Stalkers 19 Original Tales By the Masters of Terror

by Ed Gorman (Editor), Martin H. Greenberg (Editor), Dean Koontz

Darkness falls quickly when you're being stalked...but it is always dark when you are a stalker. In this compelling all-original anthology, twenty masters of suspense take you into the darkest depths of terror as they explore both sides of the human hunt. Stories from Dean Koontz, Robert R. McCammon, Ed Gorman, John Coyne, F. Paul Wilson, Rex Miller and more.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies, Mystery, Thriller, Collections

386 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Edward Joseph Gorman Jr. was a prolific American author and anthologist, widely recognized for his contributions to crime, mystery, western, and horror fiction. Born and raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Gorman spent much of his life in the Midwest, drawing on that experience to set many of his novels in small towns. After working over two decades in advertising, political speechwriting, and industrial filmmaking, he published his first novel, Rough Cut, in 1984 and soon transitioned to full-time writing. His fiction is often praised for its emotional depth, suspenseful storytelling, and nuanced characters. Gorman wrote under the pseudonyms Daniel Ransom and Robert David Chase, and contributed to publications such as Mystery Scene, Cemetery Dance, and Black Lizard. He co-founded Mystery Scene magazine and served as its editor and publisher until 2002, continuing his “Gormania” column thereafter. His works have been adapted for film and graphic novels, including The Poker Club and Cage of Night. In comics, he wrote for DC and Dark Horse. Diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2002, he continued writing despite his illness until his passing in 2016. Critics lauded him as one of the most original crime writers of his generation and a “poet of dark suspense.”

Reviews

[Olivia "So many books--so little time."" · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of novellas and short stories in which someone is being stalked. Most of the stories are very good.

[Karl]

This hardcover is copy 345 of 750 and is signed by all 19 contributors plus the illustrator, Paul Sonju.

[Olethros · Rating 3 out of 5]

-Valores de la época que reservan sus mejores trabajos para otros libros.-

Género. Relatos.

Lo que nos cuenta. El libro Acosados (publicación original: Stalkers, 1989), con el subtítulo Cazadores y víctimas, es una antología de relatos de horror (tres menos en la edición española que en la publicación original) centrados en esa temática, con Ed Gorman (también responsable del breve prólogo) y Martin H. Greenberg como antologistas, que nos ofrecen varias tramas noir policiales muy distintas, otras con la carretera como decorado pero en aproximaciones diferentes, ratas mutantes fugadas de laboratorios y psicópatas de varias clases, entre otros temas.

¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:

https://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com...

[Althea Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Day in the Life • F. Paul Wilson
Mother Tucker • James Kisner
The Hunt • Richard Laymon
Miss December • Rex Miller
Lizardman • Robert R. McCammon
A Matter of Principal [Quarry] • Max Allan Collins
Rivereños • Trish Janeshutz
Flight • John Coyne
Jezebel • J. N. Williamson
Stalker • Ed Gorman
Children of Cain • Al Sarrantonio
A Matter of Firing • John Maclay
The Sacred Fire [Newford] • Charles de Lint
What Chelsea Said • Michael Seidman
The Stalker of Souls • Edward D. Hoch
Getting the Job Done • Rick Hautala
Trapped • Dean R. Koontz
Pilots • Joe R. Lansdale & Dan Lowry
Darwinian Facts - Barry Malzberg

This anthology was all right - but no great stand-out gems here, I'm afraid.
I'd like to reiterate my opinion that Dean Koontz may be the most overrated author of all time, as said opinion has been strengthened by reading his "the rats of NIMH go EVIL!!!" story here....
Also have to mention that I think TWO stories about truckers getting killed off for revenge is one too many for one book...
The Rex Miller story is rather clever, but more a detective tale than horror.

