Caitlín R. Kiernan Bücher

For use in schools and libraries only. Vampires, ghosts, witches, and haunted houses are featured in this diverse compilation of frightening tales for young readers by various authors, including Joan Aiken, Barry Yourgrau, Neil Gaiman, and Garth Nix.

The artistry of Dave McKean has influenced popular culture for over thirty years, with his bizarre and beautiful images appearing in various media. In this unique collection, ten contemporary storytellers, including McKean, present narratives inspired by his extraordinary paintings, creating a collaborative effort where words and images enhance each other. The anthology opens with Alastair Reynolds’s “Belladonna Nights,” a poignant tale of a long reunion in space. Other stories feature doppelgangers, lost souls, and lucid dreamers. Highlights include Joe R. Lansdale’s “Robo Rapid,” a cautionary tale about Man vs. Machine; M. John Harrison’s “Yummie,” depicting a man's hallucinatory experience after a heart attack; and Joe Hill’s “All I Care About Is You,” exploring a fleeting friendship. Catherynne M. Valente’s “No One Dies in Nowhere” delves into death and detection in the afterlife, while Maria Dahvana Headley’s “The Orange Tree” tells of an 11th-century golem and loneliness. Neil Gaiman contributes “Monkey and the Lady,” an ironic creation myth, along with “Train of Death,” a commentary on the demise of literature. This anthology offers something for everyone, with its seamless blend of words and images resulting in a significant tribute to a vital artist. The book features over two dozen illustrations by McKean and is printed in two colors throughout.

From the author of the acclaimed novel Threshold-this is the fiction debut that won the International Horror Guild Award for Best First Novel. Despite its title, there's nothing smooth or sexy about this skin-crawling debut from Kiernan, an author with one helluvan imagination and a startling lack of inhibition. At the center of this modern gothic horror story is Spyder Baxter, a deeply troubled young woman haunted by terrifying memories of childhood and her insane, abusive father. But his transgressions were so heinous that the demons aren't just in her head anymore; they've taken on a life of their own and are taking over Spyder's house, crawling out of the basement and into everything and everyone she cares about. Caught in Spyder's web of bad karma are a motley crew of disenfranchised Gen Xers all living on the edge and trying to heal various psychic wounds of their own. They've each got plenty of reasons to be hallucinating, and the author does a good job of blurring the lines between their bad acid trips and spectral sightings. But reading Kiernan is rather like deciphering entrails, filled with the violence of raw, edgy words: "The angry screech of denied retribution, raging shadows and nightshade teeth." Her rambling metaphors ("Dull smack of her shoulder against the wall, again and again, meat-thud tattoo") hint at inexperience, but her naked energy will appeal to grungers weaned on The Hunger