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Thirteen Phantasms (13 Phantasms)

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The year is 1997, and Landers has just rented a house. Mrs Cummings, the widow who lived there, has moved into a retirement home 20 years after the death of her husband.
While exploring the attic, Landers discovers four large, neatly tied boxes maked 'ASTOUNDING'. Untying one he finds a collection of 'Astounding Science Fiction,' and begins reading with the first issue, dated 1947. The back cover advertises Clark Ashton Smith's 'Thirteen Phantasms' for a dollar 'within seven days, and one dollar monthly until six dollars has been paid.'
Landers mails a dollar to the address in the ad. Days later his books arrive. And so begins one man's journey.
James P. Blaylock is a contemporary fabulist. He can take the simplest of situations, the most everyman of characters, and weave a tale evoking an unmistakable sense of wonder. His are worlds to return to again and again.
This chapbook contains both the title story from 'Thirteen Phantasms' (Edgewood Press, 2000) and a 2005 introduction by the author.
'Landers wryly wondered what sort of things Mr. Cummings might have considered astounding. and, after a moment, he decided that the man had been fortunate to find enough of it in one lifetime to fill four good-sized boxes.'