[[on hiatus, probably forever] The rockabilly werewolf from Mars · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasn't terribly keen on this when I read it (I remember disliking the Koontz story in particular), but I might have been in the wrong frame of mind while reading it. In retrospect, it strikes me as being more of a crime anthology than a horror one, so I might re-read it taking that into consideration, as my dislike may have come from having gone into the book expecting it to be something that it's not (the fact that I was in my late teens - a point in time when was mostly, if not completely dismissive of any horror that didn't have supernatural elements - when I read it can't have helped).

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/10/2010 : Finished these stories last night.

Of all the stories in this book only ONE is by a woman--and it was the very last story. It freaked me out -- arachnophobe!

I enjoy reading Koontz at almost any time and "Trapped" was the entire reason for buying the book.

And re-reading de Lint's "Sacred Fire" was fun even though I of course have all his collections, which means I already have "Sacred Fire" in another book :-)

Trapped • (1989) • novella by Dean R. Koontz
Flight • (1989) • novelette by John Coyne
A Day in the Life • [Repairman Jack] • (1988) • novelette by F. Paul Wilson
Lizardman • (1989) • shortstory by Robert R. McCammon
Pilots • (1989) • shortstory by Joe R. Lansdale and Dan Lowry
Stalker • (1989) • shortstory by Ed Gorman
Getting the Job Done • (1989) • shortstory by Rick Hautala
Children of Cain • (1989) • shortstory by Al Sarrantonio
A Matter of Principal • (1989) • shortstory by Max Allan Collins
Miss December • [Jack Eichord] • (1989) • shortstory by Rex Miller
A Matter of Firing • (1989) • shortstory by John Maclay
♥"The Sacred Fire" by Charles de Lint 7/19/2015 (re-printed in Hedgework & Guessery and Dreams Underfoot/The Newford Stories)
The Stalker of Souls • [Simon Ark] • (1989) • shortstory by Edward D. Hoch
Darwinian Facts • (1990) • shortstory by Barry N. Malzberg
The Hunt • (1989) • shortstory by Richard Laymon
Mother Tucker • (1989) • shortstory by James Kisner
Jezebel • (1989) • shortstory by J. N. Williamson
What Chelsea Said • (1989) • shortstory by Michael Seidman
Rivereños by Trish Janeshutz

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like with any anthology, some bad stories bring the good stories down. Stories collected here that I would read again:
A Day in the Life by F. Paul Wilson
Pilots by Joe Lansdale and Dan Lowry
Trapped by Dean R. Koontz
Lizardman by Robert R. McCammon
Flight by John Coyne

There were other decent ones, but these 5 were my favorites and worth revisiting.

[Michael Tildsley · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with any short story collection, there are an assortment of tastes and quality of stories to be found in this collection. Overall, I did enjoy this gathering of horror and thriller stories and novellas.

Here are the ones I considered five-star worthy:

- "Flight" by John Coyne

- "A Day in the Life" by F. Paul Wilson

- "Lizardman" by Robert R. McCammon

- "The Sacred Fire" by Charles de Lint

- "The Stalker of Souls" Edward D. Hoch

- "The Hunt" by Richard Laymon

- "Mother Tucker" by James Kisner

- "Rivereños" by Trish Janeshutz

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent collection of shorts, and a novella with stalking as the central theme. Each writer has come up with a unique spin on the idea. While some stories are extremely well written, some are just okay. The draw here would be the Dean Koontz novella that opens things up, but seems to fall flat. Stalkers is great for a nostalgia read, but aside from that, there's not much here for a repeat reading. Most, if not all of these stories were released by the authors themselves and placed in their own short story collections.

[Daelith]

Again with another bad read for me. Started out just so-so. Was disappointed in the McCammon story.
I made it to page 219 before closing the cover for good. I can handle little boys squishing frogs and fish (though it is extremely gross). I can not handle it when the writer moved them up to puppies. As soon as I I read the line where the kid opened the box with the furry bundles in it, I was done.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far so good. As with any short fiction collection, it has it's ups and downs, but overall these are really good tales about stalkers in all their forms... the things that go bump in the night, hit men, etc. The stories are ranging from those set in our world to those set in somewhere that is slightly off. I'd definitely recommend. More later. -- Overall level of writing in most stories is quite high. Definitely recommend this one!

