Feelings of Fear

by Graham Masterton

The secretary seeking a cosmopolitan lifestyle in Europe's most sophisticated city; the architect whose secret life is about to become all too public; the delighted beneficiary of a superb all very different people trying to make the best of their ordinary lives. But all of them will turn out to have something in common when they are thrown in at the deep end in situations that will turn on its head everything they have ever taken for granted. When drowning in a puddle becomes a real danger; when an imaginary friend becomes a terrifying threat; when the gift of a lifetime turns out to have come from a formidable -- and less than friendly -- only then will the cast of characters in this deeply chilling collection of stories really begin to understand what the feeling of fear really means.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction

224 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2000

About the author

Graham Masterton was born in Edinburgh in 1946. His grandfather was Thomas Thorne Baker, the eminent scientist who invented DayGlo and was the first man to transmit news photographs by wireless. After training as a newspaper reporter, Graham went on to edit the new British men's magazine Mayfair, where he encouraged William Burroughs to develop a series of scientific and philosophical articles which eventually became Burroughs' novel The Wild Boys.

At the age of 24, Graham was appointed executive editor of both Penthouse and Penthouse Forum magazines. At this time he started to write a bestselling series of sex 'how-to' books including How To Drive Your Man Wild In Bed which has sold over 3 million copies worldwide. His latest, Wild Sex For New Lovers is published by Penguin Putnam in January, 2001. He is a regular contributor to Cosmopolitan, Men's Health, Woman, Woman's Own and other mass-market self-improvement magazines.

Graham Masterton's debut as a horror author began with The Manitou in 1976, a chilling tale of a Native American medicine man reborn in the present day to exact his revenge on the white man. It became an instant bestseller and was filmed with Tony Curtis, Susan Strasberg, Burgess Meredith, Michael Ansara, Stella Stevens and Ann Sothern.

Altogether Graham has written more than a hundred novels ranging from thrillers (The Sweetman Curve, Ikon) to disaster novels (Plague, Famine) to historical sagas (Rich and Maiden Voyage - both appeared in the New York Times bestseller list). He has published four collections of short stories, Fortnight of Fear, Flights of Fear, Faces of Fear and Feelings of Fear.

He has also written horror novels for children (House of Bones, Hair-Raiser) and has just finished the fifth volume in a very popular series for young adults, Rook, based on the adventures of an idiosyncratic remedial English teacher in a Los Angeles community college who has the facility to see ghosts.

Since then Graham has published more than 35 horror novels, including Charnel House, which was awarded a Special Edgar by Mystery Writers of America; Mirror, which was awarded a Silver Medal by West Coast Review of Books; and Family Portrait, an update of Oscar Wilde's tale, The Picture of Dorian Gray, which was the only non-French winner of the prestigious Prix Julia Verlanger in France.

He and his wife Wiescka live in a Gothic Victorian mansion high above the River Lee in Cork, Ireland.

Reviews

[Daryn Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yep, I'll read more Masterton books.
Really enjoyed his overall style and tone and he's got some great ideas in this short story collection which are generally effective, even if they might occasionally fall short of their potential.

Highlights:
Roadkill
Jack Be Quick
Picnic At Lac Du Sang
Balyhooly Boy
The Sympathy Society

[Alexander Draganov · Rating 3 out of 5]

Малко по-литературно го е раздавал, а не толкова бестселърски, колкото обичам аз. Реалното ми ревю е на линка:
https://citadelata.com/feelings-of-fear/

[Terrifying of Goats · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a surprisingly effective bunch of horror stories. They are well written, with no postmodern self awareness or any modern gimmicks: just convincing genre horror, in well structured, intelligently delivered packages. These aim primarily to entertain, with varying amounts of gore and very 80s porn, and they do it effectively.
Interestingly, there is also one story featuring a helpful ghost. When a young boy helps out a disgraced deceased uncle, his spirit return to help the boy.
This took me off guard: This is a very old story structure, but it is one that's been nearly forgotten in this modern era of physical, violent ghosts.
So amongst it's very modern satisfactions are some very old ones.

[Jason Greensides · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent collection of horror stories. I waited bloody years for this to become an ebook. Worth the wait. The 1 page short in here, Out of Her Depth, is one of my favourite short stories ever.