Modern Magic: Tales of Fantasy and Horror

by W.H. Horner (Editor), David Seidman (Illustrator), Kelley Armstrong (Introduction)

Magic surrounds us. It is the stuff of creation. The Enlightenment did not kill it with science, nor did the Industrial Revolution extinguish its usefulness with mechanation. And whether mankind is aware of it or not, this timeless power continues to have a hand in the fate of mortals. There exists in this world, things that logic and reason cannot explain, and there are beings that have never been captured or catalogued. Elves may feel cramped in the big city, but they can get by. As the wild lands disappear, werewolves may have to be a bit more careful, but they still find time to hunt. And devils and demons still prey upon the souls of the wicked and the unwary. Come, explore this world of mystery, wonder, danger, and horror. You may find it to be not unlike the world in which you live. Modern Magic contains twenty-six short stories of fantasy and horror and thirty-five photo-illustrations.

Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Anthologies, Short Stories, Fiction, Urban Fantasy

280 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2005

About the author

W. H. Horner is publisher and editor-in-chief of Fantasist Enterprises, an independent publishing house specializing in fantasy and horror short fiction anthologies, novels, art, and music. His latest anthology is Blood & Devotion: Tales of Epic Fantasy. William is an adjunct faculty member with Seton Hill University’s MFA in Writing Popular Fiction program, and with Wilmington University’s English Department. He is also the founder and director of the First Writes, a writing group that meets in Wilmington, Delaware. For more information about William and his freelance editorial and design services, please visit www.whhorner.com, and to learn more about his projects with Fantasist Enterprises, please go to www.fantasistent.com.

Reviews

[Carolyn F. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have only read the story noted below but plan on reading the rest of this anthology.

The Woman Who Walked with Dogs by Mary Rosenblum. Your imaginary friends might not be imaginary? 3-1/2 stars I read this as party of the anthology Magic City: Recent Spells

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this up at GenCon from the Writers Symposium. This publisher put out anthologies and novels featuring several of the authors on the panels. The one I met with a story in here wrote the one on dancers. A good read, and gives me plenty of ideas for writing short fiction now.

Also finished the zombie story and the one by Elaine Cunningham. I am starting to gain a bit of energy for short fiction now. All three of these stories helped to fuel that.

There is also one story in there about a woman who makes an open-ended deal with a demon for her soul. It was a little predictable, but I still enjoyed it a lot.

[Ben · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked this up because a friend had a piece in it. The anthology was a collection of largely embarrassing works that through their varying degrees of mediocrity and suckitude rekindled my interest in writing. Seriously, how hard can it be?