The Best Horror Stories from the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction

by Anne Jordan (Editor)

This collection of twenty-four terrifying tales represents the most exceptional works of horror fiction to appear over the magazine's thirty-eight-year history.

• ix • Introduction (The Best Horror Stories from The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction) • (1988) essay by Anne Devereaux Jordan
• 3 • Window • (1980) shortstory by Bob Leman
• 19 • Insects in Amber • (1978) novella by Tom Reamy
• 64 • Free Dirt • (1955) shortstory by Charles Beaumont
• 73 • Rising Waters • (1987) shortstory by Patricia Ferrara
• 81 • The Night of the Tiger • (1978) shortstory by Stephen King
• 94 • Poor Little Warrior! • (1958) shortstory by Brian W. Aldiss
• 100 • Nina • (1977) shortstory by Robert Bloch
• 110 • Werewind • (1981) novelette by Michael Reaves [as by J. Michael Reaves ]
• 132 • Dress of White Silk • (1951) shortstory by Richard Matheson
• 137 • Gladys's Gregory • (1963) shortstory by John Anthony West
• 144 • By the River, Fontainebleau • (1986) shortstory by Stephen Gallagher
• 158 • Pride • [Oxrun] • (1982) shortstory by Charles L. Grant
• 171 • Longtooth • (1970) novelette by Edgar Pangborn
• 203 • Glory • (1986) shortstory by Ron Goulart
• 219 • Bug House • (1980) shortstory by Lisa Tuttle
• 237 • Hand in Glove • (1979) novelette by Robert Aickman
• 259 • Stillborn • (1982) novelette by Mike Conner
• 278 • Balgrummo's Hell • (1967) shortstory by Russell Kirk
• 294 • The Old Darkness • (1983) shortstory by Pamela Sargent
• 308 • The Night of White Bhairab • (1984) novelette by Lucius Shepard
• 339 • Salvage Rites • (1987) shortstory by Ian Watson
• 351 • Test • (1962) shortstory by Theodore L. Thomas
• 355 • The Little Black Train • [John the Balladeer] • (1954) shortstory by Manly Wade Wellman
• 370 • The Autopsy • (1980) novella by Michael Shea

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fantasy

403 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1988

About the author

Anne grew up in the Midlands, knowing that she wanted to “learn languages, travel a lot and write a book.” At university she studied German and Russian, spending time at Voronezh State University in the former Soviet Union and working in a German chocolate factory. After completing a postgraduate degree, Anne worked for ten years as a business researcher in various City jobs. This included work at a corporate investigations company where she was responsible for researching and writing reports on businessmen under investigation, whetting her appetite for biography writing.

When Anne saw the Boldini portrait of Lady Colin Campbell in the National Portrait Gallery in late 1994, she was as captivated as the visitors today and decided to do some digging. She soon found out that Lady Colin Campbell was her forerunner as an independent, professional woman, and that they had similar interests in travel, sport and the arts. After initial research at weekends and holidays, Anne decided to take time off work and transfer her investigative skills to telling the story of Lady Colin Campbell's life.

The quest for information took Anne to numerous libraries and archives around the UK and the world. She visited Scotland, Ireland, Italy and India, wandering through graveyards and ruins, castles and churches, and wading through hundreds of letters, books, official papers and dusty tomes.

Anne has become an expert on the life of this fascinating woman. She has written articles for The OScholars and NewsStead, and was invited to write the entry on Lady Colin Campbell for the Dictionary of Nineteenth-Century Journalism. She has given talks to local history societies and the Sohemian Society, advised on the portrayal of Lady Colin Campbell in dramatic productions, and assists academics, institutions and other interested parties with their enquiries about her.

When not chasing Lady Colin Campbell, Anne lives in Devon by the sea.

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a huge anthology of 24 shorter and longer stories, even with a Stephen King story inside. The quality was outstanding. Just between science fiction, fantasy and pure horror. The collection was published in the 80s and I would have liked the book back then the same as I did like reading it now. Every story starts with some words about the author and what the following story will be about. Exactly the way I like to delve into an intriguing tale. Excellent authors, outstanding stories of high quality and no misses inside. Well, the editor promised to introduce you to the best stories of his magazine. He kept his promise. Definitely the best horror anthology I read in a while. Highly recommended!

