The Best of Cemetery Dance, Volume 1

The Best of Cemetery Dance #1

by Richard Chizmar, Stephen King, Bentley Little

From Cemetery Dance, the award-winning showcase for today's greatest masters of dark fiction, comes a stunning short story anthology of dark dreams, forbidden fantasies, and waking nightmares....

11 • Introduction (The Best of Cemetery Dance) • (1998) • essay by Richard Chizmar
29 • Chattery Teeth • (1992) • novelette by Stephen King
61 • The Box • (1994) • short story by Jack Ketchum
73 • Haceldama • (1993) • novelette by Gary A. Braunbeck
109 • The Pig Man • (1993) • short story by Augustine Funnell
125 • Mobius • (1987) • short story by Richard Christian Matheson
129 • The Rendering Man • (1994) • short story by Douglas Clegg
147 • Weight • (1994) • short story by Dominick Cancilla
159 • Layover • (1991) • short story by Ed Gorman
169 • Johnny Halloween • (1992) • short story by Norman Partridge
181 • Hope • (1993) • short story by Steve Bevan
187 • The Mailman • (1988) • short story by Bentley Little
197 • Silhouette • (1996) • short story by Stephen Mark Rainey
215 • Roadkill • (1991) • short story by Tom Elliott
221 • The Rifle • (1995) • short story by Jack Ketchum
233 • Pieces • (1992) • short story by Ray Garton
237 • Rustle • (1993) • short story by Peter Crowther
255 • When the Silence Gets Too Loud • (1995) • short story by Brian Hodge
269 • The Rabbit • (1990) • short story by Jack Pavey
281 • The Flood • (1986) • short story by John Maclay
287 • The Right Thing • (1994) • short story by Gary L. Raisor [as by Gary Raisor]
305 • Pig's Dinner • (1991) • short story by Graham Masterton
317 • Crash Cart • (1993) • short story by Nancy Holder
329 • Wall of Words • (1994) • short story by Lucy Taylor
337 • Metastasis • (1990) • short story by David B. Silva
349 • Wrapped Up • (1981) • short story by Ramsey Campbell
357 • Depth of Reflection • (1990) • short story by David L. Duggins
369 • The Mole • (1990) • short story by David Niall Wilson
375 • Saviour • (1991) • short story by Gary A. Braunbeck
391 • Great Expectations • (1990) • short story by Kim Antieau
397 • Shell • (1992) • short story by Adam Corbin Fusco

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fiction, Short Story Collection

402 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2000

About the author

Richard Chizmar is a New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Amazon, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author.

He is the co-author (with Stephen King) of the bestselling novella, Gwendy’s Button Box and the founder/publisher of Cemetery Dance magazine and the Cemetery Dance Publications book imprint. He has edited more than 35 anthologies and his short fiction has appeared in dozens of publications, including multiple editions of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and The Year’s 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories. He has won two World Fantasy awards, four International Horror Guild awards, and the HWA’s Board of Trustee’s award.

Chizmar (in collaboration with Johnathon Schaech) has also written screenplays and teleplays for United Artists, Sony Screen Gems, Lions Gate, Showtime, NBC, and many other companies. He has adapted the works of many bestselling authors including Stephen King, Peter Straub, and Bentley Little.

Chizmar is also the creator/writer of the online website, Stephen King Revisited. His fourth short story collection, The Long Way Home, was published in 2019. With Brian Freeman, Chizmar is co-editor of the acclaimed Dark Screams horror anthology series published by Random House imprint, Hydra.

His latest book, The Girl on the Porch, was released in hardcover by Subterranean Press, and Widow’s Point, a chilling novella about a haunted lighthouse written with his son, Billy Chizmar, was recently adapted into a feature film.

