Nine Horrors and a Dream

Acclaimed by Stephen King as " a master of the unashamed horror tale," Joseph Payne Brennan wrote hundreds of tales of terror, suspense, and fantasy. Collectors and fans will delight in this inexpensive reissue of Brennan''s hard-to-find classic, Nine Horrors and a Dream. This collection, originally published by Arkham House in 1958, features stories published by Weird Tales and other pulp magazines of the 1950s — including the much-anthologized " Slime," which inspired the ever-popular thriller The Blob. Less familiar but equally gripping tales include " Levitation," in which a carnival-goer has an unfortunate encounter with a hypnotist; " The Calamander Chest," the story of a low-priced antique that turns out to be no bargain; " Death in Peru," involving a lethal curse; the darkly humorous " On the Elevator"; and " The Green Parrot," which recounts a Good Samaritan''s bad timing. Other selections include " Canavan''s Back Yard," featuring a property with a gruesome history; " I''m Murdering Mr. Massington," which tells of a bizarre grasp at immortality; " The Hunt," a playfully creepy yarn about an obsessive chase; and " The Mail for Juniper Hill," in which a tipsy but determined postman refuses to let anything — even death — keep him from his appointed rounds.