Screaming Science Fiction: Horrors from Out of Space

Those looking for pure pulp fun need look no further than British author Lumley's new collection, whose nine stories gleefully mix SF, fantasy and horror. The opener, "Snarker's Son," a tale of alternate worlds, delivers an unexpected and squishy climax. Anyone who has ever driven through unfamiliar country and gotten lost will identify with the doomed hero of "No Way Home." Another nasty treat is "The Strange Years," in which shape-adaptable insects do away with human technology and apparently with humans themselves. Homo sapiens fares little better in "Feasibility Study," the longest and only story original to the collection, which delivers a resoundingly unhappy ending. Lumley (Necroscope ) provides an amusing and informative foreword. (Feb.)