Chizmar’s work has been translated into more than fifteen languages throughout the world, and he has appeared at numerous conferences as a writing instructor, guest speaker, panelist, and guest of honor.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a mostly very good anthology of stories reprinted from the early years of Cemetery Dance magazine. The Rabbit by Jack Pavey, Wrapped Up by Ramsey Campbell, and Layover by Ed Gorman are all quite memorable. My favorites were Chattery Teeth by Stephen King, Pig's Dinner by Graham Masterton, Crash Cart by Nancy Holder, and two terrific stories by Gary A. Braunbeck, Saviour and Halceldama. (Braunbeck and Jack Ketchum are the only two authors to have two of their stories included.) There were a few stories that seemed a little too slick or slight (and one, The Right Thing, that deeply offended me, which isn't easy to do...I would have thrown an extra star on my rating if I'd skipped that one), but it's a very good selection overall.

[James Reyome · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome. Just awesome. A few of these stories (like Big Steve's "Chattery Teeth") I had previously read within the pages of Richard Chizmar's marvelous semi-pulp, which I used to be able to get in local book stores. The subscription price was pretty dear, so I've been missing it for a while, then I ran across this title in a used book store. I think I gave a buck for it.

No, really. I'm almost ashamed.

But really. 300+ pages of QUALITY, that's what you've got here. It's pretty rare that a collection will go so long without a clinker, and this one went almost to the end. That's a pretty good ratio. Still, I just didn't "get" David Niall Wilson's "The Mole", and that sort of brought things to a screeching halt. Fortunately it's near the end of the book, and the rest are so darned good it's easy to forgive. Some of them could possibly scar you for life. "Pig's Dinner" by Graham Masterton…oh my GAWD. If you don't wince with every bite of your next pork chop or slice of bacon (curse you, vegetarians!) then you're not human. And Nancy Holder's "Crash Cart" will put you in a VERY uncomfortable place indeed. But perhaps the wildest is Jack Pavey's "The Rabbit", which has a denouement that comes so far out of left field that it his you like a Louisville Slugger.

There's a second book to this collection, and it's on my wish list, if anybody wants to get it for me for my birthday…till then, I will continue to remember this as one of the finest lot of horror genre stories it's ever been my pleasure to be sickened by.

[Rob Degagne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been struggling to find a short story collection able to maintain my interest and have consistency throughout. Finally find one! A few duds but mostly solid pieces. The 2 stories by Gary Braunbeck were stand-outs. An author I'd like to discover further. My rating for each selection:
1. Chattery Teeth: 4/5 (how can you go wrong with the Master)
2. The Box: 4/5
3. Halceldama: 4.5/5 (wow!)
4. The Pig Man: 2/5
5. Mobius: 1/5 (didn't get this one at all)
6. The Rendering Man: 3/5
7. Weight: 3/5
8. Layover: 2/5
9. Johnny Halloween: 2/5
10. Hope: 3/5
11: The Mailman: 4/5 (a lot of fun)
12. Silhouette: 2/5
13. Roadkill: 2/5
14. The Rifle: 4.5/5 (classic!)
15. Pieces: 2.5/5
16. Rustle: 3.5/5
17. When the Silence Gets Too Loud: 4.5/5 (a bit of "Lord of the Flies" meets "Deliverance")
18. The Rabbit: 2.5/5
19. The Flood: 1/5 (a bore)
20. The Right Thing: 3/5
21. Pig's Dinner: 3.5/5 (gruesome)
22. Crash Cart: 2/5
23. Wall of Words: 3/5
24. Metastasis: 2.5/5
25. Wrapped Up: 2/5
26. Depth of Reflection: 2.5/5
27. The Mole: 4/5 (so well written)
28. Saviour: 4.5 (Braunbeck does it again)
29. Great Expectations: 3/5
30. Shell: 2/5
Here's hoping Volume 2 is just as good.

