cover image Masques III: All-New Works of Horror and the Supernatural

Masques III: All-New Works of Horror and the Supernatural

. St. Martin's Press, $17.95 (317pp) ISBN 978-0-312-02948-7

The third volume in this series is generally fun, but characteristically erratic with 28 stories and five poems running the gamut from excellent to ridiculous. Adobe James's ``The Spelling Bee'' deceptively begins as an ironically observed account of a mundane contest, until the author drops the other shoe in a cymbal-crashing climax as unexpected as it is effective. Wayne Allen Sallee's ``Third Rail'' is an understated short-short of urban violence. And Dan Simmon's ``Shave and a Haircut, Two Bites'' ingeniously updates the barber's historical role as bloodletter. On the other hand, Graham Masterton's ``Ever, Ever After'' fails to convince, and R. Patrick Gates's ``Long Lips'' is tasteless and dull (while Jeannette M. Hopper's ``Sunday Breakfast'' is tasteless but clever and well-written). Also well worth reading are contributions by Ed Gorman, Melissa Mia Hall and Douglas Winter, D. W. Taylor, Rex Miller, Steve Rasnic Tem and Ray Bradbury (a poem). (Oct.)