[Eloy Nogueira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Muy del montón. No me ha gustado. Lo que sí me ha sorprendido es encontrar el último relato, "La autopsia", que se adaptó en la antología de terror de Guillermo del Toro, El gabinete de las curiosidades".

[Mr. Derp · Rating 3 out of 5]

I purchased this book for the sole purpose of reading an obscure Stephen King short story called 'Night of the Tiger'.

Maybe I'll read the rest of it one day...

[rodolfo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Para el mejor relato fue Autopsia, libro entretenido, algunas historias con finales no muy elaborados

[Repix Pix · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.

[[on hiatus, probably forever] The rockabilly werewolf from Mars · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly interesting collection of horror fiction. I don't have any particular notes to make about the overall collection, so here are my story notes:

Window
An experiment goes wrong, causing the appearance of an entrance to an alternate universe. Quite neat.

Insects In Amber
Odd story about a haunted house, psychic powers, and aliens.

Free Dirt
Dark comedy about a man who tries to put the surplus soil from a cemetery to use.

Rising Water
A kid swims out to a half-submerged abandoned house. A fairly conventional ghost story enlivened by a memorable setting.

Night Of The Tiger
A teen-ager gets a job at a traveling circus, and notices something odd about the tigers. A rarely reprinted Stephen King story with a nicely Bradbury-esque atmosphere.

Poor Little Warrior
A time traveler has an encounter with a dinosaur.

Nina
A story about a man who meets a woman who is part snake.

Werewind
A windstorm of supernatural origin wreaks havoc on Los Angeles.

Dress Of White Silk
Similar to the author's story Born Of Man And Woman, this story is also written in a faux-childish voice; but this one concerns a playdate that goes horribly wrong.

Gladys's Gregory
Satirical story about a weight gain contest. This one hasn't aged very well.

By The River Fontainebleau
Weird, ultimately puzzling story about an artist and his model.

Pride
I am quite a fan of Charles L Grant and his "quiet horror" stories, and this one, about were-lions, is quite good and superbly atmospheric, as one would expect of his work.

Long tooth
A bigfoot story.

Glory
A story about a vampire actress. I have very little interest in the "old Hollywood" era (I basically only watch B-movies, which weren't exactly common in that era), so this didn't do too much for me.

Bug House
A woman goes to visit her dying aunt, who lives in an insect-infested house, and meets a creepy man who looks after her aunt. Quite atmospheric.

Hand In Glove
Two women visit a cemetery, where they find random objects that seem to appear out of nowhere; encounter some weird people who live nearby; witness something disturbing, yet never described, in an abandoned church; experience weird time distortions; and watch a man get trampled to death by cows. I thoroughly enjoyed this.

Stillborn
A family moves to a creepy town, were they are expected to perform a sinister ritual in an old mine.

Ballgrumo's Hell
A thief is hired to acquire a rare painting from a house with a bad reputation. Although not as mind-numbingly dull as the other two stories I have read by this author (it has a decent atmosphere and some mildly creepy imagery, and it doesn't have a protagonist who quotes poetry every other paragraph), this story still isn't really anything special.

The Old Darkness
A power outage leads to a town being menaced by a supernatural force.

[Bill Borre]

"Test" by Theodore L. Thomas - Robert fails his drivers license exam because in the future the exam includes a simulated head on collision under hypnosis and since he wants to get behind the wheel immediately after what he has experienced the administrators conclude that he has no problem killing people whatsoever.

"Nina" by Robert Bloch - Nolan has sex with a snake woman and then rejects her but when Nolan's wife and infant son join him in the jungle Nina gets revenge by devouring the infant.

[Marsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una buena recopilación de relatos contemporáneos de terror de autores bastante conocidos dentro del género.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Como siempre en estas recopilaciones de cuentos hay algunos que me gustan mas que otros, salvo uno que no me gustó nada, nada, los cuentos estan buenos... sobre todo el último "La autopsia".

[Ema · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5
De 22 relatos me gustaron como 5 de ellos o menos. La mayor parte no me gustaron porque no construían ningún tipo de tensión y quedaban aburridos.