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been struggling to find a short story collection able to maintain my interest and have consistency throughout. Finally find one! A few duds but mostly solid pieces. The 2 stories by Gary Braunbeck were stand-outs. An author I'd like to discover further. My rating for each selection:
1. Chattery Teeth: 4/5 (how can you go wrong with the Master)
2. The Box: 4/5
3. Halceldama: 4.5/5 (wow!)
4. The Pig Man: 2/5
5. Mobius: 1/5 (didn't get this one at all)
6. The Rendering Man: 3/5
7. Weight: 3/5
8. Layover: 2/5
9. Johnny Halloween: 2/5
10. Hope: 3/5
11: The Mailman: 4/5 (a lot of fun)
12. Silhouette: 2/5
13. Roadkill: 2/5
14. The Rifle: 4.5/5 (classic!)
15. Pieces: 2.5/5
16. Rustle: 3.5/5
17. When the Silence Gets Too Loud: 4.5/5 (a bit of "Lord of the Flies" meets "Deliverance")
18. The Rabbit: 2.5/5
19. The Flood: 1/5 (a bore)
20. The Right Thing: 3/5
21. Pig's Dinner: 3.5/5 (gruesome)
22. Crash Cart: 2/5
23. Wall of Words: 3/5
24. Metastasis: 2.5/5
25. Wrapped Up: 2/5
26. Depth of Reflection: 2.5/5
27. The Mole: 4/5 (so well written)
28. Saviour: 4.5 (Braunbeck does it again)
29. Great Expectations: 3/5
30. Shell: 2/5
Here's hoping Volume 2 is just as good.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I glanced at some of the reviews listed. Looks like you either love it or hate it. I admit it is a tough read. There are no happy endings, no relief to the suffering, no rational solutions in these stories. They are gruesome and frightening and scary and sickening and more. More frightening than a slasher movie. Scarier than "only a story" should be, they stay with you -- leave a lingering sense of foreboding. Just what you want in a good scare.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never would have seen myself as a fan of horror. However, horror isn't what I used to think, at least horror like the stories in this collection. If you are a fan of slipstream, urban fantasy, the uncanny valley, all that---I think you'll love this book. It's a HUGE collection. I figured I'd read maybe a fourth of the stories or so and skip the rest after trying the first few paragraphs, as I often do with short stories. However, I think there was only two or three in the whole book I skipped. The others were all un-skippable---stories of weirdness and growing realization that something was a little off and creeping terror. Very little gore, although it's not gore-free, but plenty of creepy. A great collection.

[manatee · Rating 1 out of 5]

HATED IT!!!. The story Layover by Ed Gorman was contrived but featured a clever female pivotal character.Unfortunately, it was the best story in the collection. The rest of the stories were just plain dumb. Why pick up a pen just to produce a vastly inferior copy of an E. A Poe story? That is what all the authors in this collection should be asking themselves.

All the stories feature boring, predictable scenarios with some really gross details. As soon as I came across the short story featuring puppy torture, I threw the book against the wall.

Just utterly ridiculous. No wonder I hate the horror genre.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by far the best horror anthology I've ever read. The stories in this book will stay with you long after you've read them. I read it almost a year ago and donated it to a thrift shop so someone else may experience the horrors; and the stories are still quite fresh in my mind. These writers represent the absolute best in their field -- at the time. If you're sensitive to some of the themes raised in this book (chaos, violence, sickness, death, entropy, mental/physical/sexual abuse) then you may have trouble sleeping.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stories were really creepy. The one with the midget gave me chills. The Rendering Man still makes me shiver!

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

great anthology. All killer, no filler.

[Paul Preston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too often laughter is mistaken for the sound of happiness-Gary A. Braunbeck

Some were complete stories that blew me away, horror at its best. Some were dark and twisted making you question the authors sanity. Some were unfinished, leaving you irritated and thinking. What a great collection. Great writing combined with interesting stories make me look forward to book two as well at Cemetery Dances new collections

[Christina]

Can't give it an overall rating -- even accounting for reading it decades after publication of the stories, many were meh. The third and fourth from the end (especially "Saviour,"), however, were quite haunting.

[Mathieu · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is filled with a ton a excellent story. Stories like; The Rifle, The Rabbit, The Right Thing, Pig's diner, Crash Cart and many more are all must read. Realy into it now to read the second Volume.

[James Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another solid collection put together by the folks at Cemetery Dance.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Giant collection of the best horror stories culled from the magazine over the years. They've trimmed the fat, definitely more hit than miss.

[hardcover_bitch_book]

please if \you locate this book sue let me know i love to read it and own it been looking for it for years it seems=l/ya's

[Tom Mueller · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection by some of the masters of the genre.

[Edward Amato · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great selection of short horror stories. Some of the stories were very creepy and I would not recommend reading this before going to sleep unless you are into having nightmares.