Dark Dimensions

Best-known as the coauthor of Logan’s Run, Nolan belongs to a distinct school of California horror writers that includes Richard Matheson, Charles Beaumont, and Dennis Etchison. His slick, easily readable style gets a nice showing in this collection of 15 stories. The centerpiece novella, “Horror at Winchester House,” tours a variety of spooky California landmarks, combining supernatural elements with a hard-boiled detective story about the search for a missing girl. Some pieces are personal and meditative, with autobiographical elements. Others touch on famous characters: “The Death of Sherlock Holmes,” a shameless throwaway tale, and “The Man Who Stalked Hyde,” which features Robert Louis Stevenson in a surprising way. Nolan writes well about places, and his narrative has considerable drive, but his plotting often feels a bit thin, and the collection is a mixed bag of powerful and unsuccessful. (June)