entries from such modern masters as Harlan Ellison and Ray Bradbury to give this collection a freewheeling variety that highlights the entertainment value of its volatile themes.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

This anthology is a follow-up to Slung's previous effort, I Shudder at Your Touch (1991). Both books offer a kinder, gentler version of psycho-sexual horror than the graphically described intercourse-with-an-exit-wound variety that pervades the market. The tales, featuring a host of familiar names, were originally published from the 1890s through the 1990s. In the former category is "The Parasite" (1894), in which Arthur Conan Doyle examines the then-trendy subject of hypnotism, effectively extrapolating the ultimate result of being able to control another person's will. In the middle of the time span (1955) falls Charles Beaumont's classic story "The Crooked Man," which is set in a world where hetero- and homosexuality are inverted in terms of social acceptance. There's also a crisp yarn by Ray Bradbury, "Heavy Set," that's atypical of his usual style. Except for a clunker here and there, this is an interesting assembly of low-key, nongraphic horror tales with some sensual or sexual theme. Some will find the stories tasteful, others tame. Elliott Swanson

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Roc Hardcover; First Edition edition (December 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451451856
• ISBN-13: 978-0451451859
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,217,664 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another delectable collection from Slung, December 19, 2004

By 

Schtinky "Schtinky" (California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: Shudder Again (Paperback)

After having tasted the delicious flavors that Slung first put together in "I Shudder At Your Touch", I found my mouth watering for more of the same. "Shudder Again" did not disappoint me. This time Slung has dug up some treats from the past, from such authors as Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Beaumont, Robert Aickman, T.H. White, and Mervyn Peake, combining their savory passions with such newer authors as Harlan Ellison, Robert Bloch, Ray Bradbury, Lisa Tuttle, Nancy A. Collins, Sarah Smith, and Claudia O'Keefe.

Beaumont's `The Crooked Man' I first read in my rare and treasured copy of the 1966 Playboy Book Of Sci-Fi And Fantasy, and its as juicy today as it was then. Sarah Smith's `When The Red Storm Comes' is a superb vampire tale of the old school, Elizabeth Jane Howard's `Mr. Wrong' is a slowly creeping horror over a young girl's first automobile, and Claudia O'Keefe's `On The Lake Of Last Wishes' takes us into the vivid dreams of a dying young girl, and the fantasy she finds there.

I enjoyed each tale in this collection, again with the exception of one I was lukewarm on, but the real treat is going to hit you straight out of the chute, with Nancy A. Collin's 'Aphra' being the first story in the book. It's a grisly and knobby adventure with a man's infatuation with skeletons. Superbly written and deviant enough to be delectable, I found it worth the price of the book alone.

Slung's second collection, like her first, only skirts the edges of both eroticism and gore, but includes such haunting, well written tales that the flavor of the stories leaves a stinging aftertaste in your mouth that is not unpleasant at all.

`Shudder Again' is a definite `Yes' to your collection of horror anthologies. Enjoy!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Startlingly Horrific Short Stories, March 30, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Shudder Again (Paperback)

This volume contains one of the most terrifying short stories I have ever read: Ramsey Campbell's "Again." I defy anyone to read this story and not have their night's sleep disturbed.

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Go Buy This Anthology, December 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Shudder Again (Hardcover)

Go buy this anthology. Stories are superb. You will not be disappointed. I've read it like a year back, but some of them (Ballard's, Ligotti's) haunt me still.