[Lew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice collection of stories of terror and mystery. All about either a stalker or stalkee. I liked almost all the stories. The only two bad stories were "Darwinian Facts" and "Jezebel." All these stories were written in the late 80s. As a sign of those times, two stories was about truckers and CBs were integral part of a trucker's life back then. The best story was "A Day in the Life" but that is mainly due to being a big Repairman Jack fan.

[L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Stalkers" is a great collection of short stories with a very sinister streak. While some tales are not as good as others, the book overall is definitely worth reading time. In fact, the story about disfigured Air Force cadets who hate truckers and the tale, "Mother Tucker", are worth the price of the book alone.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read this book twice now and really enjoy most of the stories it contains. For me it embodies a fun read, nothing to complex or convoluted. Overall I highly recommend giving this anthology a read.

[Sonny · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book of short stories 19 in all by some of the best horror/ mystery writers. I originally got this because it had a Repairman Jack short story by F. Paul Wilson, one of my favorite writers, that I wanted to read. I ended up reading almost all of the stories in the book. Some were better than others, hence the 3 stars. By the way, the Repairman Jack story was excellent.

[Jack Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haven't looked at this book in years. I remember some great stories though.

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only short story in this collection I really remember is the one by Dean Koontz. I couldn't eat ceral for weeks.

[Kristine · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best anthologies ever put together. It has some of the best stories by the best and most original horror writers of all time.

[Frankenoise · Rating 3 out of 5]

As usual for me, these types of compilations are a mixed bag. Most of the stories in here are either OK or complete duds. However, a couple I absolutely loved. Below are my ratings;
*Koontz: Trapped (5/10)
Reminded me of the novel 'Creature', published by John Saul around the same time, except with rats. Written well, but not that interesting.
*Coyne: Flight (6/10)
A man goes crazy after kidnapping his own son, or was he crazy all along?
*Wilson: A Day in the Life (4/10)
A gangster story from Wilson's 'Repairman Jack' crime series, of which I have zero interest in.
*McCammon: Lizardman (9/10)
McCammon is one of my favorite monster storytellers, and this short is a fantastic example of his writing. The Lizardman hunts for the "Old Pope" in the swamps, only to find something far more terrifying!
*Landsale/ Lowry: Pilots (8/10)
Truckers on an Interstate Highway fight for their lives as a bunch of disfigured men try to kill them off the road.
*Gorman: Stalker (7/10)
The editor of this collection writes a short tale about a man changing from victim to anti-hero, all for the justice his daughter never received.
*Hautala: Getting the Job Done (6/10)
A fairly predictable story from an author that's written much better. Two detectives, one named McCammon (lol), try to stop a serial killer... but one detective wants the job done his way.
*Sarrantonio: Children of Cain (7/10)
Pretty good short tale about possessed kids.
*Collins: A Matter of Principle (5/10)
Kidnapped victim gets rescued by a man with other motives.
*Miller: Miss December (6/10)
Detectives try to catch a serial killer, and to no surprise, it's someone they know. A short story from his Jack Eichord series.
*Maclay: A Matter of Firing (7/10)
The shortest story in this collection. It's fairly good and reads almost as a ghost story as well.
*de Lint: The Sacred Fire (8/10)
A women takes in a man down on his luck, yet he reveals that he's hunting things... freaks! She may have no choice but to believe him.
*Hoch: The Stalker of Souls (6/10)
Another detective genre story. Pace and ending are good. Just not my bag o' tea.
*Malzberg: Darwinian Facts (4/10)
A fat assassin aims to take out the President... for love. A very weak story, and I didn't like the first person aspect either.
*Laymon: The Hunt (4/10)
A woman gets hunted in the woods, but is she the prey of just one man? A very weak story. Laymon has written some good novels but this one seemed very rushed!
*Kisner: Mother Trucker (2/10)
A revenge on truckers story. Very juvenile!
*Williamson: Jezebel (8/10)
The town harlot is stalked by someone that is definitely not a fan of her lifestyle, and wants to take her "home".
*Seidman: What Chelsea Said (5/10)
A little girl has an idea on how to feed the homeless. Children say the darnest, or darkest, things.
*Janeshutz: Rivereños (8/10)
Being afraid of spiders this is one nasty tale!
Total Rating: 117/190 (6.15/10)

