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Fortnight of Fear

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A collection of 14 horror stories from the author of Mirror, Black Angel and Prey.

320 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1994

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About the author

Graham Masterton

424 books1,993 followers
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.

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5 stars
39 (29%)
4 stars
48 (36%)
3 stars
35 (26%)
2 stars
9 (6%)
1 star
2 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
Profile Image for Rodrigo Tello.
344 reviews25 followers
June 16, 2025
Just like "Flights of fear", this one, "Fortnight", the first horror collection by Masterton, gives us some of the best pulpy tales of the nineties. Again he takes us on a world trip, from his homeland in Scotland, in a bloody vampire story, or to Yorkshire, England, in a sort of kid's cautionary monster tale. But the bulk of stories are set in the US, and so, we'll reach Las Vegas to know about the destiny of a guy who found some kind of horrid gambling god, in a very "Twilight zone-sque" mood. There are also encounters with the supernatural in the south pole, and in New York, the city of sin... also in Amsterdam, where unbelievable events take place, and lots of people die in horrible ways. And of course, we got "Pig's dinner" and "Eric the pie," two splatterpunk pieces that are well worth the read.

I consider this collection now a true horror classic.
Profile Image for Ponura Krowa.
23 reviews
November 30, 2025
Lubię Mastertona, jak dotąd czytałem tylko jego książki, czasem lepsze, czasem gorsze. I tak samo jest z tymi opowiadaniami. Duża część obliczona na niezły efekt, ale ostatecznie bez niego. Z czternastu opowiadań trzy są naprawę dobre:

1) "Odmieniec"
niepokojąca gra z figurą Innego, napięcie budowane po mistrzowsku na zagrożeniu poczucia tożsamości i pytaniu 'kim i właściwie dlaczego jestem?'

2) "Danie dla świni"
obrzydliwie cielesne, szelmowskie, pobrzmiewające demonicznymi echami

3) "Eric Pasztet"
obleśne, moralnie wątpliwe i dlatego degeneracyjne podniecające. lepiej się nie przyznawać
Profile Image for Tomek Fijałkowski.
154 reviews6 followers
December 30, 2023
Przykazania w oparciu o zbiór opowiadań mistrza grozy, perwersji i co tam chcecie.

1) Nie zdradzaj żony, bo zamienisz się w kobietę.

2) Nie drażnij świń.

3) Nie żeń się z wdową po swoim martwym bracie.

4) Nie maluj krwią portretów szkockich arystokratów.

5) Uważnie dobieraj dostawców materiałów budowlanych.

6) Gdy Twoje dziecko zacznie jeść gąsienice, może już być za późno.

7) Nie przyjmuj prezentów od nieznajomych. A zwłaszcza antycznych wibratorów.

8) Nie zaglądaj do szaf w obcych mieszkaniach.

9) Nie zostawiaj samej żony, która przejadła się serem pleśniowym.

Starając się być nieco bardziej serio, napiszę, że tom opowiadań Mastertona przyjął niecodzienną, aczkolwiek jak się okaże, niezwykle charakterystyczną dla twórców horrorów strukturę. Otóż Autor zdradza nam poniekąd tajniki swego warsztatu i każdy tekst poprzedza opisem miejsca, w którym fizycznie był i które jego (momentami) chora wyobraźnia dostosowała do potrzeb makabrycznego widowiska. Widzę więc Mastertona, jak spaceruje po ruchliwym bulwarze lub wpatruje się w zachód słońca nad morzem, a jego mózg drążą upiorne wizje.

W sumie można tylko współczuć - urokliwe zapewne miasteczka, ciche plaże lub tętniące życiem metropolie zaludniają istoty przerażające. Gdzie byśmy nie wyjechali na wakacje, widzimy ściany płaczące krwią lub słyszymy potępieńcze jęki.

Tak pewnie działa wyobraźnia twórców literatury popularnej - jeśli Agatha Christie przypatrywała się ludziom i wyobraźnia kazała jej szukać zbrodni popełnionej wśród dżentelmenów i ich dystyngowanych żon, to w przypadku Mastertona wyobraźnia zamienia ludzi w kanibali a stare szafy w siedziby demonów...
Profile Image for Ninjakicalka.
170 reviews17 followers
October 23, 2021
14 opowiadań po mniej więcej 20 stron.

Jedne wciągające, drugie mniej. Wśród nich hardcorowe, obrzydliwe, krwawe, kontrowersyjne, zagadkowe, klimatyczne i wszystkie kreatywne.

Masterton zdecydowanie dla wybranych.
Profile Image for Daria.
119 reviews39 followers
August 29, 2018
Eric Pasztet i Rokoko to moje dwa ulubione opowiadania, chociaż absolutnie nienormalne. Bardzo przyjemny zbiór w typowym stylu Mastertona.
Profile Image for Liwia.
42 reviews
September 4, 2022
No nie, książka mnie nie powaliła na kolana. Była dziwna, mroczna i to nie w sposób w jaki pisane są horrory. Po prostu się przy niej męczyłam.
Profile Image for Bill Borre.
656 reviews4 followers
Currently reading
July 14, 2024
"Rococo" - Margot is courted by the Devil who gives her what she imagines to be an expensive diamond necklace but is really just Pepsi caps and unrolled condoms. When she wears it to a party with her boss she is taken aside by a friend but loses her employment. The Devil gives her what he says was a dildo used by noble women for centuries but later when her body is found it is discovered she had mounted a scaffolding pole.

"Making Belinda" - Bryan finds a beach with magic sand that brings sand sculptures to life during the night. After success with making a dog he attempts to make a woman but joggers mutilate the sculpture. Bryan returns to his hotel room thinking he has failed but later during the night he hears something drag itself down the corridor and collide with his door.

"Eric the Pie" by Graham Masterton - wc
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
509 reviews18 followers
August 2, 2015
With just a couple exceptions, this is a great horror collection with all of Masterton's trademarks of gore and sex through most of the stories. With its journey to many flawless locations from tale to tale and the author brilliantly capturing all of the detail of these various places in just a few thousand words, each story seems to depict a different kind of suspense and terror.
Profile Image for Bandit.
4,964 reviews581 followers
November 12, 2010
Great collection. I wish I owned it, but it's impossible to find.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews

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