[Lisa M. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love the stalker movie genre, so I was really excited to read this. The introduction notes that the takes on this topic will be fresh. I think these went too far. Very few of these stories featured what I would consider stalking behavior. Does one human following another (or, in a few instances, animals or otherworldly beings) constitute stalking? Not for me. Stalking equates erotomania and obsession. A lot of these didn't even have intensive following.

Very few of these stories actually created any tension or horror for me. Layman's "The Hunt" came the closest, although it was a strong symbol of common plots in the book--many of these stories have twists just for the sake of twists. They're really cheap. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it got sort of one note here--especially because we get certain unique twists repeated throughout. Coyne's "Flight" was just a series of twists for the sake of it.

A lot of these stories weren't successful and felt really cheap. Is this what pulp used to be? If so, surprisingly, I'm not into it. There were definitely some good stories here, but there was such an edgy white boy energy overall it wasn't good.

Gorman's aptly named "Stalker" also came close to what I look for in the genre. I also loved Kisner's "Mother Tucker," which was much better than the other story in the collection about getting revenge on truckers (lol wut.) While not about a stalker, I did enjoy "The Stalker of Souls."

[jenni1st · Rating 3 out of 5]

**please note, this is less a review and more a reading journal; as such, it will be of no value to others. thanks for understanding.**

meh

so misnamed - what was it, 8 or 9 stories? not 19. and some were quite short and some were not scary, just gory.

seems like a partial attempt by most of the authors, narrators and editors. not sure why this books produced.

[Lucas Grant · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with any short story anthology, some writers styles just do not gel with me and when that happens I stop reading. Of the ones I read ( I only skipped 2) most were good and entertaining but only a few stuck with me. Enough good stories to recommend as a nice anthology

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

There’s 2 or 3 good stories in this, and the book should be called Cops, not Stalkers. I guess since a fair amount of cops may be sociopaths, they are also stalkers, but this book was really mostly about cops and PIs who get off on catching “bad guys.” 😴

[Kellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every short story collection is a mixed bag, and this one is no different. And since all but one of the stories was written by a man, a lot of them were either overtly sexist or at least featured a sexist main character. I won't judge too harshly, since this was the late eighties, and I can obviously recognize that a lot of these characters weren't meant to be good guys, but it's worth noting. The word "b*tch" starts to lose its impact when you use it six hundred times, y'know?

Standouts:
Trapped (Dean Koontz)
Children of Cain (Al Sarrantonio)
A Matter of Firing (John Maclay)
The Sacred Fire (Charles de Lint)
The Stalker of Souls (Edward D. Hoch)
Rivereños (Trish Janeshutz)

[Mark- · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of short stories with stalking as the theme. The first story by Dean Koontz is probably the best of the lot. But, a couple of others are worth your time.

[Bob Box · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read in 1999. Anthology of thrillers about stalkers.

[Vincent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like most collections, there are good stories and others to which I am indifferent. Nothing sticks out as exceptional, although the last story, Riverenos, is kind of cool.

[Jessie Drew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Where is the stalking?? I kept waiting for the stalking to begin and nope..nowhere to be found. There’s a legit sci-fi story in here but no stalkers.

[angelofmine1974 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The majority of the short stories are great. Both horror and noir type of stories.

For the rest of my review, visit my Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/FVEd-Iv3v4A

Enjoy!

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall: 3.5⭐️
Trapped: 3
Stalker: 3
The Stalker of Souls: 3.5
Rivernos: 3
The Sacred Fire: 3.5
Lizardman: 4
Pilots: 3.5
The Hunt: 4